OKC Dodgers Game Notes – September 9, 2022
September 9, 2022 – Pacific Coast League (PCL) – Oklahoma City Dodgers News Release
Tacoma Rainiers (62-70) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (74-58)
Game #133 of 150/Home #70 of 75
Pitching Probables: TAC-LHP Roenis Elias (1-2, 5.51) vs. OKC-RHP Michael Grove (1-3, 3.54)
Friday, September 9, 2022 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 7:05 p.m. CT
Radio: KGHM-AM 1340 The Game, 1340thegame.com, iHeartRadio; Video: MiLB.tv
Today’s Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers and Tacoma Rainiers continue their series at 7:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark during ¡Celebración Cielo Azul! with Friday Night Fireworks scheduled to follow the game…The Dodgers lead the PCL East Division with a 74-58 record and are hanging on to a 1.0-game lead ahead of both Round Rock and El Paso, which are currently tied for second place with 18 games remaining in the regular season. The Dodgers have six home games remaining at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.
Last Game: With the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th inning, Ryan Noda drew a walk to bring in the winning run and seal a 5-4 win for the Oklahoma City Dodgers against the Tacoma Rainiers Thursday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. In the top of the 10th inning, Dodgers pitcher Mark Washington (1-2) got Tacoma’s Brian O’Keefe to line into an unassisted double play by Edwin Ríos at third base for the first two outs of the inning and then got Erick Mejia to ground out to keep the game in a 4-4 tie. In the bottom of the 10th inning, the Dodgers loaded the bases on a single by Andy Burns, fielder’s choice and two-out walk by Jason Martin. Then with the count full to Noda, he took ball four to score the game-winning run. The Dodgers scored the first run of the game on a squeeze bunt by Drew Avans in the second inning. A RBI single by Tacoma’s Jonathan Villar knotted the game at 1-1 in the fifth inning before the Dodgers scored three runs in the bottom of the frame thanks to a RBI double by Michael Busch and two-run single by Ríos for a 4-1 OKC advantage. Tacoma scored two runs in the sixth inning on a single by Mejia before Villar’s second RBI single of the night in the eighth inning put the game in a 4-4 tie and eventually forced extra innings.
Today’s Probable Pitcher: Michael Grove (1-3) is scheduled to start tonight’s game with his 14th appearance and 12th start with OKC…Grove most recently pitched Sept. 4 in Round Rock, allowing three runs (one earned) and four hits over 5.0 innings with one walk and five strikeouts. He combined with Andre Jackson in a tandem during OKC’s 5-3 victory, with Grove earning his first winning decision of the season…In seven games with OKC since the All-Star Break, Grove has a 1.67 ERA with 39 strikeouts against five walks over 32.1 IP (9 R/6 ER). During that span he has posted a 0.90 WHIP and opponents have batted .202…Grove began the season with five starts with Double-A Tulsa and made the jump for a spot start with Los Angeles May 15 against Philadelphia to become the first Los Angeles Dodger to make his Major League debut straight from Double-A since relief pitcher Danny Coulombe in September 2014…He’s been recalled four times by Los Angeles and has made three appearances (two starts). He most recently appeared in the Majors for a spot start Aug. 29 at Miami and allowed two runs and five hits over 4.2 innings with one walk and four strikeouts. He did not factor into the decision in LAD’s 3-2 win in 10 innings and was optioned OKC Aug. 30…Grove was selected by the Dodgers in the second round of the 2018 MLB Draft from West Virginia University…Tonight is Grove’s second start of the season against Tacoma. He started July 14 and allowed two runs and three hits over 2.1 innings with one walk and four strikeouts, taking the loss in an 8-5 defeat.
