Pillar Homers Twice in OKC's 9-2 Win

Oklahoma City Dodgers – 9

Albuquerque Isotopes – 2

Friday, May 6, 2022 – Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark – Oklahoma City, Okla.

Game Summary: The Oklahoma City Dodgers scored runs in five innings and racked up 17 hits in a 9-2 win against the Albuquerque Isotopes Friday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Three Dodgers pitchers combined to shut out Albuquerque over the game’s final eight inning as Oklahoma City posted back-to-back wins. Albuquerque (12-16) took a 2-0 lead in the first inning before the Dodgers responded with three runs. OKC (17-11) opened the game with five straight hits, including a leadoff homer by Kevin Pillar. Stefen Romero added a RBI double and OKC took the lead on Andy Burns’ RBI single. Pillar homered for the second time in his second at-bat out to left field to lead off the second inning. Pillar’s sacrifice fly in the third inning and a RBI double by Miguel Vargas boosted OKC’s lead to 6-2. OKC loaded the bases in the fifth inning and Zach McKinstry responded with a RBI single. A RBI triple for Jason Martin and RBI single by Omar Estévez in the sixth inning extended OKC’s lead to 9-2.

Of Note:

-Kevin Pillar went 4-for-4 with two homers and three RBI. In his last two games combined, Pillar is 7-for-8 with three homers, seven RBI and three runs scored. His four hits Friday were a season high and his most since a four-hit outing Aug. 12, 2020 with the Boston Red Sox against Tampa Bay. He became the fourth Dodgers player with a multi-homer game and it was his first since hitting two homers Aug. 28, 2021 with the New York Mets at Baltimore. He now leads the Dodgers with seven homers and 24 RBI while his 26 runs scored are tied for the team lead.

-OKC’s 17 hits fell one shy of the team’s season-high mark of 18 set April 19 at Sacramento. Friday was the team’s third straight game with a double-digit hit total and the third in the last four games…OKC has scored nine or more runs in three of the last five games…The Dodgers went 6-for-17 with runners in scoring position Friday and are 11-for-30 with RISP over the last two games combined.

-Omar Estévez went 3-for-5 with a double, RBI and two runs scored. He has hit safely in three straight games, going 6-for-13 with three RBI and three runs scored.

-After allowing two runs in the first inning, three Dodgers pitchers combined to shut out Albuquerque over the final eight innings. April PCL Pitcher of the Month Ryan Pepiot pitched 4.2 innings, allowing two runs in the first inning, four hits and three walks with seven strikeouts. Justin Hagenman (1-0) picked up his first win of the season with 2.1 scoreless innings of relief as he held an opponent scoreless for the fourth time in his first five outings with OKC. Marshall Kasowski closed out the game with 2.0 scoreless innings for his third straight scoreless outing. The trio allowed a combined two runs, seven hits and four walks with nine K’s.

-Jason Martin hit his second triple in four games as the Dodgers picked up their Triple-A-leading 16th triple of the season and fifth in the last eight games…Martin finished the game 2-for-4 and scored two runs as he has hit safely in seven of his last eight games.

-Miguel Vargas extended his season-best hitting streak to eight games, going 2-for-5 with a double, RBI and scored a run. During the streak, he is 14-for-31 with four RBI and 14 runs scored. Friday marked his team-leading 10th multi-hit game of the season. He leads the Dodgers with 31 hits and is tied for the team lead with 26 runs scored this season.

-The Dodgers have won back-to-back games as well as five of their last seven games. They are 6-4 during their current 12-game homestand.

What’s Next: The Dodgers and Isotopes continue their series at 7:05 p.m. Saturday at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. 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.