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PCL1 Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - August 18, 2019

August 18, 2019 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (57-66) vs. Round Rock Express (75-48)

Game #124 of 140/Road #67 of 70 (31-35)

Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Justin DeFratus (1-4, 6.94) vs. RR-RHP Carson LaRue (0-3, 5.59)

Sunday, August 18, 2019 | Dell Diamond | Round Rock, Texas | 6:05 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers close out their series against the Round Rock Express at 6:05 p.m. at Dell Diamond, looking to avoid their first four-game series sweep this season...The Dodgers have lost four straight road games, as well as seven of the last eight games away from OKC.

Last Game: The Round Rock pitching staff scattered four hits, struck out 14 batters and shut out the Dodgers, 2-0, Saturday night at Dell Diamond. Express starting pitcher Brandon Bielak (7-4) silenced the Dodgers over six strong innings, holding OKC to four hits. He tied his season high with nine strikeouts and only walked one batter while holding the Dodgers 0-for-8 with runners on base. Relievers Dean Deetz and Riley Ferrell combined to work three perfect innings and notched five strikeouts. Between Bielak, Deetz and Ferrell, the trio retired the final 12 Dodgers batters and 17 of the final 19 Dodgers to step to the plate. Ferrell needed just nine pitches to complete the ninth inning and earn his first save. In the first inning, Jack Mayfield hit his fourth homer in six at-bats, giving the Express a 1-0 lead. Another Express batter hit a home run with two strikes and two outs in the second inning, as Nick Tanielu's solo shot made it 2-0. After the two early homers, the Dodgers pitching staff maintained the two-run deficit the rest of the game. Starting pitcher Daniel Corcino finished his outing with three scoreless frames and induced two double plays. Jaime Schultz worked two scoreless innings with four strikeouts. Victor Gonzalez put up another zero in the eighth. The three OKC pitchers allowed just five hits combined, notched 10 strikeouts and held Round Rock 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position. Corcino (8-6) took the loss after allowing two runs and three hits over five innings.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Justin DeFratus (1-4) takes the mound for his seventh start of the season with the Dodgers...DeFratus' last outing was Aug. 11 against Reno at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, allowing a season-high eight runs (seven earned) and nine hits, including three homers, over 5.2 innings. He issued two walks and had four strikeouts and was charged with the loss in OKC's 10-2 defeat...Prior to his last start, DeFratus' 10 previous appearances all came with Tulsa. In a combined 22 appearances (19 starts) between OKC and Tulsa, DeFratus is 7-12 with a 5.52 ERA over 124.0 IP and 32 walks against 84 strikeouts. He's lasted at least 6.0 innings in 15 games and at least 7.0 innings six times...DeFratus split 2018 between OKC and Double-A Tulsa as well. Over 12 starts with the Dodgers, he went 3-4 with a 5.27 ERA, 44 strikeouts and 17 walks in 68.1 innings. He was named PCL Pitcher of Week for May 7-13 after his second career complete game and first career shutout May 11 against Memphis...He signed with the Dodgers as a free agent Feb. 17, 2018 and re-signed with the club this past offseason...DeFratus made his MLB debut Sept. 18, 2011 with Philadelphia and was originally drafted by the Phillies in the 11th round of the 2007 MLB Draft from Ventura (Calif.) College...DeFratus started against the Express in Game 2 of a doubleheader May 1, allowing six runs (five earned) and one hit over 0.1 IP, with four walks and no strikeouts. He was ejected by home plate umpire Edwin Moscoso in the first inning after facing seven batters.

Against the Express: 2019: 5-10 2018: 10-6 All-time: 129-108 At RR: 66-52 The Dodgers and Express are meeting for their fourth and final series of 2019. The Express have gone 24-10 since July 7 and currently own a 2.5-game lead over San Antonio for first place in the American Southern Division...It's been a streaky season series, with Round Rock winning the first six meetings before the Dodgers won the next five straight prior to Round Rock winning the last four. Round Rock's six-game win streak against OKC earlier this season marked the first time they had won six straight over OKC since 2006...The Express have outscored OKC, 93-66, and outhit OKC, 142-103...Round Rock has already clinched a season series victory over OKC for the first time since 2014 and for the second time over the last eight seasons. OKC's 10 losses are tied for the most in one season against the Express (2005, 2006, 2011). Additionally, OKC will finish the season with a losing record at Dell Diamond for the first time since 2009 and the six losses at the venue are the most the team has ever had in one season.

