PCL1 Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - April 16, 2015

Published on April 16, 2015 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (5-2) vs. Nashville Sounds (4-3)

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Oakland A's

Game #8 of 144/Home #8 of 72 (5-2)

Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Zach Lee (1-0, 1.50) vs. NAS-LHP Ryan Verdugo (1-0, 2.45)

Thursday, April 16, 2015 | 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 : The Oklahoma City Dodgers wrap up their season-opening homestand and current four-game series against the Nashville Sounds at 7:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Dodgers own a 2-1 lead in the series and are 5-2 during the homestand.

Last Game : Kiké Hernandez connected on a bases-loaded RBI single in the bottom of the 10th inning to secure the first walk-off win of the season for the OKC Dodgers to defeat Nashville, 6-5, Wednesday in Bricktown. OKC was down 5-0 heading into the bottom of the second inning, but started the comeback in that frame with a RBI single from O'Koyea Dickson and an RBI double by Buck Britton. Kyle Jensen's second double of the night brought home Chris Heisey to cut the Nashville lead to 5-3 in the third. Britton notched a RBI single in the sixth to make it a one-run game. Leading off the eighth, Dickson hammered his first homer of the season to pull the OKC Dodgers even. The Dodgers loaded the bases with one out in the 10th for Hernandez, who hit a single up the middle to score Britton and win the game. Josh Ravin (1-0) recorded the win for OKC, tossing two scoreless and hitless innings with five strikeouts. Four Dodgers pitchers combined to strike out 14 in the win, including three strikeouts over 2.0 innings from Freddy Garcia, who made a spot start for OKC. The three pitchers who followed Garcia tossed eight scoreless innings while allowing just three hits. Kevin Whelan (0-1) picked up the loss.

Today's Probable Pitcher : Zach Lee makes his second start of the season for the OKC Dodgers tonight...Lee earned a win in his first start of 2015 against Round Rock last Saturday. He allowed one run and two hits, walked two and struck out six over 6.0 innings. After giving up a quick run in the first inning, Lee settled in and retired 16 of the final 17 batters he faced...In 2014, he went 7-13 with a 5.38 ERA in 28 games (27 starts) with Albuquerque during his first Triple-A season. He led Albuquerque with 150.2 innings pitched (fifth in PCL), 27 starts, and 97 strikeouts, setting career highs in both IP and starts. Lee pitched 6.0 innings or more in 14 of his 27 starts and recorded 10 quality starts. He had the fifth-highest groundout-to-flyout ratio in the PCL at 1.54 and forced 19 groundball double plays...Lee owns a 33-25 record and a 4.13 ERA in 106 career games (102 starts). He was named the Dodgers' 2013 Branch Rickey Minor League Pitcher of the Year while with Double-A Chattanooga after going 10-10 with a 3.22 ERA. That season he ranked second among Dodgers minor leaguers in ERA, strikeouts, and innings...Lee has made one career start against Nashville. He allowed six runs on 11 hits, walked one and struck out three over 5.0 innings in Albuquerque's 8-3 loss against the Sounds, Aug. 16, 2014.

Against the Sounds : 2015: 2-1 2014: 6-10 All-time: 146-129 In OKC: 78-60

Oklahoma City has split or lost its last five series with Nashville and has not won a series against the Sounds since taking three of five in Nashville June 27-30, 2013...The Sounds won the most recent series between the teams July 25-28 in Nashville, 3-1...Oklahoma City finished 6-10 against the Sounds last season after compiling a 24-8 record against Nashville in 2012 and 2013 combined. Last season they dropped five of eight contests at home, finishing with a losing home record against the Sounds for the first time since 2007...Like OKC, Nashville's parent club changed during the offseason, switching from the Milwaukee Brewers (2005-2014) to the Oakland A's.

Comeback Kids: The OKC Dodgers have erased five-run deficits each of the past two nights, trailing 5-0 each time before rallying to at least tie the game. Last season, OKC notched three wins after trailing by five runs at one point and was last achieved May 31, 2014 vs. Memphis (trailed 5-0; won 8-6)...The Dodgers have tended to trail early in games this season, as opponents have scored first in six of seven games. However, OKC has gone 4-2 when their opponent scores first...Kiké Hernandez's game-winning hit last night broke a personal 0-for-16 drought.

Whiff City: The OKC Dodgers pitching staff's 80 strikeouts this season are tied with the Low-A Cedar Rapids Kernels for the most strikeouts in the Minor Leagues. However, the Dodgers slightly edge the Kernels in K's per nine innings (11.1) since Cedar Rapids has pitched one more inning...Last night the pitching staff racked up 14 strikeouts for the second time in the last four games, bringing their four-game total up to 50 K's. Through seven games, the pitching staff has struck out at least 10 batters five times and has yet to strike out fewer than eight batters in a game.

In The Zone: Not only do the OKC Dodgers have the most strikeouts in the PCL, but they also tied with New Orleans for the fewest walks (16). However, New Orleans has pitched nine fewer innings. The staff currently has an even 5/1 strikeout-to-walk ratio, which is tops in the league. The next closest team is Sacramento with a 3.9/1 ratio.

Buck Wild: Yesterday Buck Britton collected his second three-hit game of the season and had his first multi-RBI night. He has hit safely in six of seven games, going 10-for-23 (.435). Britton leads the team with 10 hits and a .519 on-base percentage (third in PCL) while ranking second on the team with five RBI. During this homestand he's become the first OKC Dodger to collect a hit (4/9), a three-hit game (4/12), and a triple (4/13).

Double Down: Kyle Jensen doubled twice Wednesday to boost his league-leading total to five doubles through the first seven games of the season. Jensen ranks second on the team with eight hits.

Austin's Powers: Austin Barnes did not play yesterday, but he has hit safely in all five games he's played in, going 7-for-17 (.412) with a .500 on-base percentage.

Winning Ways : The team's 5-2 start has been in lockstep with recent opening month success. Oklahoma City has jumped out to a quick start in April each of the past three seasons, posting winning records in 2014 (15-12), 2013 (15-10) and 2012 (16-9).

Extra, Extra...Extra?: Each of the past two games have gone to extra innings, but Oklahoma City has only played three consecutive extra-inning games twice during the team's PCL history. The first occurrence was during the inaugural 1998 season, July 17-19 at home versus Vancouver. Last season the RedHawks and Tacoma Rainiers went to extras in three straight June 21-23 in Tacoma.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE AND PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS (ALL TIMES CENTRAL)

DATE TIME OPPONENT OKC PITCHERS OPP. PITCHER

Friday, April 17 7:08 p.m. @ Iowa RHP Mike Bolsinger (1-0, 0.00) RHP Barret Loux (0-0, 4.91)

Saturday, April 18 7:08 p.m. @ Iowa RHP Joe Wieland (1-0, 3.60) RHP Yoanner Negrin (0-0, 0.00)

Sunday, April 19 1:08 p.m. @ Iowa RHP Scott Baker (0-1, 1.80) TBA

Monday, April 20 12:08 p.m. @ Iowa TBA TBA

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