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PCL1 Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - April 7, 2016

April 7, 2016 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (0-0) vs. Nashville Sounds (0-0)

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Oakland A's

Game #1 of 144/Road #1 of 72 (0-0)

Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Zach Lee vs. NAS-RHP Chris Smith

Thursday, April 7, 2015 | First Tennessee Park | Nashville, Tenn. | 6:35 p.m. CT

Radio: KGHM AM-1340 The Game, 1340thegame.com, iHeartRadio - Alex Freedman

Today's Game: The OKC Dodgers begin the 2016 season at 6:35 p.m. against the Nashville Sounds at First Tennessee Park. Tonight opens an eight-game road trip for the Dodgers and starts the team's 19th season since joining the PCL in 1998. The Dodgers play four games in Nashville before concluding the road trip with a four-game set in Memphis.

Last Season: The 2015 American Northern Division champion OKC Dodgers set a new modern era team record for wins, finishing the regular season with the best record in the PCL at 86-58. The last OKC team to win at least 86 games was the 1965 Oklahoma City 89ers (91-54). The 2015 team also set the following single-season records: most road wins (44), fewest runs allowed (608), and fewest HR allowed (89 -- also the fewest homers allowed by any PCL team since Tucson allowed 88 in 2003). The Dodgers took over sole possession of first place in the American Northern Division April 15 and held sole possession of first place the remainder of the season. The Dodgers held first place, or were tied for first place, in the division for all but two days throughout the entire 144-game regular season. Oklahoma City advanced to the postseason and made its second playoff appearance in the last three years and eighth playoff appearance since rejoining the PCL in 1998. Round Rock swept the first round series between the teams, 3-0.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Zach Lee takes the mound after being named the Dodgers' 2015 Branch Rickey Minor League Pitcher of the Year for the second time in his career (also in 2013)...Lee paced OKC's rotation with 11 wins in 2015, going 11-6 with a 2.70 ERA over 19 starts...He fell 2.0 IP shy of officially qualifying among PCL leaders, but otherwise would have ranked first in ERA and WHIP (1.11)...Lee tied for third in the league in wins and became just the sixth OKC pitcher to notch at least 11 wins since the team joined the PCL in 1998 and first since Michael Kirkman in 2010 (13)...He paced all Dodgers farmhands with a combined 2.63 ERA and allowed one or no runs in eight of his 19 starts with OKC...Lee made his Major League debut July 25 at the New York Mets and took the loss in his only game of the season with LAD...Lee owns a career 45-41 record and 3.87 ERA in 126 minor league games (122 starts) over five seasons...In two April 2015 starts against the Sounds, Lee went 2-0 and allowed just one run and 10 hits over a combined 13.0 IP with 12 strikeouts...Tonight marks Lee's third career Opening Day start (2012 - Rancho Cucamonga; 2013 - Chattanooga). He's allowed just one earned run and five hits over 9.0 IP in two previous Opening Day starts combined (0-0 personal record; 0-2 team record).

Against the Sounds: 2016: 0-0 2015: 11-5 All-time: 155-133 In NAS: 72-73

The Dodgers won the 2015 season series between the teams and took 10 of the first 12 meetings...The Dodgers outscored the Sounds, 71-59, last season, but Nashville collected one more hit (130-129)...Austin Barnes paced the Dodgers with 16 hits in 13 games against Nashville, while infielder Buck Britton collected 10 RBI...Jason Pridie racked up a team-leading 18 hits for the Sounds against OKC, including three home runs and nine RBI...OKC went 4-4 at First Tennessee Park, but lost four of the last five meetings.

