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 Oklahoma City Baseball Club

RedHawks Game Notes: April 24, 2014

April 24, 2014 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Oklahoma City Baseball Club News Release


Oklahoma City RedHawks (12-8) vs. Nashville Sounds (9-10)

Houston Astros vs. Milwaukee Brewers

Game #21 of 144/Home #5 of 72 (2-2)

Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Mike Foltynewicz (1-1, 7.20)/LHP Rudy Owens (2-0, 5.12) vs. NAS-RHP Ariel Pena (0-0, 2.00)

Thursday, April 24, 2014 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 7:05 p.m. CT

Radio: KGHM AM-1340 The Game, 1340thegame.com, iHeartRadio - Alex Freedman

Today's Game: After having Wednesday off, the RedHawks return to Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark to open an eight-game homestand at 7:05 p.m. against the Nashville Sounds. Oklahoma City went 2-2 in its only other home series, April 11-14 against New Orleans.

Last Game: Oklahoma City built a seven-run lead and went on to win, 8-3, against Memphis at AutoZone Park Tuesday afternoon. Domingo Santana gave OKC an early lead with a RBI single, but Stephen Piscotty's RBI double in the bottom of the first tied the game. Ronny Torreyes hit a RBI single in the second inning to give OKC the lead. Jon Singleton sent a line drive homer into the Memphis bullpen in the third. Two batters later, Jonathan Meyer connected on his first dinger of the season, for a 4-1 lead. OKC added three more runs in the seventh. Kiké Hernandez hit a double down the third base line to score two and Singleton brought him home with a sac fly. A Memphis wild pitch allowed another run to score in the eighth. The Redbirds cut into OKC's lead in the bottom of the eighth when Joey Butler hit an RBI double, and Piscotty plated Butler with a RBI single to make it 8-3. RedHawks pitcher David Martinez (3-2) turned in a solid start, allowing just one run and three hits over five innings to earn his third win.

Today's Probable Pitchers: Mike Foltynewicz (1-1) is scheduled to make his third start of the season, and first in Bricktown...He pitched three innings in Memphis Saturday as the RedHawks piggyback starter. He allowed two runs on five hits, did not issue a walk and struck out three, retiring the final six hitters he faced...In his last start April 15 in Colorado Springs, Foltynewicz collected his first Triple-A win, allowing one run on four hits over five innings. He walked two and struck out a season-high six batters...Foltynewicz spent the majority of 2013 with Double-A Corpus Christi after starting the year at High-A Lancaster. With Corpus Christi, he went 5-3 with three saves and a 2.87 ERA and .207 opponent average in 23 games (16 starts). He was named a Midseason and Postseason All-Star in the Texas League...According to Baseball America, he touched 100 mph more frequently than any other minor leaguer...In 2012, he was named the Astros organization's Minor League Pitcher of the Year and the South Atlantic League's Most Outstanding Pitcher

Rudy Owens (2-0) is set to follow Foltynewicz...He threw five scoreless and hitless innings in his last start Saturday in Memphis to earn his second win of 2014. He retired 15 of the 16 batters he faced, with one Redbird reaching base on an error. He finished with four strikeouts, using just 54 pitches before hitting his innings limit...Owens has not issued a walk in his last four appearances and has walked just two batters over 19.1 innings pitched. He leads OKC with 19 strikeouts...The lefty currently is holding opposing hitters to a .216 average and he currently ranks fourth in the PCL with a 0.93 WHIP...Owens had an injury-shortened 2013 season. He made four appearances with OKC before suffering a stress fracture in his left foot and did not pitch after April 22. In his very abbreviated season, Owens finished 0-3 with a 3.71 ERA...He pitched in the Dominican Winter League for the Gigantes de Cibao, going 3-2 with a 2.68 ERA in 10 starts. He led the league in innings (53.2), strikeouts (49) and WHIP (0.99) and held opponents to a .191 batting average.

Against the Sounds: 2014: 0-0 2013: 11-5 All-time: 138-118 At OKC: 73-54

The RedHawks have won their last three season series against Nashville and five of the last six...Over the past two seasons, they are 24-8 against the Sounds...In Bricktown, the RedHawks are 37-11 against the Sounds over the past six seasons. They have won all but one home series during that stretch...The RedHawks outscored Nashville, 72-56, in 16 meetings last season...The teams split their previous series Aug. 26-29, 2013 in OKC. The RedHawks clinched the American Southern Division with a 5-4 win on Aug. 27. The final meeting resulted in a 5-4 RedHawks victory that took 14 innings to settle on Aug. 29...Nashville and Oklahoma City each had nine homers apiece in the series last season.

Off the Road: The RedHawks begin their first true homestand tonight after playing 16 of their first 20 games on the road. They went 10-6 in those away games, making them the only team in professional baseball with 10 road wins thus far.

Leader of the Pack: Jon Singleton went 1-for-4 with a home run and two RBI on Tuesday to continue his early-season tear. He leads all of the Minors with 25 RBI, and his eight home runs lead the PCL and are tied for third in the Minors. In 73 games with the RedHawks last season, he hit six homers and had 31 RBI. Singleton also leads the PCL with 57 total bases and 15 extra-base hits. He ranks tied for second with 20 runs scored, while his .740 slugging percentage ranks fourth in the league.

No Triple-A Blues: After going 0-for-5 in his first game with the RedHawks after getting optioned to Oklahoma City, Robbie Grossman tore through the Memphis Redbirds over the past four games, going 9-for-15 with three extra-base hits. On Tuesday he notched two hits and three walks, reaching base all five times he came to the plate. It's the first time this season a RedHawk has drawn three walks in game.

Mad Max: Max Stassi had Tuesday off after homering in a third straight game Monday. While playing for Double-A Corpus Christi last season he once homered in five straight, July 15-20. He's hit safely in 15 of his 16 games this season and ranks second on the team with both five homers and 17 RBI.

The Kiké to Success: Kiké Hernandez has hit safely in five of his first six games with OKC, going 9-for-25 (.360) with four RBI during his first taste of Triple-A. Combined with his final seven games at Double-A, Hernandez is 21-for-54 (.389) over his last 13 contests.

Rough Patch for Pitchers: Over the past nine games, the RedHawks have allowed 59 runs and 12 home runs, compared to 40 runs and six homers allowed over the first 11 games. After holding opposing hitters to a .221 clip (81x366) over their first 11 games, opponents have batted .307 (102x332) during the recent nine-game stretch.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE AND PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS (ALL TIMES CENTRAL)

DATE TIME OPPONENT OKC PITCHERS OPP. PITCHER

Friday, April 25 7:05 p.m. Nashville RHP Jose Cisnero (0-0, 2.45)/RHP Jake Buchanan (1-1, 4.82) RHP Mike Fiers (3-0, 0.87)

Saturday, April 26 7:05 p.m. Nashville TBA/RHP Nick Tropeano (1-1, 3.32) LHP Brad Mills (1-0, 2.13)

Sunday, April 27 2:05 p.m. Nashville RHP Bobby Doran (0-0, 8.15)/RHP David Martinez (3-2, 3.43) RHP Jimmy Nelson (2-1, 1.80)

Monday, April 28 7:05 p.m. Round Rock LHP Rudy Owens (2-0, 5.12)/RHP Mike Foltynewicz (1-1, 7.20) TBA


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