PCL1 Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - August 4, 2018

Published on August 4, 2018 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (60-48) vs. Reno Aces (57-54)

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Arizona Diamondbacks

Game #109 of 140/Road #53 of 70 (26-26)

Pitching Probables: OKC-LHP Kyle Lobstein (0-1, 13.50) vs. RNO-RHP Jake Buchanan (8-8, 5.12)

Saturday, August 4, 2018 | Greater Nevada Field | Reno, Nev. | 9:05 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers continue their West Coast road trip and open a four-game series against the Reno Aces at 9:05 p.m. CT at Greater Nevada Field. Through three games on the road trip, the Dodgers are 2-1.

Last Game: Tacoma emphatically snapped a seven-game home losing streak, pounding out 13 runs and 19 hits in a 13-1 win over the Dodgers Friday night at Cheney Stadium. Tacoma put up two quick runs in the bottom of the first inning, giving the Rainiers their first lead of the series. Leading 3-0 in the fourth, Daniel Vogelbach connected on a two-run homer with two outs, putting the Dodgers down by five. In the bottom of the fifth, Andrew Aplin came to the plate and hit a fly ball to deep right field. Henry Ramos made a diving attempt to catch the ball near the corner, but the ball went off his glove. As Ramos was down on the ground shaken up, Aplin went all the way around the bases for an inside-the-park home run, making it 6-0. The Dodgers got into the run column in the seventh inning with a two-out RBI double by Tim Locastro. Tacoma put the game away with a five-run, six-hit bottom of the seventh inning. David Freitas and Seth Mejias-Brean each hit two-run homers, and Ben Gamel added a RBI double, extending the lead to 11-1. Ian Miller delivered a two-run single with two outs in the eighth to finish the scoring. Tacoma starting pitcher Bryan Evans (4-1) kept the Dodgers quiet over 6.2 innings, allowing one run and six hits. OKC starter Daniel Corcino (2-3) tied his season high with six innings, but he also tied his season high with six runs and a season-high nine hits.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Kyle Lobstein (0-1) returns to the Dodgers to make his second start with OKC this season...Lobstein made his OKC debut July 4 against Round Rock at home, allowing five runs and five hits over 3.1 innings and was charged with the loss in the Dodgers' 8-5 defeat. He issued three walks and struck out three Express batters...Lobstein signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers June 22 and has made seven starts for Double-A Tulsa, posting a 3-2 record and 2.56 ERA over 38.2 innings. He has issued nine walks against 25 strikeouts and owns a 2.2/1 groundout-to-flyout ratio...He most recently started for Tulsa July 30 at Springfield, allowing six runs (three earned) and eight hits over 4.0 innings with three walks and one strikeout...Lobstein started the season with Toros de Tijuana of the Mexican Baseball League. With the Toros, he made 11 starts, going 4-2 with a 2.95 ERA. He issued 19 walks and racked up 49 strikeouts over 58.0 innings. He tied for the team lead in innings and starts and held opponents to two runs for less in 10 starts...Lobstein made his MLB debut Aug. 23, 2014 with Detroit against Minnesota and has made 34 MLB appearances (17 starts) for Detroit (20 games) and Pittsburgh (14 games), going a combined 6-10 with a 5.06 ERA over 128.0 IP with 49 walks and 74 K's...He was originally selected by Tampa Bay in the second round (47th overall) of the 2008 MLB Draft from Coconino High School in Flagstaff, Ariz...Tonight is his first career start against the Aces.

Against the Aces: 2018: 0-0 2017: 2-2 All-time: 22-14 At RNO: 7-9 The Dodgers and the Aces are playing their lone series of the season and are meeting in Reno for the first time since 2016...The teams split their 2017 series, 2-2, at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark with the Dodgers winning back-to-back games in the middle of the set. The Dodgers outscored the Aces, 20-18, and each team collected 38 hits. Edwin RÃ-os, Max Muncy and O'Koyea Dickson each had five hits in the series, while RÃ-os, Alex Verdugo and Mike Freeman each had four RBI...The Aces won the 2016 season series between the teams, 3-1, in Reno, including winning the final two games by a combined score of 14-5...The series loss was OKC's first against the Aces since the 2009 season when the teams played each other for the first time...The Dodgers last won a series against the Aces in 2015, going 3-1 in OKC.