Against the Rainiers: 2022: 4-5 2021: N/A All-time: 55-55 At OKC: 33-21 The Dodgers and Rainiers meet for the second of their two series of 2022…The teams are playing for the first time at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark since the 2019 season, as they did not play each other in 2021 and played their most recent series in Tacoma in July…The teams split their July 12-17 series at Cheney Stadium, 3-3, with the Dodgers winning the first two games before settling for a series split. OKC scored eight or more runs in each of their three wins and outscored Tacoma, 42-30…Drew Avans has 16 hits in nine games, while Jason Martin has nine RBI and two home runs…Tacoma was the only Triple-A West foe the Dodgers did not play during the 2021 season. The teams were originally scheduled to play in April 2021, but the games were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Rainiers went on to win the league title…When the teams last met as part of the 2019 schedule, the Dodgers swept a three-game set at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, outscoring the Rainiers, 23-9…OKC is 2-0-3 against the Rainiers in the last five season series and has not lost a series to Tacoma since the 2014 season (0-4 in Tacoma)…Tacoma manager Tim Federowicz played in 25 games with the OKC Dodgers last season while splitting time playing for the U.S. Olympic Team…Entering today, Tacoma has won five of the last seven meetings between the teams. Tuesday night snapped a five-game losing streak for the Rainiers in Bricktown, winning their first game in OKC since 2017.
Stumbling Down the Stretch: The Dodgers picked up a win last night but are just 2-6 in their last eight games and 1.0 game separates the top three teams in the PCL East Division with 18 games remaining. The Dodgers had a 5.0-game lead in the East Division standings entering Aug. 31 but have seen that advantage evaporate to 1.0 game after going 2-6 while Round Rock has gone 6-2 and El Paso has gone 7-2 during the same period…The Dodgers have been in first place or tied for first place in the division since June 2. They have held sole possession of first place in the division since July 22…The Dodgers still own the best record in the league at 74-58 and the Dodgers have a league-leading 41-28 home record for their most home wins in a season since 2018 when they finished 41-29 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. OKC last had more than 41 home wins in a season in 2015 when the team went 42-29 in Bricktown.
Extra Credit: The Dodgers played into extra innings for the 10th time this season and fifth time in the last 21 games last night. OKC improved to 4-6 in extra innings with Thursday’s victory and picked up its first extra-inning win since July 29 against Sugar Land in OKC. Thursday’s win snapped a stretch of four straight losses in extra innings for the Dodgers…During the four-game skid in extras, the Dodgers had allowed multiple runs in each half-inning they pitched, totaling 15 runs in five frames. Mark Washington’s scoreless 10th inning was just the second time in 11 chances all season the Dodgers kept their opponent scoreless during an extra inning.
The Thrill of Victory: Thursday was OKC’s eighth walk-off win of 2022 and the first time during the team’s Dodgers affiliation (since 2015) the Dodgers ended a home game on a bases-loaded walk. All eight walk-off wins this season have come with a different player at the plate for the winning hit or play. The team’s eight walk-off victories are the most for the team in a single season since 2015 when OKC had 11 walk-off wins.
Offensive Remarks: After being held to four runs through the first two games of the series, the Dodgers recorded five runs last night. But over the last seven games, the Dodgers have scored 23 total runs and batted .243 (56×230) with 13 extra-base hits and two home runs – both solo homers…The Dodgers’ 23 runs so far in September are the fewest in the PCL and third-fewest among the 30 Triple-A teams, however despite the recent slowdown, the Dodgers’ 823 runs scored this season are second-most in Triple-A. It’s the third time during the team’s Bricktown era they have scored at least 800 runs in one season and the first time since 2005…Over the last 26 innings the Dodgers have scored six runs and scored in only four of the 26 frames. Going back to Sunday, they have not scored in 29 of the last 34 innings (nine runs total). Over those 34 innings they have batted .244 (29×119).
Power Outage: For the first time since Aug. 13-16, 2018, the Dodgers have not hit a home run in four straight games. There had been three previous instances this season of a three-game spell without going deep until they were kept inside the park again last night. On the other hand, the Dodgers have not allowed a home run in the last two games. They have not gone three straight games without allowing a homer since July 5-7 vs. Las Vegas…This is the first time this season the Dodgers nor their opponent have not homered in back-to-back games.
Amayazing: Jake Amaya went 1-for-3 with a walk last night and has hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games, going 15-for-39 (.385) with three doubles, a triple, two homers, seven RBI and 12 runs scored…Since his first game with OKC June 14, he leads the Dodgers and is second in the PCL with 43 walks. He has a combined 75 walks between OKC and Double-A Tulsa and his walk total ranks tied for fourth among Dodgers minor leaguers this season…In eight games against Tacoma this season, Amaya is 13-for-32 (.406).
