2022 Season Review: The Top 5 Games
From dramatic walk-off wins to standout individual performances, we revisit some of the best games of the past season
Since it’s almost the end of the calendar year, it’s time to do one last look back at the 2022 Oklahoma City Dodgers’ campaign.
One of the best things about baseball is the sheer amount of games, lending itself to so many unique occurrences within each game and at the end of games.
Below are the best games of 2022.
HONORABLE MENTION
Aug. 14 vs. Round Rock and Sept. 11 vs. Tacoma
In each of these games, the Dodgers scored 20 runs, winning by a combined score of 40–8. It’s the only time in the team’s Bricktown era (since 1998) they scored 20 runs in a game twice in the same season. Both instances were within a month of each other and both took place during Sunday home games. They account for two of the seven all-time games during the Bricktown era OKC has scored at least 20 runs in a game, and it had only happened twice ever at home prior to this year.
Oddly enough, in both games the opponent took a 1–0 lead in the first inning and the Dodgers were retired in order in the bottom of the frame. On Aug. 14, Jason Martin gave the Dodgers the lead for good with a two-run homer in the second inning. The team had two big innings with a five-run fifth inning — including a three-run homer by Michael Busch — and 10 runs in the eighth inning alone, sending 14 batters to the plate. Busch went 5-for-6 with five RBI and four runs scored and became the first Dodger with a five-hit game at home since 2015.
Aside from the offense, Dustin May threw an immaculate inning during what was the final game of his Major League Rehab Assignment.
In the second edition, the Dodgers cranked out five home runs as a team, including a grand slam by Jake Amaya. It was quite the way to bust out of a slump, as the team had gone six straight games without hitting a home run, marking the longest drought since 2014. The Dodgers put up crooked numbers all day, with four runs each in the second and third innings and five apiece in the sixth and eighth innings. The bottom of the order consisting of Amaya, Devin Mann and Tony Wolters really shined, combining to go 9-for-12 with 11 RBI and eight runs scored, reaching base a total of 12 times.
June 16 at Reno
Speaking of grand slams by Jake Amaya, he also hit one to key a comeback at Reno. The Dodgers trailed, 5–2, entering the fifth inning. They had scored two runs in the inning and had the bases loaded with two outs when Amaya stepped up. He had been hitless over his first two-plus games after being promoted to OKC and provided a memorable first career Triple-A hit.
The blast put the Dodgers in the lead for the rest of the night, as they went on to win, 12–8. Amaya’s representatives also happened to be in the house that night and provided a great view of his bat flip during the key grand slam.
Aug. 17 at Sugar Land
In a low-scoring game, the Dodgers trailed Sugar Land, 1–0, in the ninth inning. To make matters more difficult, Sugar Land had eventual PCL Pitcher of the Year Hunter Brown on the mound. Brown had entered the game in the fourth inning and was cruising to that point, throwing five scoreless innings with eight strikeouts while allowing a pair of singles and a walk on a total of 62 pitches.
After recording a groundout to start the ninth inning, Brown had retired 12 consecutive hitters. But Edwin Ríos drew a walk and Jason Martin came up next. In a battle of two of the best players in the league, Martin was able to get just enough of a ball out to left-center field to give the Dodgers the lead.
The Space Cowboys promptly started the bottom of the ninth inning with each of the first two batters reaching base before Dodgers reliever Daniel Zamora notched two strikeouts and a flyout to preserve the win.
Sept. 1 at Round Rock
Yes, there is actually a loss on this list. That’s how good starting pitcher Bobby Miller was despite a rain-shortened 2–0 defeat.
Miller struck out 14 batters over six innings while allowing two runs, two hits and one walk. He’s just the third OKC pitcher during the Bricktown era to record 14 or more strikeouts in a game.
Miller struck out 10 of the final 11 batters he faced, including the last eight straight, falling one shy of the PCL record for consecutive strikeouts in a game. Eleven of the 14 punchouts were on swinging third strikes.
