Dodgers Walk Off to Win Home Opener, 8-7
Published on April 11, 2018 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release
Oklahoma City - Travis Taijeron's RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning capped a four-run rally in the frame and secured a walk-off win for the Oklahoma City Dodgers, 8-7, against the Round Rock Express Tuesday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.
The Dodgers trailed, 6-1, in the fifth inning and trailed, 7-4, entering the bottom of the ninth, but came back to seal a victory in a home opener for the first time since 2011.
José Leclerc entered the game to pitch for Round Rock in the bottom of the ninth inning. Dodgers Tim Locastro, Breyvic Valera and Andrew Toles each drew walks to load the bases. Henry Ramos followed and drew a fourth consecutive walk for Oklahoma City to bring home Locastro.
After an Express pitching change, Alex Verdugo hit a grounder into left field to score two more runs for the Dodgers and knot the game, 7-7, still with no outs.
Rob Segedin followed and grounded into a double play that also allowed Ramos to advance to third base. After Max Muncy was intentionally walked and advanced to second base on defensive indifference, Taijeron lined his game-winning single to bring home Ramos for the walk-off win.
The Dodgers (3-1) took the first lead of the night as Henry Ramos' RBI groundout in the bottom of the third inning gave Oklahoma City a 1-0 advantage in front of a crowd of 5,614.
Round Rock (1-5) tied the game, 1-1, on a solo homer by Willie Calhoun in the fourth inning. Later with the bases loaded, Hanser Alberto added a run with a RBI groundout in the frame for a 2-1 advantage.
The Express' Christian Lopes connected on a grand slam that landed in the Express bullpen in the fifth inning to push the Express lead to 6-1.
The Dodgers chipped away at the Express lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. Valera led off with a double and Toles followed with a single before Ramos hit a RBI groundout to bring home Valera for OKC's second run of the night. Later with Toles at third base and Rob Segedin batting, a wild pitch by Express pitcher David Ledbetter allowed Toles to score and cut Round Rock's lead to three runs.
Cameron Rupp's solo homer in the top of the seventh pushed Round Rock's lead back to four runs.
Muncy answered with his second homer of the season in the eighth inning. He belted a solo shot into right-center field to cut Round Rock's lead to 7-4, as the Dodgers went on to score a total of five unanswered runs to close out the game.
Taijeron finished the night 3-for-3 with a walk and was hit by a pitch to reach base in each of his five at-bats of the night. Ramos paced OKC with three RBI.
Dodgers reliever Edward Paredes (1-1) picked up his first win of the season, holding the Express scoreless over two-thirds of the ninth inning. Leclerc (0-1) was charged with the loss, allowing four runs in the top of the ninth inning and four walks.
Oklahoma City is now 8-13 all-time in home openers at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.
The Dodgers continue their seven-game homestand against the Express at 7:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.
Live coverage begins 15 minutes before first pitch on AM 1340 "The Game," 1340thegame.com, or through the free iHeartRadio mobile app.
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