Dodgers Leave Round Rock With Key 5-3 Win in Finale

Oklahoma City Dodgers – 5

Round Rock Express – 3

Sunday, Sept. 4, 2022 – Dell Diamond – Round Rock, Texas

Game Summary: The Oklahoma City Dodgers built an early 5-0 lead on the way to snapping a four-game losing skid with a 5-3 win against the Round Rock Express Sunday afternoon at Dell Diamond. After the Dodgers built a five-run lead, the Express scored three straight runs before OKC pitcher Andre Jackson closed out the game with four scoreless innings to earn a save. The Dodgers (73-56) scored two runs in the second inning on a RBI double by Hunter Feduccia and RBI groundout by Devin Mann. Oklahoma City then scored three more runs in the third inning as the first four batters of the inning reached, including RBI singles by Michael Busch and James Outman. Jake Amaya later added a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded for a 5-0 lead. Round Rock (71-58) answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning on a RBI single by Josh Smith and RBI groundout from Josh Jung. The Express trimmed OKC’s lead to two runs in the fifth inning with a solo homer by Josh Sale. Following a double by Outman in the fifth inning, 13 straight Dodgers were retired by the Express pitching staff. Meanwhile, OKC’s Jackson held the Express to one hit and one walk with three strikeouts and faced the minimum from the sixth through ninth innings to preserve the win.

Of Note:

-With Sunday’s victory, the Dodgers ended a four-game losing streak and extended their first-place lead in the PCL East Division to 2.0 games with 21 games remaining in the regular season. Second-place Round Rock won the six-game series, 4-2, but the Dodgers clinched the season series between the division foes, 16-14…Third-place El Paso defeated Salt Lake, 6-1, Sunday to remain 3.5 games behind the Dodgers in the standings.

-Starting pitcher Michael Grove (1-3) pitched 5.0 innings and earned his first win with the Dodgers. He allowed three runs (one earned) and four hits with one walk and five strikeouts. He threw 87 pitches (58 strikes). Andre Jackson piggybacked Grove and closed out the game with four scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk with three strikeouts to earn his first save of the season and just the second save of his professional career as he faced the minimum over the final four innings.

-Michael Busch went 2-for-5 with a double, RBI and run scored for his second straight multi-hit game and third in the last six games. He has hit safely in four straight games and in his last seven games against the Express is 13-for-32 with two homers, a double and 10 RBI.

-James Outman finished the game 2-for-3 with a double, RBI and run scored. He has reached base in nine straight games for the longest active on-base streak for an OKC player, and over his last 11 games, Outman is 21-for-42 (.500) with 14 extra-base hits and 23 RBI.

-The Dodgers held the Express to three runs or less for the third time in the last four games. The Dodgers improved to 41-5 when allowing three or fewer runs after losing both Thursday and Friday in Round Rock despite allowing two runs and three runs, respectively, in those games.

-Hunter Feduccia, Edwin Ríos, Michael Busch and James Outman each hit a double for the Dodgers, who finished with their highest extra-base hit total in four games. OKC last had four extra-base hits Aug. 31 in Round Rock (two doubles and two home runs).

-Jake Amaya picked up a RBI on a sacrifice fly, but both his seven-game hitting streak (11-for-26) and eight-game on-base streak came to an end.

What’s Next: Following a day off Monday, the OKC Dodgers open a six-game series against the Tacoma Rainiers at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark during ¡Celebración Cielo Azul! and on a $2 Tuesday 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. Dodgers players and coaches will wear Cielo Azul jerseys throughout the series and the gameday environment during ¡Celebración Cielo Azul! will feature Latin music, festive concourse decorations, unique entertainment, live performances and a Spanish-speaking public address announcer for select games as part of MiLB’s Copa de la Diversión, or Fun Cup.

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.