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 Oklahoma City Baseball Club

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - April 19, 2015

April 19, 2015 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Oklahoma City Baseball Club News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (7-2) vs. Iowa Cubs (4-4)

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Chicago Cubs

Game #10 of 144/Road #2 of 72 (1-0)

Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Joe Wieland (1-0, 3.60) vs. IOW-RHP Barret Loux (0-0, 4.91)

Sunday, April 19, 2015 | Principal Park | Des Moines, Iowa | 1:08 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game : After last night's game was rained out, the Dodgers and I-Cubs resume their series this afternoon at Principal Park at 1:08 p.m. Yesterday's game will be made up as part of a doubleheader tomorrow afternoon. With a win today, the Dodgers will match the franchise's best start through 10 games since joining the PCL in 1998.

Last Game : The OKC Dodgers continued their hot start with a 3-2 victory over Iowa Friday at Principal Park. Chris Heisey put the Dodgers on the board in the fourth inning when he blasted his third home run of the season. The Dodgers added a pair of runs in the sixth. Pinch hitter Matt Carson hit an infield RBI single with the bases loaded to make it 2-0. Darnell Sweeney then followed with a RBI single. Iowa answered with a run in the bottom of the inning, when Chris Valaika connected on a two-out single to trim OKC's lead to 3-1. In the bottom of the eighth, Scott Schebler reached into the stands in right field to make a catch on what turned out to be a sacrifice fly for Valaika that cut OKC's lead to one run. In the ninth, O'Koyea Dickson made a full extension grab diving toward the left field line to take an extra-base hit from Christian Villanueva. The highlight reel catch ended up being part of a 1-2-3 inning for David Aardsma, who collected his third save. Dodgers starting pitcher Mike Bolsinger (2-0) threw five scoreless innings, allowing just two hits with one walk and eight strikeouts. Tsuyoshi Wada (0-1) picked up the loss for Iowa, charged with one run and four hits over 4.2 innings. The lefty struck out six and walked two.

Today's Probable Pitcher : Joe Wieland (1-0) will make his first road start of the season...He earned a win in his season debut Monday against Nashville, allowing three runs (two earned) and three hits over 5.0 innings. He issued one walk and struck out nine Sounds batters, marking his highest strikeout total since May 28, 2011. After allowing the second run of the first inning, Wieland retired 13 of the final 15 batters he faced...Wieland returned to the mound last season with the Padres after missing the second half of the 2012 season and all of the 2013 season following Tommy John surgery. After rehabbing in the Arizona League and with Double-A San Antonio, he made four starts with El Paso, going 2-1 with a 3.42 ERA...Wieland returned to Major League action on Sept. 6 at Colorado. In his final start of the season, he earned his first MLB win Sept. 24 against Colorado, allowing three runs with five strikeouts and three walks over 5.1 innings in San Diego's 4-3 win...He's been traded twice in his career, and was acquired by the Dodgers along with Yasmani Grandal and Zach Eflin in exchange for Matt Kemp and Tim Federowicz on Dec. 18, 2014...Tonight is his first career start against Iowa.

Against the I-Cubs : 2015: 1-0 2014: 6-10 All-time: 113-125 In IOW: 51-69

Oklahoma City's win against Iowa Friday marked the team's first since Aug. 9, 2014 and ended a six-game losing skid against the I-Cubs...Oklahoma City closed out 2014 losing seven of their final eight meetings between the teams and going 6-10 overall against Iowa last season...OKC finished the 2014 regular season in Des Moines and entered the series with a 1.5-game lead in first place. The I-Cubs swept the four-game set and Omaha overtook the RedHawks to win the division title...Between 2013 and 2014, OKC went just 4-12 in Des Moines...Iowa outscored Oklahoma City, 87-72, last season.

Winning Ways : OKC has won seven of its first nine games for the first time since 2012. With a win today, the Dodgers will match the franchise's best start through 10 games since joining the PCL in 1998, as both the 2008 and 2012 squads went 8-2. The fast start is in lockstep with recent opening month success. Oklahoma City has posted winning records in April each of the past three seasons: 15-12 in 2014, 15-10 in 2013, and 16-9 in 2012.

Whiff City: Friday night the OKC Dodgers pitching staff struck out 14 batters in one game for already the third time this season. They lead the PCL with 104 strikeouts this season, but due to not playing yesterday, they dropped from first to fourth overall in the Minors. However, the team's 11.3 strikeouts per nine innings now ranks best in MiLB...Through nine games, the pitching staff has struck out at least 10 batters seven times and has yet to strike out fewer than eight batters in a game...Over the last six games, they've racked up 74 K's.

In the Zone: Not only do the OKC Dodgers have the most strikeouts in the PCL, but they also have the fewest walks (20). The staff currently has an 5.2/1 strikeout-to-walk ratio, which is tops in the league. The next closest team is Sacramento with a 3.9/1 ratio.

Start Me Up: Excluding Freddy Garcia's sudden spot start on April 15 against Nashville, OKC Dodgers starting pitchers are 6-1 with a 1.66 ERA (8 ER/43.1 IP) through eight games. They've held opponents to a .182 average (28x154) and struck out 56 batters with only seven walks (8 K/BB). In five of the eight games, the starting pitcher has allowed three or fewer hits.

Close Calls: Eight of the team's first nine games have been decided by one or two runs, including each of the last six. They've played four consecutive one-run games, and are tied for second in the PCL with four one-run victories. (Fresno leads with five.)

Buck Wild: Buck Britton failed to register a hit in Friday's game for just the second time this season, but he drew two walks. He paces the Dodgers with 11 hits, a .393 average and .500 on-base percentage (T-4th in PCL), and he ranks second on the team with five RBI. During the opening homestand he became the first OKC Dodger to collect a hit (4/9), a three-hit game (4/12), and a triple (4/13).

Speedy Sweeney: Darnell Sweeney recorded his league-leading fifth stolen base of the season Friday to go along with his first multi-hit game of 2015 (3x5). He has steals in three of his eight games so far this season, including three swipes April 11 against Round Rock, which tied a career high.

OD to the DL: After making an incredible catch in the ninth inning during Friday's game, O'Koyea Dickson was placed on the Disabled List Saturday with a shoulder sprain. Lars Anderson has been added to the OKC roster from Tulsa to take Dickson's place. In eight games with Tulsa, Anderson was batting .192 (9x26) with a home run and seven RBI. Friday night in San Antonio, he connected on his first homer of the season and drove in five runs in the Drillers' 14-3 romp...Anderson appeared in 34 games with Iowa last season, batting .287 with four homers and 19 RBI.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE AND PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS (ALL TIMES CENTRAL)

DATE TIME OPPONENT OKC PITCHERS OPP. PITCHER

Monday, April 20 12:08 p.m. @ Iowa RHP Scott Baker (0-1, 1.80) RHP Carlos Pimentel (0-1, 12.27)

Game 2 @ Iowa TBA RHP Yoanner Negrin (0-0, 3.00)

Tuesday, April 21 7:05 p.m. @ Nashville RHP Carlos Frias (1-0, 3.68) RHP Angel Castro (0-0, 4.50)

Wednesday, April 22 7:05 p.m. @ Nashville RHP Zach Lee (2-0, 0.75) RHP Arnold Leon (0-0, 7.56)


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