Stone’s Scoreless Start Holds down Salt Lake
September 27, 2022 – Pacific Coast League (PCL) – Oklahoma City Dodgers News Release
Starting pitcher Gavin Stone pitched 6.0 scoreless innings and recorded 11 strikeouts in the Oklahoma City Dodgers’ 5-1 win Monday night against the Salt Lake Bees at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Dodgers (82-66) held the Bees scoreless through seven innings and four pitchers combined to record a season-high 17 strikeouts in the game. James Outman hit a solo home run over the tall wall in right field in the second inning to give the Dodgers an early 1-0 advantage. Michael Busch connected on a RBI ground-rule double in the third inning for a 2-0 lead. Drew Avans singled to lead off the bottom of the fifth inning before stealing both second and third bases and scoring on a sacrifice fly by Ryan Noda for a 3-0 OKC edge. Devin Mann’s two-run homer out to left field in the sixth inning boosted the Dodgers to a 5-0 lead. A RBI single by Dillon Thomas got the Bees (70-78) on the scoreboard in the eighth inning before Dodgers reliever Nick Robertson retired the final four Salt Lake batters of the game for his first save with OKC.
Of Note: -OKC starting pitcher Gavin Stone (2-1) allowed three hits over 6.0 scoreless innings on the way to his second win in as many appearances. He did not issue a walk and recorded 11 strikeouts, retiring 18 of the 21 batters he faced. It was his fifth game of the season with at least 11 strikeouts and his first in Triple-A after his promotion from Double-A Tulsa in mid-August. Monday was also his fourth scoreless outing of the season of at least 6.0 innings this season overall. The Los Angeles Dodgers 2022 Branch Rickey Minor League Pitcher of the Year threw 80 pitches Monday, including 54 strikes.
-The Dodgers hit two home runs Monday and have now homered in 11 of their last 12 games, hitting 28 homers during that span and seven homers in the last two games combined…The Dodgers also held Salt Lake without a home run and have not allowed a homer in back-to-back games for the first time since Sept. 7-8 against Tacoma in OKC.
-Drew Avans went 2-for-4, scored two runs and recorded two stolen bases. Avans is 6-for-13 with a double, triple, homer, four RBI, six runs scored and three stolen bases over the last three games. Avans is up to a team-leading 39 stolen bases this season, which are the fourth-most steals in a single season by an OKC player during the Bricktown era (since 1998) and the most since Esteban German recorded 50 stolen bases in 2010. His stolen base total ranks fourth among current PCL leaders.
-James Outman homered in a second straight game and hit his fourth homer in the last seven games. Outman went 2-for-4 with a double and homer. Between Double-A Tulsa, OKC and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Outman has 32 home runs and 109 RBI.
-Victor González continued his Major League Rehab Assignment and pitched 1.0 scoreless and hitless inning of relief, retiring all three batters he faced in the seventh inning with one strikeout. Monday was his fourth appearance since restarting his rehab assignment Sept. 20 with Oklahoma City and he has pitched a total of 4.0 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk with four strikeouts.
-Michael Busch connected on two doubles, going 2-for-4 with a RBI. His 69 total extra-base hits this season, including his time with both OKC and Tulsa, rank tied for third in the Minors overall, while his 281 total bases are fourth, his 117 runs scored are second and his 107 RBI are tied for fifth.
-Monday opened the Dodgers’ final series of the season as OKC won a second straight game and have outscored opponents, 21-4, in the two wins.
What’s Next: The final series of the 2022 season between the OKC Dodgers and Salt Lake Bees continues at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Tomorrow is Bark in the Park and fans can bring their dog to the game. The first 300 dogs will receive bandanas courtesy of COOP Ale Works. Additional information about Bark in the Park can be found here. Tomorrow is also the final $2 Tuesday of the season, featuring $2 select beer, soda and bottled water from a line of Budweiser and Pepsi products. COOP Ale Works draft beer will also be available at a special rate of $3.
Tickets are available at okcdodgers.com/tickets. Live radio coverage of each OKC Dodgers game begins 15 minutes before first pitch on AM 1340 “The Game,” 1340thegame.com and through the free iHeartRadio or MiLB First Pitch apps. All OKC Dodgers games are also available streamed live on MiLB.TV with a subscription.
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