Dodgers, Ramírez Make History in Round Rock

Oklahoma City Dodgers – 19

Round Rock Express – 0

Thursday, May 12, 2022 – Dell Diamond – Round Rock, Texas

Game Summary: The Oklahoma City Dodgers erupted for 19 runs and 19 hits and Yefry Ramírez pitched the team’s first nine-inning shutout in four years, leading the Dodgers to a 19-0 romp over the Round Rock Express Thursday night at Dell Diamond. The Dodgers (20-13) blasted a season-high six home runs and also notched a season-high 11 extra-base hits. The Dodgers scored in each of the first three innings, including a seven-run rally in the third inning to jump out to a 10-0 advantage. OKC dropped six more runs on the Express (20-13) in the fifth inning, when Ryan Noda, Andy Burns and Eddy Alvarez each hit homers. The Dodgers tacked on two more runs following a Round Rock error in the seventh inning and notched the final run of the night in the ninth inning. Ramírez faced one batter over the minimum while throwing a three-hit shutout and finished with eight strikeouts.

Of Note:

-Wednesday’s game stands as the largest shutout win in the team’s Bricktown era (since 1998). The previous largest shutout win was a 14-0 victory against Nashville April 25, 1998. The 19-run margin of victory is tied for the second-largest win overall in the team’s Bricktown era and the largest since Aug. 3, 2013 when Oklahoma City beat Colorado Springs, 24-5. It’s also the 10th time during the Bricktown era the team has scored at least 19 runs in a game.

-The Dodgers set season highs with 19 runs, 19 hits, six home runs and 11 extra-base hits. It marked the team’s highest-scoring game since plating 20 runs during a 20-9 win in El Paso May 30, 2021, which was also the last time the team recorded 11 extra-base hits. They last hit six homers July 23, 2021 at home against Sugar Land.

-Yefry Ramírez pitched his fourth career complete game and set a new career high with 9.0 innings. Ramírez became the first OKC Dodger to throw a shutout since current bullpen coach Justin DeFratus went the distance against Memphis May 11, 2018 during a 2-0 win at home. The team’s last individual shutout thrown on the road was by Jake Buchanan in New Orleans May 20, 2014. Ramírez faced one batter over the minimum while throwing 107 pitches, tying his career high. He had faced the minimum through 8.2 innings before Nash Knight collected an infield single. Prior to the ninth inning, Round Rock had two singles and one walk, but Ramírez eliminated each of the three baserunners with a ground ball double play by the proceeding hitter.

-Although it is Ramírez’s second career shutout, the first was only 6.0 innings in a game completed early due to rain July 22, 2017 when he was with Double-A Trenton. Ramírez also became the first OKC pitcher over the last three seasons to even exceed 7.0 innings. He is the first pitcher in any game in the Minor Leagues to throw a shutout of 9.0 innings this season.

-Six different players hit home runs: Eddy Alvarez, Andy Burns, Jake Lamb, Jason Martin, Ryan Noda and Kevin Pillar. Noda and Burns hit the team’s first back-to-back homers of the season in the fifth inning. Alvarez and Pillar’s home runs were each three-run shots. The Dodgers have homered in eight straight games (17 HR) and have gone deep in 14 of the last 15 games (23 HR).

-All nine starters collected at least one hit, eight starters had at least one RBI and seven players finished with multi-hit games. Jason Martin, Ryan Noda and Tony Wolters tied for the game high with three hits. Five players picked up multi-RBI games, and Eddy Alvarez led all players with four RBI. Along with Noda, Kevin Pillar and Miguel Vargas each drove in three runs.

-The Dodgers scored seven runs in the third inning, matching their highest-scoring inning of the season. They previously plated seven runs in one frame April 16 in El Paso.

-Tony Wolters and Jason Martin each scored four runs. Wolters reached base six times Wednesday with three hits and three walks.

-Jake Lamb started the scoring with a home run in the first inning. He homered for the second straight game and third time in his last five games. He’s now hit safely in 12 of his last 14 games, going 19-for-51 (.373) with five homers, three doubles, 17 RBI, 12 runs scored and 10. He is 10-for-27 (.370) during a season-best seven-game hitting streak with five extra-base hits, five walks, nine runs scored and 11 RBI.

-Kevin Pillar also went deep for the second straight game for his team-leading ninth homer of the season, belting a three-run homer off the batter’s eye in the third inning. He also doubled and went 2-for-3 with three RBI, three runs and one walk. Pillar has hit five homers in his last six games and has 13 RBI during that time. He leads OKC with 30 RBI this season.

-Miguel Vargas went 2-for-5 with three RBI, extending his on-base streak to 15 games and his streak of scoring at least one run to 13 straight games. Vargas has hit safely in 12 of the 13 games during his run-scoring streak, going 20-for-50 (.400) with 13 RBI, 11 walks and 20 runs scored.

-Ryan Noda fell a triple shy of the cycle and notched his second three-hit game of the season. He also walked twice and reached base in five of six plate appearances, going 3-for-4 with three RBI.

-Jason Martin picked up two extra-base hits with a two-run homer and a double as part of a three-hit night overall. It was his third straight multi-hit game, as well as his fourth in the last five games and eight in the last 14 games. He’s hit safely in 10 of his last 12 games, going 18-for-45 (.400) with 10 RBI and 13 runs scored.

-The Dodgers have won the last two games over the Express by a combined score of 32-4. They have now matched Round Rock for the league’s best record at 20-13.

What’s Next: The Dodgers look for a third straight win the series Thursday starting at 7:05 p.m. CT. 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