Trend Breaker: Entering last night's series finale in Tacoma, the Dodgers had allowed a total of nine runs over the previous five games before the Rainiers exploded for 13 runs Friday. The 13 runs were the second-most allowed by OKC this season and the Dodgers' 12-run margin of defeat was the team's largest of 2018, and largest since a 15-3 loss at home against Colorado Springs on May 5, 2017...Dodgers starting pitchers had combined for a 1.25 ERA and .193 BAA over the previous nine games entering last night, but Tacoma put up six runs over six innings against Daniel Corcino while going 9-for-27...The bullpen duo of Adam Liberatore and Edward Paredes surrendered seven runs and 10 hits over just two innings, with Tacoma going 10-for-16. Over the previous three games, the OKC bullpen had combined for 10.2 scoreless innings while holding the opponent 5-for-37...The Rainiers tallied seven extra-base hits last night, including four homers. The Dodgers had allowed two or fewer extra-base hits in 17 of the previous 18 games, including the last nine straight. The previous four home runs allowed over a span of nine games...Andrew Aplin's fifth-inning inside-the-park home was the second against the Dodgers in less than one month. Round Rock's Drew Robinson also hit one in the fifth inning of the Express' 18-8 win in OKC July 8 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Prior to that, the last inside-the-park home run allowed by OKC was by Omaha's Paulo Orlando June 26, 2014 in OKC.

Teach Me How to Dugie: Alex Verdugo did not play Friday, but has hit safely in his first two games back with OKC after a five-game stint with the Los Angeles Dodgers, July 23-27. Verdugo went 5-for-16 with a double, homer, two RBI and four runs scored before being optioned to OKC when Yasiel Puig was activated from the 10-Day Disabled List...Verdugo has hit safely in 16 of his last 17 games with OKC, batting .397 (25x63) with seven multi-hit games and eight RBI...Verdugo paces the PCL with a .346 batting average this season and leads OKC with 93 hits in 69 games. His 38 RBI are tied for second on the team, as are his 17 doubles. He also has eight homers and 35 runs scored this season.

Cup O' Joe: Connor Joe did not play last night, but he is currently on a seven-game hitting streak, going 8-for-24 with three extra-base hits, three RBI and three runs scored. The hitting streak is his longest since joining OKC in late June. He has also hit safely in nine of his last 10 games (11-for-35)...Between OKC and Double-A Tulsa, Joe has combined to slash .302/.406/.544 with a career-best 16 homers and 48 RBI. His .950 OPS is best among Dodgers full-season minor leaguers and ranks 13th overall among all full-season minor leaguers.

Dominant Donovan: Since returning from the DL July 15, Donovan Solano is batting .373 (19x51) with 10 RBI and seven runs scored over 14 games. He's recorded six multi-hit outings, including three games with three or more hits...Since his return, the Dodgers are 11-3 when Solano is in the starting lineup and 1-5 when he is not, with losses in five straight.

Around the Horn: The Dodgers are in a stretch of 14 straight games against Pacific Conference opponents. They are 14-10 against Pacific Conference teams so far in 2018, including 6-4 on the road...Over the last seven games, the Dodgers are batting just .210 (48x229) and have totaled 17 runs. They have been held to two or fewer runs five times and are batting .192 with RISP (10x52)...Switch-handed reliever Pat Venditte has allowed just one hit over his last five appearances (5.1 IP) and just two hits and one run over his last nine appearances (10.0 IP). He leads all PCL relievers with a .160 BAA this season.

Check out the Oklahoma City Comets Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Pacific Coast League Stories from August 4, 2018


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central