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PCL1 Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - April 7, 2019

April 7, 2019 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Game #4 of 140/Home #4 of 70 (1-2)

Pitching Probables: SA-RHP Aaron Wilkerson vs. OKC-RHP Tony Gonsolin

Sunday, April 7, 2019 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | 2:05 p.m. CT

Radio: KGHM AM-1340 The Game, 1340thegame.com, iHeartRadio - Randy Renner

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers and San Antonio Missions continue their season-opening series with a 2:05 p.m. game at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark on a Chaparral Energy Family Sunday, featuring pregame player autographs, a mascot meet-and-greet, face painters, inflatables and postgame kids run the bases. The Missions lead the first-ever series between the teams, 2-1, and today marks the first day game of the season for both teams.

Last Game: A two-run home run by San Antonio outfielder Tyrone Taylor in the top of the ninth inning broke a tie and sent the Missions to a 6-4 win against the Dodgers Saturday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Dodgers had tied the game in exciting fashion in the bottom of the seventh inning, scoring three runs. With Oklahoma City trailing, 4-1, Paulo Orlando and Jake Peter hit back-to-back homers to open the inning. Rocky Gale followed at the plate, reached on a San Antonio fielding error and later came around to score when Ezequiel Carrera hit into a fielder's choice that included a Missions throwing error, tying the game at 4-4. The Dodgers pitching staff combined for 18 strikeouts, led by five strikeouts each by starting pitcher Ben Holmes and reliever Zach McAllister. San Antonio took a quick lead in Saturday's game. With two outs in the first inning, Tyler Saladino grounded a double into left field to score two runs for the Missions for a 2-0 advantage. Doubles by Mauricio Dubon and Taylor in the third inning extended San Antonio's lead to 3-0. Gale led off the third inning with a walk for the Dodgers and advanced to second base on Errol Robinson's single before Matt Beaty's RBI single into right-center field brought him home and put Oklahoma City on the board. San Antonio added to its lead in the top of the seventh inning when Keston Hiura hit a RBI double for a 4-1 Missions lead before the Dodgers tied the game in the bottom of the frame. Missions reliever Jon Olczak (1-0) pitched scoreless eighth and ninth innings to record the win, including three strikeouts. Dodgers reliever Josh Smoker (1-1) was charged with the loss, allowing San Antonio's go-ahead runs in the ninth inning.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Tony Gonsolin is set to make his Triple-A debut today for the OKC Dodgers following a breakout year in 2018...Gonsolin, who enters this season ranked as the Dodgers' eighth overall prospect by Baseball America, was named the Dodgers' Branch Rickey Minor League Pitcher of the Year last season...Between High-A Rancho Cucamonga and Double-A Tulsa, he made 26 starts and went 10-2 with a 2.60 ERA, leading Dodgers minor league pitchers in ERA, wins and strikeouts. He was also named a MiLB.com Organization All-Star...Gonsolin posted career-bests in ERA, innings (128.0), strikeouts, batting average against (.219), and WHIP (1.14) while making 26 starts after previously working exclusively out of the bullpen entering the 2018 campaign...He spent the first half of the season with High-A Rancho Cucamonga and was named a California League Mid-Season All-Star before being assigned to Double-A Tulsa on July 14 where he went 6-0 over his nine starts for the Drillers. He led Tulsa in wins and was runner-up to Caleb Ferguson for best ERA among starting pitchers at 2.44 (minimum five starts)...He made four Spring Training appearances in 2019 for the Los Angeles Dodgers, including two starts. He pitched 9.0 scoreless innings, allowing six hits with six strikeouts and two walks...Gonsolin was drafted by the Dodgers in the ninth round of the 2016 MLB Draft out of St. Mary's College, where he primarily was an outfielder and relief pitcher. He earned All-West Coast Conference First Team honors his senior year, leading the Gaels in batting average as a sophomore, steals and saves as a junior and saves against as a senior.

