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PCL1 Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - April 9, 2019

April 9, 2019 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (2-3) vs. Omaha Storm Chasers (3-2)

Game #6 of 140/Road #1 of 70 (0-0)

Pitching Probables: OKC-LHP Rob Zastrynzy vs. OMA-LHP Jonathan Dziedzic

Tuesday, April 9, 2019 | Werner Park | Papillion, Neb. | 6:35 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers open their first road trip of the 2019 season with a three-game series against the Omaha Storm Chasers at 6:35 p.m. at Werner Park. Tonight is the Storm Chasers' home opener.

Last Game: The Dodgers scored five runs in the seventh inning, including a three-run home run by Will Smith, to win their series finale against San Antonio, 5-4, Monday afternoon at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Dodgers trailed, 3-0, entering the seventh inning. Rocky Gale and Paulo Orlando then each drew walks before Daniel Castro lined a RBI single into left field to put the Dodgers on the scoreboard. Matt Beaty followed with a RBI single before Smith hit a fly ball out to left field for his first home run of the season and put the Dodgers in the lead, 5-3. San Antonio's Keston Hiura hit a pinch-hit solo home run in the top of the ninth inning to cut Oklahoma City's lead to one run, but Dodgers pitcher Stetson Allie retired the next three batters for his second save of the season. The Missions got on the board in the fourth inning via a RBI double by Nate Orf and a sacrifice fly by Lucas Erceg to take a 2-0 lead. Erceg's RBI double to center field later extended San Antonio's lead to 3-0 in the sixth inning. The Dodgers drew three straight walks to open the bottom of the sixth inning and load the bases, but were unable to bring home a run as a force out at home plate and double play ended the inning. Dodgers reliever Layne Somsen (1-0) picked up the win in his first appearance with Oklahoma City this season, pitching a scoreless and hitless seventh inning with two walks and one strikeout. Missions pitcher Jon Olczak (1-1) was charged with the loss, allowing all five of Oklahoma City's runs over 1.1 innings of relief.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Rob Zastryzny makes his 2019 debut and his Dodgers organizational debut when he takes the mound to start for the OKC Dodgers tonight...Zastryzny spent the first six seasons of his professional career in the Chicago Cubs organization before being released near the end of Spring Training and signing with the Dodgers in late March...He spent the majority of the 2018 season with the Iowa Cubs (33 games) and also made six appearances with Chicago...He made just one start in 2018 after making 78 starts over his first five pro seasons...Working almost exclusively out of the bullpen last season, Zastryzny went 3-2 with a 3.86 ERA for Iowa. He logged 56.0 innings with 50 strikeouts and 28 walks...With the Chicago Cubs, he went 1-0 over six relief outings (5.2 IP), allowing a combined six hits and three runs with three K's and four walks...Zastryzny made the 2016 Cubs NLCS roster against the LA Dodgers, but did not make an appearance and was left off the World Series roster when Kyle Schwarber returned after injury...Zastryzny was selected by the Cubs in the second round of the 2013 MLB Draft out of the University of Missouri...Over his three-year career with Iowa, Zastryzny faced Omaha six times, including three starts. He is 1-1 with a 2.97 ERA and .198 BAA against the Storm Chasers, and most notably, threw 5.0 perfect innings at Werner Park on Aug. 1, 2016.

Against the Storm Chasers: 2019:0-0 2018: 8-8 All-time: 157-146 At OMA: 76-76

The Dodgers travel to Omaha for their first of 16 regular-season meetings against the Storm Chasers tonight, all of which will be played between now and May 29...The teams last met during a three-game series Aug. 21-23, 2018 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, with the Dodgers taking the final two meetings of the season...The teams last played at Werner Park during a four-game set Aug. 13-16, with the Storm Chasers winning three straight games to close out the series...OKC started the 2018 season 4-2 against Omaha, but then dropped six of eight meetings before winning the final two...Edwin Ríos batted .410 in 16 games against the Storm Chasers last season, leading the Dodgers with 25 hits, including a team-best eight doubles and two home runs. He also led the Dodgers with 10 RBI and nine runs scored in the season series, although he did strike out 20 times in 61 at-bats...OKC has only won one season series against Omaha over the last eight seasons (11-3 in 2016) and is 1-5-2 in the season series since 2011.

On Strike: The Dodgers pitching staff has an incredible 68 strikeouts through the first five games of 2019 - the most by any team in the Minors. The next closest teams in the PCL are Fresno and Sacramento with 52 K's each...The Dodgers pitching staff has combined for double-digit strikeout performances in each of the first five games of the season. Starting pitcher Justin DeFratus led OKC with six of the Dodgers' 10 strikeouts Monday after the team recorded at least 12 strikeouts in each of its first four games of 2019 - 14 Sunday, 18 Saturday, 12 Friday and 14 Thursday...Saturday's 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 established the PCL single-season record for strikeouts in both 2016 and 2017, with 1,245 and 1,277 strikeouts, respectively. However, Fresno bested both of those totals last season with 1,330 punchouts.

It's Not How You Start...: San Antonio took a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning Monday and grabbed the first lead in each of their first five games of the season against the Dodgers. The Missions outscored Oklahoma City, 9-1, through the first three innings and 12-3 through the first five innings over the five games combined...The Dodgers have yet to score a run in the first or second inning and have scored just one run through the first three innings over the first give games...However, Oklahoma City has come on late in games, scoring 14 of their 17 total runs so far this season in the sixth inning or later. The Dodgers outscored the Missions, 14-10, over the final four innings of the five games of their season-opening series combined...Including all five runs yesterday, the Dodgers have scored 10 of their 17 total runs in the seventh inning.

Sophomore Surge: Will Smith is off to a phenomenal start after struggling at the Triple-A level to end last season. Through his first four games, Smith is 5-for-12 with four extra-base hits and three walks against two strikeouts. During his time with OKC in 2018, Smith went just 12-for-87 (.138). He totaled only five extra-base hits and had seven walks against 37 strikeouts.

One for the Road: Since joining the PCL in 1998, OKC is 14-7 in road openers, with wins in four of the last five, seven of the last nine and nine of the last 12...Last season the Dodgers went 34-36 away from Oklahoma City, with wins in each of their final four regular season games in Colorado Springs to storm back and win the American Northern Division.

Engine Trouble: The Dodgers have scored a league-low 17 runs so far this season, while their 34 total hits are tied for second-fewest to start the season...OKC batters have struck out 50 times through five games, tied for the fifth-most K's in the league...There were signs of improvement yesterday, though. The team went 3-for-5 with runners in scoring position after going 4-for-26 with RISP over the first four games. Also, the Dodgers drew seven walks Monday, matching their total through the first four games.

Leaders of the Pack: Three players have accounted for 16 of the Dodgers' first 34 hits. Daniel Castro has a team-high six hits through five games (6x14) and Matt Beaty has hit safely in each of his first five games, tying him with Will Smith for the team's second-most hits...The trio has combined to go 16-for-45 (.356), while the rest of the team is 18-for-111 (.162).

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