However, Miller was ambushed on first-pitch fastball with two outs in the second inning, resulting in a two-run homer that ultimately provided the only runs of the game. The contest ended a bit controversially, as play was halted due to rain with the tying runs in scoring position in the top of the seventh inning. The game was eventually called due to unplayable field conditions resulting from some drainage issues throughout Dell Diamond. Early in the season, this wouldn’t have been a huge deal. But at the time, these teams were 1–2 in the division race with less than a month remaining in the season. Although Miller was credited with a complete game, he was also handed a tough-luck loss.
5) July 29 vs. Sugar Land
This one had all the elements of a great game with a great finish: A low-scoring game that went into extra innings and finished on a walk-off homer by one of the team’s top players, all during a fireworks night.
The Dodgers and Space Cowboys were tied, 1–1, after two innings and stayed that way through nine innings. Sugar Land broke the deadlock with a two-out RBI single in the top of the 10th inning.
Miguel Vargas was due up first in the bottom of the 10th inning. On the fourth pitch of the at-bat, he provided the weird-but-certainly-fun leadoff two-run homer with the automatic runner placed at second base.
It was one of the team’s four walk-off home runs this season (*foreshadowing alert*), but the only one to be hit when the team was trailing.
4) June 7–8 vs. Sugar Land
Comeback wins against Sugar Land ended up being a theme of this list. On back-to-back days in June — and in the span of about 19 hours — the Dodgers trailed in the eighth inning or later and ended up winning against the Space Cowboys.
During the first game, Sugar Land led, 4–1, in the seventh inning. Miguel Vargas knocked in two runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to make it a one-run game. Stefen Romero evened the score with a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning.
After Carson Fulmer ended a Sugar Land threat with a strikeout in the top of the ninth inning, the Dodgers had a runner on base when the rehabbing Max Muncy stepped up and unleashed a no-doubt home run.
The teams had a quick turnaround and met the next afternoon during a field trip game. It certainly appeared for most of the game the Space Cowboys had quickly gotten over their tough loss the night before and built a 6–1 lead through the top of the eighth inning.
But yet again, the Dodgers rallied. They scored once in the eighth inning but were still down by four runs entering their final at-bat. With the bases loaded and one out, Miguel Vargas drew a walk to force in another run. Jake Lamb followed with a bases-clearing double to tie the game.
Although Lamb represented the winning run at second base with one out, the Dodgers could not bring him in, and the game went to extras.
Sugar Land managed to score twice in the top of the 10th inning despite not collecting a hit, thanks to the automatic runner starting the inning at second base plus a hit batter, a walk and a passed ball.
With two runners on base and one out, Drew Avans hit a RBI single, setting the stage for Michael Busch.
Busch had been 0-for-5 in the game and was batting under .200 in his time at Triple-A up to that point. This hit not only won the game, but also seemed to the genesis of his turnaround.
3) May 12 at Round Rock
This game certainly embodied the old adage of “If you show up to the ballpark every day, you never know what you’ll see.” And nobody ever expects to see one team defeat the other, 19–0.
Jake Lamb hit the first of the team’s six home runs and the Dodgers had a 3–0 lead through two innings. Things began to get out of hand during a seven-run third inning, including a two-run homer by Jason Martin and three-run homer by Kevin Pillar.
The Dodgers belted three more homers in the fifth inning, with back-to-back blasts by Ryan Noda and Andy Burns as well as three-run shot by Eddy Alvarez to complete a six-run frame.
Throughout the game, six different players went deep, marking the first time in the team’s history that had ever happened.
While the offense finished with 19 runs and 19 hits in addition to drawing 10 walks, it was the exact opposite on the other side. Starting pitcher Yefry Ramírez was effective and efficient. Through his first five innings, Ramírez allowed two singles and a walk, but had erased each baserunner with a ground ball double play.
With two outs in the ninth inning he had retired 13 straight and was one batter from facing the minimum. But a little dribbler up the first base line prolonged the game a bit before he retired the next batter. Incredibly, it was the first nine-inning complete game thrown in the PCL since 2018! Ramírez threw 107 pitches and never threw more than 16 pitches in an inning. Although the total time of the game was 2 hours, 53 minutes, Ramírez was only on the mound for 32 minutes, 33 seconds! (Thanks again to Round Rock staffer Rylan Kobre for that note.)
