PCL1 Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - August 17, 2015

Published on August 17, 2015 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Tacoma Rainiers (57-65) vs. Oklahoma City Dodgers (73-48)

Seattle Mariners vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

Game #122 of 144/Home #57 of 71 (33-23)

Pitching Probables: TAC-RHP Forrest Snow (8-8, 4.10) vs. OKC-LHP Eric Surkamp (6-3, 3.96)

Monday, August 17, 2015 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 7:05 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers continue their series against the Tacoma Rainiers at 7:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The series is tied, 1-1, and the Dodgers seek their seventh win in the last eight games.

Last Game: The Dodgers scored runs in each of the first four innings to build a 6-0 lead, and starting pitcher Joe Wieland held Tacoma scoreless through seven innings on the way to a 9-1 win Sunday in Bricktown. Wieland (9-5) pitched a season-high eight innings and allowed one run and six hits with eight strikeouts. The Dodgers took the lead in the first inning when a run scored on a Tacoma error and went ahead, 2-0, on a RBI single by O'Koyea Dickson in the second inning. A sacrifice fly by Andy Wilkins in the third inning put the Dodgers in front, 3-0. Jose Tabata hit a solo home run in the fourth inning for a 4-0 lead. Three straight doubles, including RBI doubles from Shawn Zarraga and Darnell Sweeney, followed for a 6-0 OKC advantage. Wilkins hit his second sacrifice fly of the night in the seventh to bring home Sweeney for a 7-0 lead. Kyle Jensen followed with a two-out RBI single. The Rainiers broke up the shutout in the eighth with a RBI single by Daniel Paolini. Dickson answered in the bottom of the inning when he crushed his 10th homer of the season. Making a spot start, Tacoma pitcher Tyler Olson (2-4) was charged with the loss. He allowed six runs (four earned) and eight hits over 4.0 innings.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Eric Surkamp (6-3) tries for a third straight win as he makes his 12th start of the season for OKC and first appearance since Aug. 9...He most recently started against Colorado Springs and held the Sky Sox scoreless with three hits over 5.0 innings to earn his sixth win. Surkamp did not allow a walk and struck out three...Between his last two starts, Surkamp has allowed one earned run and 10 hits over 10.0 innings of work, picking up a pair of wins. He's notched six strikeouts with just one walk...Surkamp has won six of his last seven decisions. Over his last 10 outings, he is 6-1 with a 3.04 ERA, and OKC is 8-2 during the 10-game stretch...Surkamp was acquired in a trade with the White Sox in late May. Although he has spent most of his time with OKC, he made his L.A. Dodgers debut against Philadelphia on July 6 (3.1 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, BB, 4 K, ND)...Tonight marks his second career start against Tacoma and first since July 18, 2013 when he played for the Fresno Grizzlies (4.2 IP, 10 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, ND).

Against the Rainiers: 2015: 1-1 2014: 0-4 All-time: 41-44 In OKC: 26-16

This marks the lone series of the season between the cross-conference foes...Prior to last night, Tacoma had won five straight meetings with OKC, decided by a total of seven runs. Last night also snapped a streak of eight straight games between the teams that were decided by one or two runs (five by one run)...The Rainiers swept Oklahoma City in 2014, winning all four meetings in Tacoma. The first three games stretched into extra innings, marking just the second time in OKC club history the team played three consecutive extra-inning games...OKC has won five of the last six meetings in Bricktown. During that time, Tacoma has batted .207 (40x193) and scored 11 runs total. The Rainiers have scored more than two runs just once (one or no runs four times).

Ups and Downs: Over the Dodgers' last 21 games, they have lost four straight, won five straight, lost five straight, and won five straight before losing Saturday and winning Sunday. With Sunday's victory, the Dodgers avoided consecutive losses for just the second time since the start of July...Iowa won Sunday and remains six games behind the Dodgers in second place in the division. Omaha also won Sunday to remain 6.5 games back in third place. The Dodgers' largest division lead was 11 games entering play on July 4, but they have gone 20-21 since. After their first-place lead was cut all the way down to three games, the Dodgers have added three games to their lead since Aug. 1...Fresno won for the 14th time in 15 games last night and is tied with OKC with a league-leading 73 wins.

Money on the Mound: During the team's last seven games, the Dodgers pitching staff has surrendered just 11 runs (1.55 ERA) and has held their opponent scoreless in 56 of 64 innings. They've allowed two or fewer runs in six of the seven contests. Opponents are batting .185 (41x222) with 10 extra-base hits (2 HR, 8 2B) and have gone 7-for-37 (.189) with runners in scoring position.

The Star-ters are Aligned: Over the last eight games, Dodgers starting pitchers have combined for a 1.40 ERA (8 ER/51.1 IP) with six quality starts and four outings lasting at least 7.0 innings. They've held opponents to a .171 average (30x175) -- including 4-for-24 with runners in scoring position --- while posting 48 strikeouts against 16 walks...Last night marked the third time this season an OKC starting pitcher completed at least 8.0 innings, with Scott Baker providing the other two instances.

Whiff City: The OKC pitching staff has racked up 42 strikeouts over the past four games (37.0 IP). Joe Wieland recorded eight strikeouts Sunday for his highest single-game total since his first start of the season April 13 against Nashville (nine)...The Dodgers have accumulated 121 strikeouts through 141.0 IP this month (7.7 K/9) after striking out 159 batters over 237.1 IP in July (6.02 K/9). The team's strikeout-to-walk ratio has markedly improved this month, jumping from 1.7 in July (159 K/95 BB) to 3.03 in August (121 K/40 BB).

Keeping Tabs: After going 3-for-18 through his first seven games with OKC, Jose Tabata has hit safely in four straight, going 7-for-14 with a home run and a double. Yesterday he connected on his first homer since Sept. 20, 2013 while he was with the Pittsburgh Pirates, ending a drought of 605 plate appearances in between dingers.

Dickson's O'K: Yesterday O'Koyea Dickson notched his first three-hit game since May 26 at Salt Lake, going 3-for-4 with a home run and a double. Over his last five games, Dickson is batting .471 (8x17) with three multi-hit games and three contests in which he has scored twice.

Extra, Extra: The Dodgers totaled six extra-base hits last night, marking their highest total since July 28 at Memphis (19 games). They had just one extra-base hit in their two previous games combined...OKC went deep twice yesterday, marking the first time the team's hit more than one homer in a game since game one on Aug. 2 vs. New Orleans (14 games). After bashing 37 home runs over 28 games in July, the Dodgers have been held to just nine homers in 16 games to start August.

Double Down: Last night the Dodgers tied their season high by turning four double plays in one game for the fourth time this season, last achieved July 31 at Memphis. The Dodgers currently rank second the PCL with 133 double plays (Albuquerque - 141).

UPCOMING SCHEDULE AND PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS (ALL TIMES CENTRAL)

DATE TIME OPPONENT OKC PITCHER OPP. PITCHER

Tuesday, August 18 7:05 p.m. Tacoma RHP Zach Lee (9-4, 2.45) LHP Roenis Elias (3-2, 7.95)

Wednesday, August 19 7:05 p.m. Reno RHP Brandon Beachy (1-1, 3.64) RHP Jhoulys Chacin (5-2, 3.28)

Thursday, August 20 7:05 p.m. Reno RHP Mike Bolsinger (2-2, 1.93) RHP A.J. Schugel (1-6, 12.33)

Friday, August 21 7:05 p.m. Reno RHP Joe Wieland (9-5, 4.60) RHP Blayne Weller (0-0, 5.40)

Check out the Oklahoma City Comets Statistics

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Pacific Coast League Stories from August 17, 2015


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