PCL1 Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - April 29, 2018

Published on April 29, 2018 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Iowa Cubs (4-16) vs. Oklahoma City Dodgers (16-4)

Chicago Cubs vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

Game #21 of 140/Home #12 of 70 (11-0)

Pitching Probables: IOW-RHP Alec Mills (0-3, 5.17) vs. OKC-LHP Manny Bañuelos (2-0, 1.35)

Sunday, April 29, 2018 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 2:05 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 and close out their current five-game home series against the Iowa Cubs at 2:05 p.m. OKC is 11-0 at home to start 2018, marking their best home start ever and just the fourth time in the stadium's history OKC has had a home win streak of nine or more games.

Last Game: The Dodgers scored five runs over the first two innings to build a solid early lead on the way to an eventual 7-1 win against Iowa Saturday night. The Dodgers loaded the bases with one out in the first inning and Travis Taijeron lifted a sac fly to center field to score Donovan Solano from third base for a 1-0 lead. Iowa scored its lone run of the night on a fielder's choice to tie the game, 1-1, in the second inning. Oklahoma City then scored four runs in the bottom of the inning. Angelo Mora doubled to deep center field to lead off. Rocky Gale followed with his second homer of the season out to left field for a 3-1 Dodgers advantage. Rob Segedin later lined a RBI single to center. The Dodgers loaded the bases later in the inning with two outs for Breyvic Valera, who brought home OKC's fourth run of the inning with a RBI single. OKC tacked on a run in the fourth inning when Solano scored on a wild pitch for a 6-1 lead. Mora's RBI double in the seventh inning scored Valera to give the Dodgers a 7-1 lead. Dodgers starting pitcher Guillermo Moscoso (1-0) pitched a season-high 5.0 innings in his second start, allowing one run and six hits. He did not issue a walk and recorded five strikeouts. OKC relievers Edward Paredes and Joe Broussard then combined for four scoreless frames. Iowa starting pitcher Michael Roth (0-2) was charged with the loss.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Lefty Manny Bañuelos (2-0) takes the mound for his fifth start of the season...Bañuelos last pitched four scoreless and hitless frames April 23 in New Orleans, allowing one walk and striking out nine before exiting the game due to a blister on his left thumb. He retired 12 of the 14 batters he faced and posted his highest strikeout total since Aug. 6, 2010 with the High-A Tampa Yankees, when he struck out 11 against St. Lucie...Bañuelos has allowed just three earned runs over his first four starts (20.0 IP) and carries a 1.35 ERA (third-lowest in the PCL) into today's game...He currently leads PCL starting pitchers with a 0.75 WHIP and .159 opponent average...Through his first four outings, Bañuelos has held opponents 4-for-25 with runners on and 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position...Left-handed batters are 0-for-15...He signed with the Dodgers as a free agent Nov. 14, 2017 after spending 2017 with Triple-A Salt Lake in the Los Angeles Angels organization...Bañuelos appeared in a team-leading 39 games (nine starts) with Salt Lake, pitching 95.0 innings to a record of 5-6, a 4.93 ERA and 85 strikeouts...Bañuelos has appeared in seven career ML games (six starts), all with Atlanta in 2015. He compiled a 1-4 record over 26.1 IP, with a 5.13 ERA, and 19 K's...Today is Bañuelos' second start of the season against Iowa. In his season debut April 5 in Des Moines, Bañuelos allowed two runs (one earned) and three hits over 4.0 innings with one walk and three strikeouts in a no decision.

Against the I-Cubs: 2018: 6-1 2017: 9-7 All-time: 146-146 At OKC: 78-68

Entering today, the Dodgers have won eight of the last nine 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...Through 292 all-time meetings, each team has won 146 games.

Head Start: The Dodgers have won 16 of their first 20 games of the season and their 16-4 record is the team's best-ever start through 20 games since rejoining the PCL in 1998...The Dodgers are one of nine teams across the Minors with at least 16 wins, while their .800 winning percentage paces the Minors. The only team with 17 wins is the High-A Jupiter Hammerheads (Marlins)...The Dodgers 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 11-0 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark for the best start in OKC since the ballpark opened in 1998. The team's previous best start was 5-0 in 2006...The Dodgers have trailed at some point in seven of 11 home contests, including six of the last eight, and have trailed in the eighth inning or later in five games...The Dodgers are the only team in pro baseball still undefeated at home...Today OKC goes for just its second-ever five-game series sweep. The RedHawks took five straight from Albuquerque Aug. 16-20, 2013 to finish a club-record 17-game home win streak.

Home is Where the Hits Are: The Dodgers went 11-for-32 at the plate Saturday night and are batting a Triple-A-leading .339 at home...OKC has outscored opponents, 80-34, at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark and has also outhit opponents, 131-80, at home this season...Over their first 11 home games, the Dodgers have slashed .339/.412/.494. They have eight-plus runs in five of 11 games and totaled four games with 14 or more hits...Last night's four-run second inning marked the eighth time they've put together an inning with four or more runs at home.

It IS How You Start: OKC starting pitchers have combined to go 6-0 with a 1.98 ERA (20 ER/91.0 IP) while holding opponents to a .219 batting average (73x333) over the first 20 games. The rotation has also totaled 85 strikeouts against 23 walks, resulting in a 3.7/1 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 today, the starting rotation has barely thrown more innings (91.0) than the bullpen (87.1).

Mound Men: The Dodgers enter today with a league-leading 2.57 ERA. Saturday marked the sixth time this season the Dodgers have held their opponent to one run and they have allowed just 16 runs total over their last eight games. During that time, opponents have batted .199 (50x251), including 5-for-38 (.132) with runners in scoring position. Saturday also marked the 14th time this season OKC held an opponent to three runs or less...Over the last four nights, the Dodgers bullpen has covered 20.1 innings, but held Iowa to three runs while going 10-for-71 (.141) with 23 strikeouts and two walks...Saturday was OKC's ninth game with 10-plus strikeouts, and the team has issued just one walk over the last 24 innings while racking up 24 strikeouts during the same span...Including last night, the Dodgers have allowed only one extra-base hit in nine of the team's 20 games.

Dominant Donovan: Donovan Solano picked up his team-leading ninth multi-hit game of the season Saturday, going 3-for-5 with two runs scored. He recorded his team-leading fourth game with three or more hits and leads OKC with 24 hits this season. His .388 batting average is third-best in the PCL...The shortstop is batting .436 (24x55) over his last 14 outings.

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