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Oklahoma City Baseball Club

Ferguson Excels but Dodgers Falter

May 26, 2018 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Oklahoma City Baseball Club News Release


Nashville, Tenn. - Caleb Ferguson turned in an impressive Triple-A debut with 10 strikeouts over five scoreless innings, but the Oklahoma City Dodgers offense struggled to back him in a 1-0 loss against the Nashville Sounds Saturday night at First Tennessee Park.

The 21-year-old lefty allowed three hits with three walks and a season-high 10 strikeouts. All three hits allowed were singles, and he held Nashville 1-for-7 with runners on base and 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position.

Unfortunately for the Dodgers (29-17), the Nashville pitching staff was a bit better all night. The Sounds (25-23) pitched their sixth shutout of the season, as the Dodgers were blanked for the second time in 2018. OKC produced just four hits, tying the team's season low, and went 0-for-9 with runners on and 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.

Sounds starting pitcher Matt Milburn (1-0) went six scoreless innings in his second Triple-A start. He scattered three hits, with no walks and four strikeouts to earn his first win with Nashville.

Former OKC Dodger Jeremy Bleich held the Dodgers scoreless between the seventh and eighth innings, and Bobby Wahl closed it out by retiring the side in order in the ninth with two strikeouts, earning his fifth save.

With Ferguson and Milburn trading zeroes, the Dodgers appeared to be poised to open the scoring the fifth inning. Matt Beaty led off with a double and advanced to third base on a groundout by Henry Ramos. Jake Peter came up next and sent a grounder to the right side of a drawn in infield. First baseman Nick Martini fielded the ball and threw home, where catcher Beau Taylor applied the tag on Beaty for the out.

In the bottom of the inning, the Sounds collected consecutive singles with one out, and two batters later, Ramon Laureano drew a walk to load the bases with two outs. After a mound visit, Ferguson struck out Anthony Garcia on three pitches for his 10th and final strikeout of the night to keep the game scoreless.

Tim Locastro roped a double with one out in the sixth inning, but was left at second base.

Jake Smolinski broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the sixth, hitting a solo home run to left field to give Nashville a 1-0 lead. The dinger broke a string of 12 consecutive scoreless innings by the OKC pitching staff.

The last chance at a rally for the Dodgers came in the eighth. Danny Espinosa led off with a single and was moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by Rocky Gale. Bleich kept the Sounds ahead by striking out Locastro and getting Breyvic Valera to ground out.

Adam Liberatore (1-1) surrendered his first earned run of the season with OKC on Smolinski's homer and took the loss.

The Dodgers look to get the offense going again when they meet the Sounds at 6:35 p.m. Sunday. 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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