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PCL1 Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - April 9, 2018

April 9, 2018 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (2-1) vs. Iowa Cubs (1-2)

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Chicago Cubs

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

Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Zach Neal vs. IOW-RHP Alec Mills

Monday, April 9, 2017 | Principal Park | Des Moines, Iowa | 12:08 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers and Iowa Cubs conclude their weather-shortened series with a 12:08 p.m. game at Principal Park. Sunday's game was moved to Thursday, April 5 due to expected snow in Des Moines, and Friday's game was postponed due to sub-freezing temperatures and will be made up at a later date.

Last Game: A wild finish followed nine innings of scoreless play Saturday night as the Dodgers edged the I-Cubs, 6-5, in 11 innings at Principal Park. After combining for no runs and six hits through nine innings, the teams combined for 11 runs and 10 hits in the 10th and 11th innings. With Minor League Baseball's new rules in place, each team started each extra inning with a runner at second base and both offenses erupted. OKC scored three runs in the top of the 10th with a RBI single from Jake Peter and RBI double by Andrew Toles, who also scored due to an error. Iowa responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning. Taylor Davis hit a RBI single, Wynton Bernard blooped a RBI single and Chris Gimenez hit a fly ball to right field, dropped by Henry Ramos, allowing Bernard to score the tying run. In the 11th, OKC's Rob Segedin broke the 3-3 tie with a RBI single. With two outs and the bases loaded, Breyvic Valera hit a two-run double for a 6-3 lead. With two outs in the bottom of the frame, Iowa's Ryan Court hit a RBI double and Bijan Rademacher followed with a RBI single. Dodgers reliever Pat Venditte earned his first save, getting Davis to ground to third for a game-ending forceout at second base. Adam Liberatore (1-0) picked up the win. OKC starter Brock Stewart turned in 5.2 scoreless frames, giving up just a pair of singles. He walked two and struck out six and finished his outing by retiring nine of his final 10 hitters. Alberto Baldonado (1-1) was charged with the loss for Iowa.

Today's Probable Pitcher: RHP Zach Neal makes his first start for OKC...Neal signed with the Dodgers as a free agent in January after spending the last five seasons in the Oakland Athletics organization...Neal's contract was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers April 3 and he pitched in relief that night in Arizona (IP, 2 H, ER, 0 BB, 0 K). He was designated for assignment April 5 and outrighted to OKC April 6...He spent the majority of last season with Triple-A Nashville, posting a 4-8 record over 21 appearances (16 starts). He pitched 99.0 innings with 43 strikeouts against 10 walks and a 4.82 ERA...Neal made his MLB debut May 11, 2016 with Oakland at Boston and went on to appear in 24 games (six starts) with Oakland that season. His 0.77 walks per nine innings (based on a minimum of 70.0 IP) were the second-lowest in the Majors and third-lowest in Athletics history...Between the A's and Dodgers, Neal has made 31 career ML appearances (six starts), going 2-4 with two saves and a 4.94 ERA...Neal was selected by the Florida Marlins in the 17th round of the 2010 Draft out of the University of Oklahoma where he was part of OU's 2010 College World Series team...Today is Neal's fourth career start against Iowa. He made three starts against the I-Cubs while with Nashville in 2015 and 2017, dropping all three starts and posting a 5.21 ERA.

Against the I-Cubs: 2018: 2-1 2017: 9-7 All-time: 142-146 At IOW: 68-78

This marks the second straight season Iowa and OKC are opening a season against one another...The Dodgers won the 2017 series between the teams, 9-7, but Iowa won the season-opening series, 3-2, taking each of the first three games...OKC posted a 5-3 record at Principal Park in 2017 and has secured a winning mark in Des Moines each of the previous three seasons. Since the start of the 2015, the Dodgers are 18-9 on the I-Cubs' home turf...Seven of last year's 16 meetings were decided by one or two runs...The Dodgers outscored Iowa, 82-65, in the 2017 series and outhit the I-Cubs, 155-119...Willie Calhoun led OKC with 19 hits and 15 RBI against Iowa...Alex Verdugo batted .321 against the I-Cubs with 17 hits, with five doubles, two triples, a home run and five RBI. He scored seven runs and drew a team-leading eight walks.

Extra Credit: Two of the first three games of the season between the Dodgers and I-Cubs have extended into extra innings, marking the only extra-inning games in the Pacific Coast League...The Dodgers played in 11 extra-inning games total in 2017, going 5-6 and playing a total of two extra-inning games in the month of April. They have scored six runs in extra innings with the new rules in place this year after totaling eight runs over their 11 games in extras last season...Both teams have taken advantage of the offense-friendly rules in extras. The Dodgers have gone 6-for-12 as a team and have scored six of their 10 runs in the series. They are batting .193 (17x88) over the remaining 23 innings...The disparity is even more pronounced for Iowa. The I-Cubs are 7-for-13 in extras, plating six of their nine runs for the series. Outside of extras, they are batting just .165 (13x79) in standard innings.

Pick Your Poison: Both units of the Dodgers pitching staff have been stout this series. The starters have combined to allow just three runs (two earned) and eight hits over 13.2 innings, holding Iowa to a .167 average (8x48). Despite dealing with the new extra innings rules, the bullpen has allowed just two earned runs over 11.1 innings. The relief corps has notched 16 strikeouts and stranded four of five inherited runners.

Hawkeye Homecoming: Iowa native Jake Peter drew two walks, scored two runs and connected on a RBI single in the top of the 10th inning Saturday night. He's off to a 2-for-6 start with two walks while playing in his home state for the first time as a pro. The infielder from Mason City, Iowa -- about 120 miles north of Des Moines -- last played at Principal Park during the Iowa high school state tournament in both 2010 and 2011 with Mason City High School. The Mohawks finished in second place in 2011.

Two-Hit Timmy: Tim Locastro laid down a sac bunt in his only plate appearance Saturday. He last started Game 2 Thursday, going 2-for-4. In 33 career games with OKC, Locastro has batted .393 with 12 multi-hit games. He's notched two or more hits in 10 of his last 20 games with OKC going back to last season.

Same Old Story: Alex Verdugo picked up another hit Saturday and now has four hits through OKC's first three games to pace the team. He is 4-for-13 thus far with two runs scored...Last season, Verdugo led the OKC Dodgers with 136 hits, including a team-high 27 doubles.

500 Club: Manager Bill Haselman collected his 500th career win in the first game of Thursday's doubleheader. This is his third season at the helm of the OKC Dodgers, fifth in the Dodgers organization, and his eighth overall as a minor league manager. Haselman now owns a 501-483 career record, including a 155-130 mark over his two-plus seasons with OKC.

Monday Miscellany: The Dodgers and I-Cubs have yet to play a nine-inning game this season. The length of each game has been seven, eight and 11 innings...All three games in the series have been decided by one run. The rest of the PCL has combined to play a total of four one-run games so far.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE AND PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS (ALL TIMES CENTRAL)

DATE TIME OPPONENT OKC PITCHER OPPONENT PITCHER

Tuesday, April 10 7:05 p.m. Round Rock LHP Manny Bañuelos (0-0, 2.25) RHP David Ledbetter (0-1, 5.40)

Wednesday, April 11 7:05 p.m. Round Rock RHP Walker Buehler (0-0, 2.25) RHP Adrian Sampson (0-1, 10.38)

Thursday, April 12 7:05 p.m. Round Rock RHP Brock Stewart (0-0, 0.00) LHP Yohander Mendez (0-1, 13.50)

Friday, April 13 7:05 p.m. New Orleans TBA TBA

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