It was the largest shutout win in team history, smashing the previous record of 14–0 set in 1998. It was also tied for the second-largest margin of victory in the team’s Bricktown era and largest since 2013. For more nuggets from this game, unspool the tweet thread below:
2) April 5 vs. Albuquerque (Opening Night)
After the 2020–21 seasons were significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and there was much uncertainty entering 2022 due to the lockout in Major League Baseball, a big theme of the 2022 season was ultimately a return to normalcy. The first step was Opening Night, which seemed just as a much as a relief in addition to the normal excitement and anticipation that accompanies it.
The Dodgers opened the season at home against Albuquerque, marking the first time since 2010 the teams opened the season against each other. Both teams’ starting pitchers were considered top prospects, featuring OKC’s Ryan Pepiot and Albuquerque’s Ryan Feltner, and the duo combined to throw nine scoreless innings.
The Isotopes scored twice in the fifth inning, but a two-run double by Andy Burns tied the game in the sixth inning.
The game remained tied until the ninth inning before Jason Martin gave the team and the fans a memorable start to the season, foreshadowing his incredible season to come.
It was the first time since 2008 OKC won when playing at home on Opening Day and was the second-ever walk-off homer during a home opener at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark (also 2005), but the first when opening the season overall at home.
1) Aug. 26 vs. El Paso
For the die-hard fans and those who are closely tied to this team, it will henceforth always be known as “The James Outman Game.”
The season series between the Dodgers and the Chihuahuhas was tightly contested, with El Paso ultimately edging OKC by one game to claim the division the title. With a total of 12 games between the teams to be played over the final 33 games of the season, each one carried a lot of weight.
El Paso took two of the first three games of the series. In the series opener, the Chihuahuas trailed by two with the bases empty and two outs in the eighth inning, only to tie the game and eventually win in extra innings. The Dodgers bounced back with a win the next day before El Paso won, 5–3, during a back-and-forth affair.
Outman gave the Dodgers a 2–1 lead with a RBI triple in the third inning and then a 3–2 lead in the sixth inning with a RBI double.
El Paso scored twice in the eighth inning to go in front, 4–3. Leading off the bottom of the inning, Jason Martin hit what appeared to be a game-tying home run…except it wasn’t. Even though the pitcher delivered the ball and Martin proceeded to hit it over the fence, the home plate umpire ruled the pitcher did not begin his delivery prior to the expiration of the pitch clock. Although Martin rounded the bases and home run horn blew, it was all for naught. Since the play had occurred on a full count, the apparent game-tying home run was turned into a walk instead.
It didn’t take long for the Dodgers to tie the game for real. Outman followed Martin and hit his second RBI triple of the game.
The Dodgers then loaded the bases with nobody out seemingly primed to take the lead, but they were unable to convert.
The pitching staff held serve in the top of the ninth inning keeping the game even. When the Dodgers were batting in the bottom of the ninth inning, there were two runners on base for Outman, who not only won the game but hit for the cycle.
The final totals: 5-for-5, a double, two triples, a home run and six RBI — all of which either tied the game or gave the Dodgers the lead.
It was the first cycle by any OKC player since 2011 and came in the most dramatic of fashions. Plus, it was on Military Celebration Night, complete with postgame fireworks and all. Outman jump-started a key series win for the Dodgers, who ended up winning each of the final three games of the set against the Chihuahuas.
The postscript is that just three games later, Outman hit for the cycle again! He reached base six times with five RBI during a 17–8 win at Round Rock.
So for those keeping score, no player had hit for the cycle in over 11 years and then the same player did it twice within four games. As Hall of Fame baseball scribe Jayson Stark would say, Baseball!
That will wrap things up for 2022. As always, thanks for reading. We look forward to celebrating the 25th anniversary of Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark with you in 2023!
