James Outman impressed with the Los Angeles Dodgers after making his MLB debut at the end of July, and on Friday night he had a historic game to lead the way in a 7-4 walk-off win for Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Outman hit for the cycle, the first by an Oklahoma City Dodgers player since Tommy Manzella in 2011, and finished with a career-high-tying six RBI for the second time in the past three games. It was the fourth time since July 13 that the hot-hitting outfielder had at least five RBI in a single game.
Outman went 5-for-5 in the win and began his historic night with a base hit in the second inning. He then hit an RBI double in the third inning to break a 1-1 tie, and again put OKC ahead in the sixth by driving in a run with a double.
In the eighth, Outman hit another RBI triple to tie the game. Outman put the finishing touches on hitting for the cycle in dramatic fashion by sending a line drive over the fence in right field for a walk-off, three-run home run.
Outman is the first Oklahoma City Dodgers player since 2007 with multiple games of at least six RBI in the same season. He also became the franchise’s first player to hit two triples in one game since Matt Brown on Aug. 5, 2010.
Prior to Outman, the last member of Oklahoma City to have at least four extra-base hits in a single game was Keibert Ruiz when he hit three home runs and a double on July 23, 2021.
James Outman impressed Andrew Friedman
When recently discussing the immediate impact Outman made for the Dodgers, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman raved about the 25-year-old outfielder.
“It’s been really fun to watch Outtie. It’s an incredible story from our amateur scouting efforts to our player development efforts,” Friedman said last month.
“And it takes someone that has the work ethic, makeup and desire to be great that James has. It’s an awesome story with so many different people involved in it. To watch him come up and impact our team in these two games has been really fun. We’ve been sitting in a room with a lot of our scouts and some player development guys, and they’ve really enjoyed every minute of it, and rightfully so.”
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