PCL1 Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - April 16, 2019

Published on April 16, 2019 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Game #12 of 140/Home #6 of 70 (2-3)

Pitching Probables: OMA-RHP Arnaldo Hernandez (0-1, 4.50) vs. OKC-RHP Brock Stewart (0-0, 3.86)

Tuesday, April 16, 2019 | 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 OKC Dodgers open a seven-game homestand and three-game series against the Omaha Storm Chasers at 7:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Dodgers are 2-3 in Oklahoma City so far this season.

Last Game: The Dodgers closed out their first road trip of the season with a 10-5 win against Iowa Monday afternoon. The Dodgers took a quick lead and never trailed in the series finale. The first three Dodgers batters of the game collected a hit. Drew Jackson led off the game with a double and scored when Matt Beaty followed with a RBI single. Will Smith doubled before Kyle Garlick's RBI groundout brought home Beaty. Cameron Perkins' RBI single later scored Smith for a 3-0 advantage. Iowa cut into OKC's lead in the third inning via a two-run homer by Trent Giambrone. Iowa's Ian Happ followed with a single before Phillip Evans' RBI double knotted the game, 3-3. OKC took the lead for good in the fourth inning. Perkins led off with a double and came around to score on a two-out RBI double by Dodgers starting pitcher Rob Zastryzny for a 4-3 lead. The Dodgers loaded the bases in the fifth inning, and after an Iowa pitching change, Jake Peter and Perkins each connected on RBI singles to extend the Dodgers' lead to 6-3. With the bases loaded again with two outs, Zastryzny knocked an infield RBI single and Jackson followed with a bases-loaded walk for an 8-3 advantage. Happ connected on a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning to cut the lead to 8-5. In the eighth inning, Smith launched his team-leading third home run of the season, hitting a two-run homer to boost the Dodgers to a 10-5 lead. OKC reliever Layne Somsen (2-0) was credited with the win, while Josh Smoker, Joe Broussard, Kevin Quackenbush and Stetson Allie held Iowa scoreless and to two hits over the final 3.2 innings of the game. Iowa starting pitcher Duncan Robinson (0-1) was charged with the loss.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Brock Stewart returns to the mound for his second start of the season with OKC...In his OKC season debut April 9 in Omaha, Stewart allowed two runs (one earned) and three hits over 2.1 innings with two walks and two strikeouts. He did not factor into the decision and ended up throwing more balls (30) than strikes (29)...Stewart made his first career Major League Opening Day roster and appeared in three games for the LA Dodgers before being optioned to OKC April 7. Over a combined 4.0 innings of relief against Arizona and Colorado, he allowed eight runs and nine hits with two walks and three strikeouts...Last season with OKC, Stewart tied with Daniel Corcino for the most starts (19) and ranked third on the team in strikeouts (80) and innings pitched (96.1), while posting a 2.99 ERA and 3-3 record...Today marks Stewart's 35th career start for OKC, and he currently owns a 7-4 record and 2.86 ERA during his Triple-A tenure...Stewart was selected by the Dodgers in the sixth round of the 2014 MLB Draft from Illinois State University and was named the Dodgers' 2016 Branch Rickey Minor League Pitcher of the Year...Over five career starts against Omaha, Stewart is 1-1 with a 3.27 ERA over 22.0 IP with seven walks and 22 strikeouts.

Against the Storm Chasers: 2019:1-1 2018: 8-8 All-time: 158-147 At OKC: 81-70

The Dodgers and Storm Chasers are meeting for their second series of the 2019 season...All 16 games between the teams are scheduled to be completed by May 29...The teams split a weather-shortened two-game series at Werner Park last week. Omaha won the first meeting, 4-0, as the Dodgers were shut out for the first time this season, but the Dodgers bounced back to win the second game, 7-5. The third game of the series was postponed due to inclement weather and will be made up May 27 during a doubleheader...OKC started the 2018 season 4-2 against Omaha, but then dropped six of eight meetings before winning the final two...Edwin Ríos went 4-for-8 against the Storm Chasers last week with a double, RBI and run scored. Last season against Omaha, he batted .410 in 16 games against the Storm Chasers, leading the Dodgers with 25 hits, including a team-best eight doubles, 10 RBI, nine runs scored and two home runs...OKC has only won one season series against Omaha over the last eight seasons (11-3 in 2016) and is 1-5-2 in the season series since 2011.

Green Light: The Dodgers set new season highs in runs scored, total hits and extra-base hits Monday at Principal Park, reaching a double-digit run total for the first time in 2019, while racking up 14 total hits, including six extra-base hits, with five doubles and a home run. Oklahoma City scored in four different innings, including three runs in the first inning and four runs in the fifth inning. Entering Monday, the Dodgers had not scored in either the first or fifth innings all season. The offensive surge came one day after the Dodgers were held to a season-low four hits in a 4-3 defeat...The Dodgers went a season-best 7-for-17 with runners in scoring position Monday after batting .202 (16-for-79) with runners in scoring position over the first 10 games of the season combined, including 1-for-11 Sunday...OKC ranks 16th in the PCL in total hits (84) and tied for 15th with 41 runs scored, averaging 3.7 runs and 7.6 hits per game...After starting the season 0-for-12 with no RBI with the bases loaded, the Dodgers went 3-for-5 with four RBI with the bases loaded Monday.

On Strike: The Dodgers pitching staff combined for 11 strikeouts Monday and already posted their seventh double-digit strikeout game of the season. OKC paces all of Triple-A with 120 strikeouts this season - three more than second-place Tacoma, which has pitched 17.1 more innings than the Dodgers...The Dodgers 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.

Sophomore Surge: Will Smith went 2-for-4 Monday with a double and a two-run homer. He also became the first Dodger this season to score three runs in one game...Smith leads the team in most offensive categories, with three home runs, eight RBI, eight runs scored, seven extra-base hits and seven walks...He ranks third in the PCL with a 1.344 OPS, fifth with a .857 slugging percentage and eighth with a .486 on-base percentage...Smith struggled at the Triple-A level at the end of the 2018 season, going just 12-for-87 (.138) over 25 games. He totaled only five extra-base hits and had seven walks against 37 strikeouts.

Welcome Back, Kotter Connor: Connor Joe will join the OKC Dodgers today after recently being returned to the Dodgers organization from the San Francisco Giants. Joe was selected in the Major League phase of the Rule 5 Draft by Cincinnati in December and traded to San Francisco in late March. Joe appeared in eight games with the Giants, going 1-for-15 before he was designated for assignment April 7...Last season between OKC (49 games) and Double-A Tulsa (57 games), Joe had a career year, combining to slash .299/.408/.527 with a career-best 17 homers. His .935 OPS led all Dodgers full-season minor leaguers...Fellow recent Rule 5 returnee Drew Jackson tallied three hits, two runs, a RBI and stolen base yesterday during his second start and fourth game overall since joining OKC.

Around the Horn: Cameron Perkins notched a season-high three hits yesterday, going 3-for-4 with a double, two RBI and two runs. Perkins went 7-for-16 with three doubles and three RBI on the road trip after going 1-for-12 with no RBI during the season-opening homestand...The Dodgers have caught just two of 18 attempted base stealers this season, with opponents successful in 11 of their last 12 tries...Yesterday Iowa went 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position. The Dodgers lead the PCL with a .202 opponent average with RISP... Iowa hit two home runs with runners on base yesterday. Entering Monday, OKC had allowed just one homer with a runner on through the first 10 games.

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