Taylor Homers in Twice During Win in Salt Lake

Oklahoma City Dodgers – 6

Salt Lake Bees – 1

Wednesday, August 3, 2022 – Smith’s Ballpark – Salt Lake City, Utah

Game Summary: Chris Taylor homered on the first pitch of the game as part of a two-homer performance and the Oklahoma City Dodgers led from start to finish in a 6-1 win over the Salt Lake Bees Wednesday night at Smith’s Ballpark. Playing the second game of a Major League Rehab Assignment, Taylor swatted the game’s first pitch over the fence to the left of the batter’s eye to give the Dodgers (61-40) an instant 1-0 lead. Fellow rehabber Edwin Ríos then doubled off the center field fence and scored on a RBI single by Michael Busch. Ríos picked up a RBI groundout in the second inning, and Salt Lake (48-53) scored its only run in the fourth inning to trim the Dodgers’ lead to 3-1. In the seventh inning, Taylor connected on his second homer of the night, and the two-run blast to right-center field pushed the lead to 5-1. Ryan Noda notched a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning for OKC’s final run. Dustin May made the third start of his rehab assignment with Oklahoma City and allowed one run and two hits over four innings with six strikeouts.

Of Note:

-The Dodgers improved to 9-2 over the first 11 games following the All-Star Break, with wins in three straight and four of five. They improved their record to 61-40, reaching a season-best 21 games above .500. The Dodgers also won for the seventh time in their last eight games at Smith’s Ballpark and moved to 15-4 at Salt Lake since the start of the 2015 season.

-Chris Taylor went 3-for-4 with two homers and three RBI during the second game of his rehab assignment. Taylor hit home runs in the first and seventh innings, and also singled in the second inning. He hit OKC’s fourth leadoff homer of the year and recorded 13th multi-homer game by an individual this season. On the defensive front, Taylor played four innings at second base and three innings at third base, marking the first time he’s played the infield in any game this season. Taylor was placed on the Injured List July 6 with a left foot fracture.

-Starting pitcher Dustin May made his third appearance with OKC on rehab assignment, throwing a season-high 4.0 innings. He allowed one run and two hits, with one walk and six strikeouts. May retired 11 of the first 12 batters he faced, including each of the first eight. With two outs in the fourth inning, Salt Lake’s Matt Thaiss hit a line drive to right field. OKC’s Jason Martin made a diving attempt at the catch, but the ball got past him for a triple. The next batter followed with a bloop RBI single before May struck out the final batter he faced. He threw 62 pitches, with 39 strikes.

-Edwin Ríos continued his Major League Rehab Assignment and played in his fifth game with OKC. He played the entire game as the designated hitter and went 1-for-5 with a double, RBI and run scored. He is now 4-for-16 with three doubles during the rehab assignment and has collected a double in three straight games. Ríos was placed on the Injured List June 3 with a right hamstring injury and was transferred to the 60-day IL June 22.

-Drew Avans collected a bunt single in the seventh inning as he extended his on-base streak to 40 games for the longest on-base streak by a PCL player since 2018. It is also the longest active on-base streak in the Minors and the longest on-base streak by an OKC Dodgers player since Alex Verdugo reached base in 41 consecutive games June 4-July 25, 2017. Avans has also reached base in 54 of his last 55 games and hit safely in 23 of the last 27 games.

-For the second straight game, the Dodgers pitching staff limited Salt Lake to one run. Over the first two games of the series, the Dodgers have allowed two runs with 26 strikeouts while holding Salt Lake 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position. Following Dustin May, five relievers combining for five scoreless innings.

-Jake Amaya went 1-for-3 with a walk and over the last three games, he is 4-for-8 with four walks, reaching base in eight of 12 plate appearances.

What’s Next: The Dodgers continue their series in Salt Lake at 7:35 p.m. CT Thursday 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.