Dodgers Drop Finale; Finish Regular Season with Record 90 Wins

Albuquerque Isotopes – 2

Oklahoma City Dodgers – 1

Sunday, Sept. 24, 2023 – Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park – Albuquerque, N.M.

Game Summary: Michael Busch homered for the Oklahoma City Dodgers’ lone run of the day in a 2-1 loss to the Albuquerque Isotopes Sunday afternoon in the regular-season finale at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park. With two outs in the sixth inning, Busch hit a fly ball out to left-center field for an opposite-field solo home run to put the Dodgers (40-35/90-58) ahead, 1-0. Albuquerque answered in the bottom of the inning, tying the score, 1-1, on a single by Daniel Montano coupled with an OKC fielding error. The Isotopes (41-34/68-82) then took the lead in the seventh inning. Kyle Datres tripled on a fly ball that was lost in the sun and Jameson Hannah followed with a RBI single to score Datres for a 2-1 Albuquerque lead.

Of Note:

-The Dodgers finished the regular season with 90-58 record overall and with the most wins for an Oklahoma City team in a single season during the Bricktown era (since 1998). Their 90 wins are the second-most wins in OKC’s Triple-A history (since 1962) behind only the 1965 Oklahoma City 89ers, who finished 91-54…OKC’s 90 wins are tied for the most in the Minors this season with Triple-A Norfolk (90-59) and the Dodgers are just the second Pacific Coast League team since 2006 to notch at least 90 wins, joining the 2017 Memphis Redbirds (91-50)…The Dodgers finished in first place in the overall PCL standings, marking the fourth time that has happened during the team’s Bricktown era (also 2005, 2013 and 2015). The Dodgers held at least a share of first place in the league standings for all but seven days this season.

-Oklahoma City wrapped up the PCL second half with a 40-35 record after winning the PCL’s first-half title in June and going 50-23 to start the season. Oklahoma City closed out the 2023 regular season with three straight losses for the first time since a season-high six-game losing streak Aug. 20-26.

-The Dodgers finished with a 48-27 record on the road this season. The team set a single-season Bricktown-era record for road wins and the Dodgers compiled the most road wins in the Minors this season. Their 48 road wins are the most by any PCL team since 2005 and the 2023 Dodgers are the first team in all of the Minors to win at least 48 road games in one season since High-A Lake Elsinore in 2010 (48-22).

-Michael Busch hit his third home run in the last four games as well as his team-leading 27th home run of the season, going 1-for-3. With the home run, he tied his longest hitting streak of the season with OKC at nine games and is 12-for-32 (.375) during the streak with six extra-base hits, eight RBI and nine runs scored. His 27 home runs this season are the eighth-most homers hit by an OKC player in a single season during the team’s Bricktown era.

-The Oklahoma City offense has been limited to five runs on 16 hits over the last three games and has scored in just four of the last 35 innings going back to Thursday night’s game in Albuquerque.

-The two runs scored by the Isotopes Sunday marked the second time the Dodgers held an opponent to two runs in a game this season and lost, last happening in a 2-1 road loss in Sacramento May 27.

-Sunday’s game was completed in 1 hour, 59 minutes for the Dodgers’ fastest nine-inning game of the season and fastest nine-inning game since a 2-0 victory against Memphis May 11, 2018 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark completed in 1 hour, 54 minutes.

-The Dodgers won the PCL’s first-half title and will host the Round Rock Express, winners of the PCL second-half title, in a best-of-three PCL Championship Series presented by Paycom Tuesday through Thursday at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

What’s Next: The OKC Dodgers host the Pacific Coast League Championship Series presented by Paycom starting at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday as the Dodgers play the Round Rock Express in a best-of-three series to determine the league champion at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

The series opens Tuesday with Bark in the Park as dogs are welcome to attend. Owners will need to fill out and turn in a waiver form at the gate in order for their dog to be admitted. The series opener is also a $2 Tuesday featuring $2 select beer, soda and bottled water from a line of Budweiser and Pepsi products, while COOP Ale Works draft beer will be available at a special rate of $3. Gates open at 6 p.m. and the first 1,000 fans will receive a rally towel courtesy of SoFi.

Game 2 of the series will then take place at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday and, if necessary, Game 3 will take place at 7:05 p.m. Thursday at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

All tickets are available for purchase online 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. Video broadcasts of all OKC Dodgers home games are now available to be streamed live for free on the Bally Live app.