PCL1 Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - April 14, 2019

Published on April 14, 2019 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


*** Part 1.1 - ASCII

Oklahoma City Dodgers (4-5) vs. Iowa Cubs (6-3)

Game #10 of 140/Road #5 of 70 (2-2)

Pitching Probables: OKC-LHP Ben Holmes (0-0, 9.00) vs. IOW-RHP Trevor Clifton (0-0, 0.00)

Sunday, April 14, 2019 | Principal Park | Des Moines, Iowa | 1:08 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The OKC Dodgers continue their road series against the Iowa Cubs with a 1:08 p.m. game at Principal Park. The teams split a Saturday doubleheader to open their four-game series...Including two games in Omaha, the Dodgers are 2-2 on their first road trip.

Yesterday's Games: In their first game action since Wednesday, the Dodgers split a doubleheader with Iowa Saturday at Principal Park as OKC won the first game, 3-0, but fell, 2-1 in the second game. In Game 1, the pitching duo of Tony Gonsolin and Zach McAllister combined on a three-hit shutout. Gonsolin and McAllister yielded three singles and held the I-Cubs 0-for-14 with runners on base. Iowa only had three runners reach scoring position and none advance to third base. Gonsolin (1-1) turned in five scoreless frames, allowing just a pair of singles with three walks and four strikeouts. McAllister followed Gonsolin and held Iowa scoreless over the final two innings. He allowed one hit with three strikeouts, earning his second save of the season. All of the game's runs occurred in the top of the third inning. Daniel Castro lined a RBI single to left field, and two batters later, Will Smith connected on a two-run homer to center field to extend the lead to 3-0. Iowa starting pitcher Matt Swarmer (1-1) took the loss...In Game 2, each team scored in the second inning. The Dodgers benefited from an Iowa throwing error that allowed Josh Thole to score. But on the first pitch of the bottom of the inning, Iowa evened things with a solo home run by Trent Giambrone. Iowa took its first lead of the day in the bottom of the sixth. With two outs and two runners aboard, Donnie Dewees hit a RBI single. Iowa starting pitcher Colin Rea (1-0) delivered six strong innings and earned the win, and Rowan Wick notched his first save. Dodgers reliever Kevin Quackenbush (1-1) pitched the final two innings and took the loss. He allowed one run and two hits, with one walk and two strikeouts.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Lefty Ben Holmes takes the mound this afternoon for his second start of 2019...In his Triple-A and season debut against San Antonio April 6, he allowed three runs and four hits over 3.0 IP with five strikeouts and two walks (ND)...He finished the 2018 season with Double-A Tulsa, going 2-2 with a 2.82 ERA, 30 strikeouts and 12 walks over six starts (38.1 IP) while holding opponents to a .189 average...In the Texas League Semifinals, he pitched 6.2 scoreless innings in Game 2 against Arkansas in Tulsa's 6-0 win...Holmes began the 2018 season on the Disabled List in the Marlins organization and spent time with Double-A Jacksonville and High-A Jupiter, making a total of eight relief appearances before being released June 27...He signed with the Dodgers July 6 and was assigned to High-A Rancho Cucamonga, where he allowed just two runs and nine hits over 17.0 innings, with 25 strikeouts against five walks...Holmes played in the Arizona Fall League with the Glendale Desert Dogs following the 2018 season, going 1-2 with a 3.97 ERA over six starts and had 24 K's in 22.0 IP...Holmes was selected by Miami in the ninth round of the 2014 MLB Draft out of Oregon State University where he led NCAA Division I with a 0.78 ERA in 2014 and was named Pac-12 Player of the Year and a finalist for the Dick Howser Trophy. He left Oregon State as the school's career wins leader and ranked second in career strikeouts...Today is his first career appearance against Iowa.

