PCL1 Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - April 27, 2018

Published on April 27, 2018 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Iowa Cubs (4-14) vs. Oklahoma City Dodgers (14-4)

Chicago Cubs vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

Game #19 of 140/Home #10 of 70 (9-0)

Pitching Probables: IOW-RHP Jen-Ho Tseng (0-3, 7.52) vs. OKC-RHP Tyler Pill (0-0, 9.00)

Friday, April 27, 2018 | 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 remain undefeated at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in 2018 and look to continue their best home start ever when they play the Iowa Cubs at 7:05 p.m. The Dodgers are 9-0 in Oklahoma City, marking the club's best home start since the ballpark opened in 1998 and just the fourth time in the stadium's history OKC has a home win streak of nine or more games. The ZOOperstars! will perform tonight, presented by Heartland Flyer, and fireworks are scheduled to follow the game, presented by Dental Depot.

Last Game: The Dodgers put together another come-from-behind win Thursday night to stay undefeated at home with a 4-2 victory against Iowa. The Dodgers trailed, 2-1, entering the eighth inning before scoring three runs in the frame to take the lead. Iowa went ahead 2-0 in the second inning on a RBI triple by Chesny Young and RBI single by Duane Underwood. Iowa loaded the bases in the third inning with one out, but OKC starting pitcher Justin DeFratus got Chris Gimenez to ground into a double play to escape the jam. Breyvic Valera's first home run of the season landed in the right field upper deck to cut Iowa's lead to 2-1 in the sixth inning. Trailing by one run in the eighth inning, Henry Ramos hit a RBI single into right field to tie the game, 2-2. Rob Segedin followed with a RBI single up the middle to put the Dodgers in front for the first time. Later with two outs, Travis Taijeron singled into right field and Ramos scored from second base, beating a throw to the plate with a head-first slide for a 4-2 Dodgers advantage. The Dodgers pitching staff held Iowa scoreless over the final seven frames, as Oklahoma City outhit the I-Cubs, 10-8. Dodgers reliever Joe Broussard (1-0) pitched a scoreless eighth inning for the win, while Brian Schlitter picked up his fourth save. Reliever Justin Hancock (1-1) was charged with the loss for Iowa, allowing all three OKC runs in the eighth inning.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Tyler Pill (0-0) makes his second start of the season for OKC tonight...He made his organizational debut April 20 in Round Rock, pitching three scoreless frames, allowing one hit with two walks and two strikeouts...Pill began the season in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization with Triple-A Reno and was acquired by the Dodgers in a trade for cash considerations April 17. He made two appearances out of the bullpen for Reno, allowing a combined seven runs and eight hits, including three home runs, over 4.0 IP with three strikeouts and three walks...He signed with the Diamondbacks in January and prior to that spent his entire career in the New York Mets organization...Pill made his MLB debut last season with the Mets May 27, 2017 against Pittsburgh and ended up making seven appearances (three starts) in the Majors. He went 0-3 with a 5.32 ERA over 22.0 innings, with 16 strikeouts and 10 walks...He started the 2017 season with Double-A Binghamton and Triple-A Las Vegas, not allowing an earned run over his first 29.1 innings. While in the Minors last year, he made 15 starts and went 5-3 with a 3.08 ERA...Pill was selected by the Mets in the fourth round of the 2011 MLB Draft out of Cal State Fullerton, where he also was an outfielder...Tonight is Pill's second career start against Iowa. With Las Vegas last season, Pill allowed six runs (five earned) and nine hits, including two home runs, over 5.2 innings with two walks and two strikeouts May 16 at Cashman Field in a no decision.

Against the I-Cubs: 2018: 4-1 2017: 9-7 All-time: 144-146 At OKC: 76-68

Entering tonight, the Dodgers have won six of the last seven meetings against Iowa home...The Dodgers won a weather-shortened series in Des Moines to start the season, 2-1, as two of the three games extended into extra innings...Alex Verdugo led OKC with four hits and Breyvic Valera had a team-leading three RBI in the first series...The frigid temps in Des Moines cooled each team's bats, as they combined for just seven runs in non-extra innings. OKC batted .250 while the I-Cubs hit .217...The Dodgers won the 2017 series between the teams, 9-7, and went 4-4 against Iowa at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...The first three meetings between the teams this season were each decided by one run, while seven of last year's 16 meetings were decided by one or two runs.

Head Start: The Dodgers have won 14 of their first 18 games of the season and their 14-4 record is tied for the team's best-ever start through 18 games since rejoining the PCL in 1998. Both the 2015 and 2008 squads started 14-4, and the 2008 team was victorious in Game 19 as well...OKC won nine straight games April 7-17, marking the team's fifth winning streak of at least nine games since rejoining the PCL in 1998...The Dodgers are 9-0 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark for the best start in OKC since the ballpark opened in 1998. The team's previous best start was a 5-0 beginning in Bricktown in 2006...The Dodgers have trailed at some point in seven of nine home contests, including the last six straight, and have trailed in the eighth inning or later in five games...The Dodgers are the only team in the Minors still undefeated at home.

Home is Where the Hits Are: The Dodgers are batting a Triple-A-leading .350 at home and have outscored opponents, 69-34, at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. OKC has also outhit its opponents, 114-72, at home this season...Over their first nine home games, the Dodgers have slashed .350/.420/.512. They have eight-plus runs in five of nine games and totaled four games with 14 or more hits.

It IS How You Start: OKC starting pitchers have combined to go 5-0 with a 2.09 ERA (19 ER/82.0 IP), while holding opponents to a .213 batting average (63x296) over the first 18 games. The rotation has also totaled 77 strikeouts against 23 walks, resulting in a 3.35/1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Only once all season has a starting pitcher allowed more than two runs in a game, and the lone exception was when Brock Stewart surrendered three runs over 5.2 innings against New Orleans April 13...However, there have only been two starts of 6.0 innings, and entering tonight, the starting rotation has barely thrown more innings (82.0) than the bullpen (78.1).

Mound Men: The Dodgers have allowed just 14 runs total over their last six games after allowing 26 runs over their four games prior. During that time opponents have batted .192 (35x182), including 4-for-27 with runners in scoring position. Thursday also marked the 12th time this season OKC held an opponent to three runs or less...Over the last two nights, the Dodgers bullpen had to cover 11.1 innings, but held Iowa to two runs while going 5-for-39 (.128) with 11 strikeouts and one walk. And in the last 10 innings, Dodgers relievers have not surrendered a run while holding Iowa 2-for-32.

Fueled By Valera: Breyvic Valera hit his first home run of the season Thursday night into the right field upper deck. He is a combined 6-for-7 over his last three games and is batting .400 (16x40) through his first 14 games of the season while hitting safely in all but two games. His .400 average and .490 on-base percentage both rank third in the league...Valera has tallied 10 RBI and is 8-for-14 with RISP.

Around the Horn: Donovan Solano picked up two more hits Thursday night for his team-leading eighth multi-hit outing of the season. He paces the Dodgers with 23 total hits this season and is batting .429 (21x49) over his last 12 games...Henry Ramos collected his team-leading 19th RBI of the season Thursday -- tied for fourth-most in the PCL. In eight home games, Ramos is 18-for-35 with seven extra-base hits and 17 RBI.

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