Beast Node: Ryan Noda went 1-for-4 and drew last night’s game-ending walk for his first walk-off RBI of the season. Over his last 24 games, Noda is 24-for-77 (.312) with five doubles, four homers, 21 RBI, 16 runs and 20 walks…Noda leads the Dodgers with 75 walks this season and ranks second in the league overall. It’s his highest single-season walk total since 2018 when he had a career-high 109 walks with Low-A Lansing…Noda also ranks among PCL leaders this season with a .392 OBP, tied for fifth with 77 RBI and ninth with 191 total bases.
Drew Point: Drew Avans went 2-for-3 with a RBI, walk and run scored Thursday. In nine games against Tacoma this season, Avans is batting .421 (16×38) with a team-leading 16 hits, two doubles, four RBI, two walks and six runs scored. Over the first three games of the current series, he is 5-for-11 with two walks and three steals…His 32 stolen bases this season are fifth-most in the league and the most in a season by a Dodgers player since Darnell Sweeney also recorded 32 stolen bases during the 2015 season. The last OKC player with more than 32 stolen bases in a season was Esteban German, who had 35 during the 2009 season…Avans leads the league with 10 triples and also ranks among league leaders with a .382 OBP (7th) and with 75 runs (9th). Avans put together the league’s longest on-base streak since 2018, reaching base in 50 straight games June 11-Aug. 14 before sustaining an injury Aug. 16 at Sugar Land.
Walking Papers: The Dodgers drew four walks yesterday, including a walk-off walk, as OKC leads all of Triple-A this season with a team-record 652 walks during the Bricktown era (since 1998), which currently ranks fourth in the Minors overall. As a result, OKC also leads all Triple-A teams with a .368 OBP – third among full-season teams in the Minors…The Dodgers have drawn 228 walks in the 42 games following the All-Star Break for an average of 5.4 per game, including 14 games with seven or more walks…The last PCL team with at least 652 walks in a season was Sacramento in 2012 with 657 walks (144 games)…On the other hand, the Dodgers pitching staff allowed six walks yesterday after issuing just seven walks over the last three games combined. OKC has allowed a team-record 635 walks this season – most in Triple-A. The previous record was 591, set in 2000. They’ve allowed the most walks in the PCL since Colorado Springs had 637 over 144 games in 1998.
Sore Since Salt Lake: Following a 13-0 drubbing of Salt Lake Aug. 5, the Dodgers were a season-best 21 games above .500 at 62-41. The next night Salt Lake won, 4-3, on a walk-off home run by Jake Gatewood that has seemingly sent the Dodgers into a tailspin. Beginning with that defeat Aug. 6, the Dodgers are 12-17 over their last 29 games, and the only team in the league with a worse record during that time is last-place Albuquerque at 9-18. The OKC pitching staff has posted a 5.55 ERA over the 29 games and allowed a total of 181 runs (6.24 per game). Nine of their 17 losses have occurred in games the Dodgers led in the sixth inning or later, and team’s 14 blown saves are most in the Minors during the span. In 10 of the 29 games the Dodgers have let a lead in the sixth inning or later slip away and they have lost a lead of at least two runs in 10 games as well, with both occurring last night. Since Aug. 6, the Dodgers have also committed the most errors in the PCL (27), allowed the most unearned runs (25) and grounded into the most double plays (34).
Around the Horn: Including last night, seven of the Dodgers’ last 29 games have been tied after eight innings, with OKC going 2-5 in those games…Hunter Feduccia collected a team-high three hits yesterday, going 3-for-4 and scoring a run as he recordied three hits for the second time with OKC this season (July 22 vs. Sacramento). He is 5-for-11 over his last three games…The Dodgers are 18-27 at home against West Division opponents over the last two seasons, including 10-11 in 2022…Between OKC and Double-A Tulsa, Michael Busch ranks second among all players in the Minors this season with 103 runs scored, while his 248 total bases are seventh.
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