Against the I-Cubs: 2019: 1-1 2018: 11-5 All-time: 152-151 At IOW: 71-82

The Dodgers and Cubs meet for their first series of 2019 in Des Moines...The Dodgers won the 2018 series, 11-5, winning 10 of the first 12 meetings before Iowa took three of four during the final series of the season Aug. 28-30 at Iowa...OKC outscored the Cubs, 64-43, last season...Tim Locastro paced the Dodgers with 14 hits in 14 games, while Andrew Toles picked up 11 RBI in 10 games...Dodgers pitchers recorded a combined 2.26 ERA and held Iowa to less than three runs in half of their meetings...The Dodgers have won the last two season series against Iowa, as well as three of the last four with the I-Cubs...OKC split eight games with Iowa in Des Moines last season while going 7-1 at home.

Sophomore Surge: Will Smith continued his hot start at the plate Saturday, going 2-for-4 in Game 1 with a two-run homer. Through his first seven games of 2019, Smith is batting .364 (8x34) with five extra-base hits, four walks and five strikeouts. His six RBI pace the team and he is tied for the team lead with four runs scored...His .818 slugging percentage currently ranks third in the PCL...Smith struggled at the Triple-A level at the end of the 2018 season, going just 12-for-87 (.138). He totaled only five extra-base hits and had seven walks against 37 strikeouts.

Steely Dan: Daniel Castro hit safely in both games of Saturday's doubleheader and paces the Dodgers with 11 hits through nine games, including three doubles, four runs scored and two RBI. He also has drawn three walks against three strikeouts...Castro has tallied at least one hit in seven of his eight games with an at-bat to start the season.

Stuck in Idle: The Dodgers' offense tallied four runs on 13 hits over a combined 14 innings Saturday and ranks 16th in the PCL in total runs (28) and tied for 14th in total hits (66) so far this season, averaging 3.1 runs and 7.3 hits per game...The Dodgers left nine runners on base in each game Saturday, including seven over the final three innings of the nightcap. The team went just 2-for-16 with runners in scoring position between both games...OKC is 15-for-68 (.221) with runners in scoring position this season, but if you take out Wednesday's 6-for-15 performance in Omaha, the Dodgers are a combined 9-for-53 (.170) with RISP in their other eight games...The Dodgers scored in just two of their 14 trips to the plate yesterday and have now scored in five of the last 43 innings and six of the last 49 innings (17 runs total)...OKC went 0-for-4 with the bases loaded yesterday and left the sacks packed to end Game 2. The team is now 0-for-9 with no RBI with the bases full this season.

On Strike: The Dodgers pitching staff combined for 16 strikeouts over 13.0 IP in Saturday's doubleheader to push OKC's PCL American Conference-leading total to 103 K's through nine games (73.0 IP). Sacramento and Tacoma pace the PCL overall with 104 strikeouts, but each has pitched at least 16.0 more innings than OKC...Dodgers starting pitcher Daniel Corcino recorded seven K's over 4.0 IP in Game 2 Saturday and now leads the team with 14 K's over 9.0 IP - the fourth-most strikeouts among PCL pitchers...The Dodgers pitching staff has recorded double-digit strikeouts in each of the team's six nine-inning games...OKC established the PCL single-season record for strikeouts in both 2016 and 2017, with 1,245 and 1,277 K's, respectively. However, Fresno bested both of those totals last season with 1,330 punchouts.

Mound Men: Yesterday the Dodgers pitching staff allowed just two runs and eight hits throughout the doubleheader, holding Iowa to a .170 average (8x47) with only one extra-base hit. With runners on base, the I-Cubs went just 1-for-19 and had been 0-for-17 on the day until Donnie Dewees' go-ahead RBI single in the sixth inning of Game 2...The Dodgers lead the PCL with a .165 opponent average with runners on this season and rank second with a .197 batting average against with runners in scoring position.

Kick Start: All four of the Dodgers' runs Saturday scored in the second or third inning of the two games combined, and the Dodgers scored first in both contests. OKC has now taken the first lead of a game in three straight contests after the opponent scored first in each of their first six games of the season...The Dodgers have scored 10 of their last 11 runs within the first three innings of games after previously scoring just one run in the first three innings through six games.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from April 14, 2019


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