Bees' Early Outburst Sends Dodgers to Loss

Salt Lake Bees – 8

Oklahoma City Dodgers – 7

Thursday, August 4, 2022 – Smith’s Ballpark – Salt Lake City, Utah

Game Summary: The Salt Lake Bees scored eight runs on 10 hits through the first three innings and the early outburst was enough to stave off the Oklahoma City Dodgers, 8-7, Thursday night at Smith’s Ballpark. Michael Busch hit a home run in the top of the first inning to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead, but Salt Lake’s Dillon Thomas answered with a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning. Salt Lake (49-53) scored two runs in the second inning following an Oklahoma City error to make it 4-1. The Dodgers (61-41) scored four runs in the third inning to regain the lead, with a two-run double by Ryan Noda and two-run single by Tomás Telis. However, the Bees answered with a four-spot of their own in the bottom of the inning to take an 8-5 lead. The score remained the same until the seventh inning. Busch initially appeared to have hit a two-run homer, but upon further discussion the call was overturned to a foul ball. After Busch struck out, Noda hit a two-run homer to make it a one-run game, but the Bees were able to hang on the rest of the way.

Of Note:

-The Dodgers had a three-game win streak come to an end and suffered just their third loss in 12 games out of the All-Star Break. The Dodgers also lost for just the second time in their last nine games at Smith’s Ballpark.

-Ryan Noda finished with a game-high four RBI and picked up two extra-base hits with a home run and a double. Noda has hit four home runs in his last nine games and has 13 RBI over the nine-game span. He has hit five home runs in 13 games following the All-Star Break and is up to 17 home runs this season, which ranks second on the team. Thursday was his third game this season of four or more RBI and 16th multi-RBI game this year.

-Drew Avans collected an infield single in the third inning as he extended his on-base streak to 41 games. It is the longest active on-base streak in the Minors and the longest on-base streak by an OKC Dodgers player since Alex Verdugo also reached base in 41 consecutive games June 4-July 25, 2017. Avans has also reached base in 55 of his last 56 games and hit safely in 24 of the last 28 games.

-Tomás Telis notched a second straight multi-hit and multi-RBI game, going 2-for-4 with two RBI. In his first two games of the current series, Telis is 4-for-7 with a home run and four RBI. He has now hit safely in five of his last six games, going 8-for-19.

-Michael Busch launched a solo homer in the first inning, giving him 13 home runs with Oklahoma City and 24 home runs overall this season. Busch has hit safely in seven of his last eight games and is batting .348 (16x46) over his last 12 games with seven extra-base hits.

-The OKC bullpen allowed one hit over 5.0 scoreless innings. Over the first three games in Salt Lake, the bullpen has combined for 11.1 scoreless innings and has allowed five hits while notching 11 strikeouts.

-Three of the Dodgers’ last four games and four of the last six games have been decided by one run. OKC is now 17-10 in one-run game this season.

What’s Next: The Dodgers look to bounce back against Salt Lake at 7:35 p.m. CT Friday at Smith’s Ballpark. 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.