Dodgers Drop Saturday Game to Tacoma and Into Second Place in Division

Tacoma Rainiers – 4

Oklahoma City Dodgers – 3

Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022 – Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark – Oklahoma City, Okla.

Game Summary: Michael Busch collected a game-high three hits but the Oklahoma City Dodgers were held to three runs for the fourth time in the last five games in a 4-3 loss to the Tacoma Rainiers Saturday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Tacoma (64-70) grabbed a quick lead when Kyle Lewis hit a solo home run out to right-center field in the first inning. The Dodgers (74-60) answered in the bottom of the inning with a RBI single by Edwin Ríos to tie the score, 1-1. The Rainiers added two runs in the fifth inning via a RBI groundout and RBI single by Forrest Wall for a 3-1 advantage. Wall added another RBI single in the seventh inning for a 4-1 Tacoma lead. Busch’s RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning trimmed the deficit to two runs. In the eighth inning, James Outman connected on a one-out double before scoring on a RBI single by Jason Martin to cut Tacoma’s lead to 4-3. Rainiers pitchers then retired the final five Dodgers batters of the game as Tacoma took a 4-1 lead in the six-game series.

Of Note:

-With Saturday’s loss, the Dodgers have now lost back-to-back games, four of the five games and eight of the last 10 games. They entered Saturday’s schedule in a first-place tie with El Paso in the PCL East Division, however Saturday’s OKC loss, along with El Paso’s 10-9 win against Albuquerque and Round Rock’s 6-3 win against Sugar Land Saturday pushed the Dodgers into a second-place tie with Round Rock in the division standings. OKC and Round Rock now trail first-place El Paso by one game. This is the first time since June 1 the Dodgers have not held first place or been in a tie for first place in the East Division.

-The Dodgers were held to three runs in the loss, marking the fourth time in the last five games and sixth time in the last nine games they have scored three runs or less. Over the last nine games, the Dodgers have scored a total of 29 runs — fewest in the league so far in September. OKC outhit Tacoma, 10-9, Saturday, reaching double-digit hits for the third time this month. However over the last nine games, OKC has batted .249 (74x297) with 17 extra-base hits, including two solo home runs.

-Oklahoma City has not hit a home run in six straight games — the team’s longest stretch without a homer during the Dodgers affiliation (since 2015) and since a six-game stretch without a home run July 27-Aug. 1, 2014.

-Michael Busch went 3-for-5 with a RBI, finishing with a game-high three hits for his highest hit total of the month and most hits since going 4-for-4 Aug. 24 against El Paso.

-Edwin Ríos and James Outman also finished with multi-hit games for the Dodgers, going 2-for-4. Ríos collected a RBI and Outman finished with a double.

-Jason Martin went 1-for-3 with his league-leading 103rd RBI of the season. He moved into a tie with Nate Gold for the Oklahoma City team record for RBI in a season during the team’s Bricktown era (since 1998). Gold compiled 103 RBI during the 2007 season.

-Tommy Kahnle pitched one scoreless inning, allowing two hits and recording two strikeouts as he continued his Major League Rehab Assignment. He faced five batters and threw 15 pitches (10 strikes) in his 10th appearance with OKC. He has been on the Los Angeles Dodgers Injured List since May 14 due to right forearm inflammation.

-Tacoma clinched a win in the current series as well as the season series against Oklahoma City with Saturday’s victory. The Rainiers now lead the current series, 4-1, and have a 7-4 lead in the season series with one meeting remaining between the teams. OKC will lose its first season series to Tacoma since the 2014 season when the team went 0-4 in Tacoma.

-The OKC Dodgers took the field in Cielo Azul jerseys during ¡Celebración Cielo Azul! as part of MiLB’s Copa de la Diversión, or Fun Cup, which is a season-long event series designed to embrace the culture and values that resonate most with participating teams’ local U.S. Hispanic/Latino communities, including creating unique on-field personas and gameday experiences. The name Cielo Azul translates to “Blue Sky.”

What’s Next: The current and season series between the Dodgers and Rainiers wraps up at 2:05 p.m. Sunday at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark during ¡Celebración Cielo Azul! and kids can run the bases following the game. 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.