PCL1 Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - April 16, 2016

Published on April 16, 2016 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


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

Oakland A's vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

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

Pitching Probables: NAS-LHP Sean Manaea (1-0, 1.69) vs. OKC-LHP Julio Urias (1-0, 0.00)

Saturday, April 16, 2016 | 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 Dodgers continue their first homestand of the season with a 7:05 p.m. game against the Nashville Sounds at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Tonight is the second of the four-game series against the Sounds. The Dodgers are trying to end a three-game losing skid after starting the season 5-1.

Last Game: The Dodgers opened the home portion of their schedule Friday, dropping a 5-3 decision to the Nashville Sounds in front of a sellout crowd of 10,244 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Nashville's Tyler Ladendorf opened the game with a leadoff single, then scored the first run of the night when Chad Pinder followed with a RBI double. The Dodgers took the lead in the bottom of the third inning. With two outs, a missed catch error by Nashville second baseman Joey Wendle loaded the bases. Jose Tabata stepped up to the plate next and hit a bases-clearing double to give the Dodgers a 3-1 lead. Nashville chipped away at OKC's lead in the fifth inning. The Sounds drew back-to-back walks in the top of the frame before a RBI single by Pinder cut OKC's lead to 3-2. Nashville went ahead in the sixth inning with back-to-back homers from Renato Nunez and Matt Olson for a 4-3 Sounds lead. A sacrifice fly by Nunez gave the Sounds a 5-3 advantage in the eighth. Nashville starting pitcher Zach Neal (1-1) earned the win and Angel Castro recorded his first save of 2016. Dodgers reliever Red Patterson (0-1) was charged with the loss in his season debut.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Julio Urias takes the mound for the second time this season and first time at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in 2016...In his season debut Monday in Memphis, Urias combined with three relievers for the team's second shutout of the season in a 4-0 victory. The 19-year-old Urias (1-0) earned the win, pitching five scoreless innings with four hits and nine strikeouts. At one point he retired 12 Memphis hitters consecutively, with eight via strikeout...He entered the season rated by MLB.com as the top left-handed pitching prospect in baseball and fourth-best overall prospect...Urias spent the majority of the 2015 season with Double-A Tulsa, but missed almost two months of the season due to elective cosmetic surgery on his left eye in late May...He made 13 starts with the Drillers, going 3-4 with a 2.77 ERA. He recorded 74 strikeouts against 15 walks over 68.1 innings and held opponents to one or no runs in seven of his 13 starts with the team...Urias joined OKC Aug. 31 recently after turning 19 years old and went 0-1 in two regular-season starts, allowing 11 hits and nine runs over 4.1 innings...Tonight marks his first career appearance against Nashville.

Against the Sounds: 2016: 3-2 2015: 11-5 All-time: 158-135 In OKC: 83-61

The Dodgers won the season-opening series between the teams April 7-10 at First Tennessee Park...OKC held the Sounds to just four runs and a .151 batting average over the four games. OKC's pitching staff recorded 29 strikeouts against 11 walks...Elian Herrera hit .333 in the series for the Dodgers, collecting five hits...Micah Johnson stole two bases...Renato Nunez led the Sounds with four hits, including a double and a triple...The Sounds held OKC to a .189 batting average...The Dodgers won the 2015 season series between the teams, 11-5, and took 10 of the first 12 meetings. The Dodgers went 7-1 against the Sounds in Bricktown, winning the last six straight...OKC is 29-12 vs. Nashville at home since the start of the 2011 season and 47-18 since the start of the 2008 season.

Back at The Brick: With Friday's loss, OKC dropped to 7-12 all-time in home openers at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark and have lost the last five straight. In three of the four previous losses, the team followed up with a win the next night.

Early Season Skid: This is the earliest OKC has had a three-game losing streak since 2011, when the RedHawks dropped Games 2-4. Last season's squad didn't lose three straight until May 11-12 (two games on May 11; Games 30-32).

Down to Earth: Through the first six games of the season, OKC allowed a total of just six runs and 34 hits before surrendering 17 runs (14 earned) and 30 hits over the last three games. Even with the recent bump, the Dodgers still own the PCL's top ERA (2.23) and have allowed the fewest runs (23)...The Dodgers have racked up 80 strikeouts against 25 walks (3.2 K/BB)...Starting pitchers have allowed more than one run in just three of nine games and more than two runs just once. The rotation currently has a collective 2.31 ERA, but subtracting Jharel Cotton's outing on Wednesday (7 ER/4.0 IP), the ERA drops all the way to 1.05.

Dinger Details: Solo shots by Renato Nunez and Matt Olson in the sixth inning last night marked the second time this season the Dodgers have allowed back-to-back home runs. They allowed back-to-back home runs just once all of last season (April 28 vs. Omaha)...OKC has not yielded a home run outside of the two back-to-back instances.

Slow Start: The Dodgers are batting a league-low .207 to begin the season and are tied with El Paso for the fewest runs scored by a PCL team (26), but the Chihuahuas have played two less games than OKC. Their 91 strikeouts this season are second-most in the league behind Memphis, which has 93.

RISPy Business: OKC is batting just .141 (10x71) with runners in scoring position this season and is 3-for-22 over the last three games...Opponents are 9-for-32 over the last four games after the Dodgers held their opponents 2-for-22 over the first five games combined...When there are two outs, opponents are 3-for-28 with runners in scoring position.

Solid as ForMicah: Micah Johnson picked up a hit Friday and has now hit safely in each of his first five games with OKC this season -- tying Corey Brown for the longest hitting streak by an OKC player this season. He is 7-for-22 overall with two stolen bases and three runs scored.

Thievery Corporation: The Dodgers have stolen at least one base in eight of their first nine games this season and have nine steals total to rank tied for third in the PCL. Lars Anderson and Micah Johnson each have two stolen bases to lead OKC.

Keeping Tabs: Jose Tabata's bases-clearing double last night pushed him into the team lead with six RBI. Although he is 3-for-13 over his last five games, he has driven in five runs.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE AND PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS (ALL TIMES CENTRAL)

DATE TIME OPPONENT OKC PITCHERS OPP. PITCHER

Sunday, April 17 2:05 p.m. Nashville RHP Zach Lee (2-0, 1.50) RHP Chris Smith (0-1, 5.73)

Monday, April 18 7:05 p.m. Nashville RHP Jharel Cotton (0-1, 7.45) RHP Jesse Hahn (0-0, 0.00)

Tuesday, April 19 7:05 p.m. Memphis RHP Sam LeCure (0-0, 0.00) RHP Jeremy Hefner (1-0, 1.86)

Wednesday, April 20 7:05 p.m. Memphis RHP Jeremy Kehrt (1-0, 1.64) TBA

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Pacific Coast League Stories from April 16, 2016


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