Simply De-Lux: Gavin Lux doubled last night and has reached base safely in 38 of his first 39 Triple-A games with OKC and hit safely in 35 of 39 games. His 37-game on-base streak came to a close Friday night and the streak stands as the third-longest in the PCL this season...Since joining OKC June 27, Lux is slashing .415/.497/.768/1.266. He has 68 hits, 20 multi-hit games, 32 XBH, 33 RBI and 48 runs scored. During that time, Lux's AVG, OBP and hits are the best, or tied for first, among all players in the domestic Minors or Majors, while his OPS and 126 total bases are second, his runs scored are tied for second and his extra-base hits are fourth and SLG is fifth...He was named PCL Player of the Month for July, becoming the first OKC player to receive a PCL monthly honor since MLBAM began tracking the awards in 2010...Between OKC and Tulsa, Lux is batting .352 and his 149 total hits are third in the domestic Minors.

Quiet Riot: Saturday marked the seventh time the Dodgers were shut out this season, but the first time since June 22. Last night also marked the fifth time in seven games the Dodgers were held to three or fewer runs and six or fewer hits. The team is 2-5 over its last seven games, and in the five losses, the Dodgers have batted just .127 (19x150) with nine runs and a 2-for-25 clip with runners in scoring position. In the two wins, the Dodgers have batted .397 (27x68) with 22 runs and are 13-for-25 with RISP...Despite the recent inconsistency, the Dodgers have been one of the PCL's best offensive teams since the All-Star Break. The Dodgers are second in the PCL home runs (73), SLG (.550), RBI (237) and tied for second in runs (248). They are third in walks (157) and OPS (.930) during that span...The Dodgers enter tonight 0-for-the-last-17 and 1-for-the-last-24 with runners on base. They are 2-for-18 with runners in scoring position this series, including 0-for-the-last-14...During the team's current four-game skid against the Express, the Dodgers are batting just .155 (20x129) with eight runs total, including four on solo home runs.

Zach Attack: Zach McKinstry went 1-for-4 last night and has now hit safely in 11 of his first 12 games with OKC, going 19-for-43 (.442) with four doubles, a triple, four homers, 14 RBI and 10 runs scored...Going back to July 25 with Double-A Tulsa, McKinstry has hit safely in 18 of his last 20 games, batting .464 (32x69) with a .526 OBP, .739 SLG and 18 RBI.

Dinger Details: Last night marked the third time in four games and fourth time in seven games the Dodgers were held without a home run. Since July 1, their 84 homers are the third-most homers in all of professional baseball, trailing only Las Vegas (96) and New York Yankees (88). Prior to the seven-game dry spell, the Dodgers had homered in 28 of the previous 30 games...Both of Round Rock's runs scored via solo homers last night and the Express have hit eight homers over the first three games of the current series. The Dodgers have allowed 20 home runs over the last eight games, and the 45 homers they've allowed since July 27 are the most in the Minors (19 G)...The Dodgers have already established single-season team records with 184 homers hit (previously 171 in 2005) and 180 homers allowed (previously 153 in 2004).

On Strike: Dodgers pitchers recorded 10 more strikeouts last night for the team's 57th double-digit strikeout game of the season. OKC's pitching staff paces the PCL with 1,145 strikeouts this season and have notched 20 more than second-place Sacramento despite throwing 39.1 fewer innings. The Dodgers are on pace for 1,303 K's this season, which would surpass the team record of 1,277 set in 2017.

Around the Horn: The Dodgers are 5-1 when aiming to avoid a series sweep of any length this season. They have not been swept in a four-game series since June 26-28, 2018 at home against Nashville and have not been swept in a four-game road series since May 23-26, 2016 at Fresno. The only time in team history OKC has been swept at Dell Diamond was May 1-4, 2006...Ten of Austin Barnes' 17 hits over with OKC have gone for extra bases...The Dodgers are 1-7 over the last seven road games with a -31 run differential after going 21-9 with a +95 run differential in their previous 30 road contests.

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