Against the Missions: 2019: 1-2 2018: N/A All-time: 1-2 At OKC: 1-2

The San Antonio Missions won their PCL debut Thursday in OKC after joining the league for 2019 as the Milwaukee Brewers' Triple-A affiliate following the relocation of the Colorado Springs Sky Sox franchise. The Missions previously played in the Double-A Texas League most recently from 1968-2018 and served as a San Diego Padres affiliate from 2007-2018...The Dodgers went 9-7 against Colorado Springs in 2018, closing out the regular season with four straight victories in elimination games to pass the Sky Sox in the standings to win the American Northern Division title...Infielder Jake Peter led the Dodgers with 20 hits and 13 runs scored against the Sky Sox last season, batting .392 over 16 games.

On Strike: The Oklahoma City Dodgers pitching staff has a league-leading 44 strikeouts through the first three games of 2019. The next closest teams are Fresno and Sacramento with 36 K's each...The Dodgers pitching staff combined for 18 strikeouts Saturday night, led by five K's each by starting pitcher Ben Holmes and reliever Zach McAllister. The 18 strikeouts were the most in a single game for OKC since also recording 18 K's in a May 21, 2017 game that extended to 10 innings at El Paso...The Dodgers racked up 12 strikeouts Friday night, led by starting pitcher Daniel Corcino's seven K's. In Thursday's season opener, Dodgers pitchers whiffed 14 batters, led by rehabbing Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw's six strikeouts. Reliever Josh Sborz had five K's...Thursday's strikeout total was OKC's highest in the first game of the season that was a nine-inning game. The RedHawks notched 17 strikeouts on April 3, 2014 at Round Rock, and although the game went 11 innings, it should be noted the OKC pitching staff had 15 K's through nine innings that night.

Extra Bags: Half of the Dodgers' first 22 hits of the season have gone for extra bases, including six doubles, one triple and four homers by eight different players. The Dodgers have homered in each of their first three games of 2019, with outfielder Kyle Garlick hitting one out of the park Thursday night and infielder Jake Peter following with a dinger Friday night. Peter picked up his team-leading second homer of the season Saturday, following Paulo Orlando for back-to-back Dodgers homers to lead off the seventh inning. OKC's back-to-back homers were the first for the Dodgers since Garlick and Alex Verdguo hit consecutive home runs in the third inning of a June 18, 2018 game against Las Vegas in OKC.

Enemy of the Jake: Jake Peter has continued to do a number on the San Antonio/Colorado Springs franchise. He's homered in each of the last two games, and between the first three games of this season and 2018, he's batting .373 with 11 RBI and four homers, accounting for nearly half of his home run total during his time with OKC (nine). The infielder also has an impressive .644 slugging percentage across 19 career games against the Sky Sox/Missions.

Roster Rundown: Among the 25 players on the OKC Dodgers' Opening Day Roster, 13 have Major League experience, 11 appeared in the Majors last season and 14 logged time with OKC in 2018. Six players on the preliminary roster are ranked by Baseball America among the top 30 prospects in the Dodgers organization, including three of the top eight and four of the top 11: catcher Will Smith (#5), pitcher Dennis Santana (#7), pitcher Tony Gonsolin (#8), infielder Edwin Ríos (#11), pitcher Josh Sborz (#22) and infielder Matt Beaty (#23). Smith, Ríos, Sborz and Beaty each spent time with OKC last season, and 22 of the 25 have played at the Triple-A level at some point in their careers.

Offseason Evolution: The Dodgers are stepping out on a new playing surface after a complete field renovation at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark took place during the offseason, installing new irrigation, drainage, a water reclamation system and turf. New "instant-on" LED field lights were also added to improve clarity for players and fans, while reducing energy consumption. Also, a new hospitality space at the top of Section 115 called the Baseline Patio was added. In total, more than $2.5 million in improvements were made at the ballpark.

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