Meet the Manager: Bill Haselman, 49, enters his sixth season as a manager in the Minor Leagues and his first at Triple-A...Haselman is the ninth manager in OKC's history since the team joined the PCL in 1998...He spent the last two seasons managing in the Dodgers' minor league system, and in 2015, he led the High-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes to the team's first California League championship since 1994. The team tied for the California League South Division's best regular-season record at 78-62. He previously managed the Low-A Great Lakes Loons in 2014...Haselman began his managerial career in 2010 in the Texas Rangers organization and has also managed teams in the L.A. Angels organization. In 2013, Haselman won his first California League title with the Inland Empire 66ers...This past fall, Haselman gained more managerial experience as the skipper of the Glendale Desert Dogs in the Arizona Fall League...Haselman has also coached in the Major Leagues, spending three seasons with the Red Sox as first base coach (2004, 2006) and as bullpen coach (2005)...Haselman played 13 years (589 games) in the Majors, mainly as a catcher for the Rangers, Mariners, Red Sox, and Tigers...Between 1991-92, he appeared in 143 games with the Oklahoma City 89ers and spent the entire 1991 season in OKC.

Roster Recap: Among the 25 players on the current OKC roster, 11 played in the Major Leagues in 2015, with seven suiting up for the Los Angeles Dodgers. A total of 17 players have Major League experience, and all but one have spent time in their careers at the Triple-A level. Seven players are currently on the Los Angeles Dodgers 40-man roster...Four pitchers on the roster are among the Dodgers' top 30 prospects, as ranked by Baseball America: Julio Urias (No. 2), Jharel Cotton (No. 9), Zach Lee (No. 14), and Jacob Rhame (No. 20)...Infielder Micah Johnson was ranked the No. 8 prospect in the White Sox organization prior to being traded to the Dodgers.

Welcome Back: Fourteen players on the current roster spent time at some point with the OKC Dodgers last season: Lars Anderson (IF), Jharel Cotton (RHP), Grant Dayton (LHP), Carlos Frias (RHP), O'Koyea Dickson (IF), Zach Lee (RHP), Adam Liberatore (RHP), Dustin Richardson (LHP), Jose Tabata (OF), Ian Thomas (LHP), Chin-Hui Tsao (RHP), Julio Urias (LHP), Matt West (RHP), and Shawn Zarraga (C).

Familiar Faces, New Places: Current OKC Dodgers Alex Hassan (2015), Elian Herrera (2014), and Shawn Zarraga (2014) have all previously suited up for the Sounds...The current Nashville roster features two players who were with OKC in 2015: Danny Coulombe and Eric Surkamp. Coulombe was a mainstay in the OKC bullpen last season, going 3-1 with a 3.27 ERA over a team-leading 38 appearances. Surkamp was 9-3 with a 3.57 ERA over 16 games (15 starts) and was the winning pitcher when the team clinched the American Northern Division title against Iowa on Sept. 2.

#1 of 144: Oklahoma City has an all-time record of 8-10 in season openers during the PCL era, including 5-4 on the road. Since joining the PCL in 1998, OKC is 12-6 in the team's first road contest of the season...The Dodgers lost their 2015 opener, 2-0, to Round Rock at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...The team is 2-4 in the last six season-opening games and have dropped three of the last four...Tonight marks OKC's first season opener against the Sounds.

On the Mend: Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal will begin the season with OKC on MLB Rehab Assignment as he recovers from a right forearm injury sustained during spring training. Grandal was a NL All-Star in 2015 during his first campaign with the Dodgers, setting career highs with 16 homers and 65 walks. He is one of 10 L.A. Dodgers currently on the team's disabled list.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE AND PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS (ALL TIMES CENTRAL)

DATE TIME OPPONENT OKC PITCHERS OPP. PITCHER

Friday, April 8 6:35 p.m. at Nasvhille RHP Jharel Cotton RHP Jesse Hahn

Saturday, April 9 6:35 p.m. at Nashville TBA LHP Dillon Overton

Sunday, April 10 2:05 p.m. at Nashville RHP Carlos Frias RHP Zach Neal

Monday, April 11 6:35 p.m. at Memphis LHP Julio Urias TBA

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