PCL1 Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - July 5, 2015

Published on July 5, 2015 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Omaha Storm Chasers (44-39) vs. Oklahoma City Dodgers (53-28)

Kansas City Royals vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

Game #82 of 144/Home #39 of 72 (24-14)

Pitching Probables: OMA-RHP Kris Medlen (0-0, 4.91) vs. OKC-LHP Rudy Owens (0-1, 3.00)

Sunday, July 5, 2015 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 6:05 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 Omaha Storm Chasers at 6:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark on a Chaparral Energy Family Sunday.

Last Game: The Dodgers threatened late, but were unable to overcome a five-run deficit in a 7-4 loss to Omaha Saturday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Omaha took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning on a two-run homer by Brett Eibner. Oklahoma City answered in the bottom of the frame on a RBI double by Andy Wilkins to cut Omaha's lead to 2-1. In the third, Balbino Fuenmayor hit a bases-clearing double to make it 5-1. The Storm Chasers took advantage of an OKC error in the sixth to tack on another run. The Dodgers got the offense going once they got into the Omaha bullpen in the seventh. OKC scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh, when Wilkins hit his second RBI double, and another run scored on a fielding error during the same play. Omaha struck again in the ninth, and the Dodgers entered their final at-bat down, 7-3. Austin Barnes led off the inning and drilled a solo homer to left field. OKC eventually brought the tying run to the plate with two outs, but Omaha reliever Scott Alexander (SV, 7) got Darnell Sweeney to ground out and end the game. Storm Chasers starting pitcher John Lamb (9-1) held the Dodgers to one run and four hits over six innings, as he picked up his league-leading ninth win. Dodgers starting pitcher Deck McGuire (3-4) was charged with the loss.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Rudy Owens (0-1) makes his second start of the season with OKC...Owens has appeared in five games for the OKC Dodgers this season. After starting the season with OKC, Owens missed a considerable amount of time on the DL with an elbow strain (April 21-May 31). Once he was activated, he made two starts each with High-A Rancho Cucamonga and Double-A Tulsa. He rejoined OKC on June 21, and since then has made two appearances out of the bullpen, totaling 3.0 innings...He last appeared Wednesday night in Memphis and allowed one run and one hit (HR) over 2.0 innings. He retired six of the eight batters he faced between the seventh and eighth innings and was credited with a hold in OKC's 3-2 victory...After signing with Oakland as a free agent during the offseason, he was traded to the Dodgers on April 4, 2015...This is the fourth consecutive year Owens has played in OKC after spending parts of the last three seasons with the RedHawks as a member of the Astros organization...Tonight marks his third career start against the Storm Chasers (0-1, 4.76 ERA).

Against the Storm Chasers: 2015: 5-4 2014: 7-9 All-time: 130-119 In OKC: 67-60

The Storm Chasers have won the last three meetings, and during the win streak, they have scored 27 runs and have batted .451 (46x102). Prior to that, the Dodgers had limited the Storm Chasers to 11 runs and a .207 team average over the first six meetings...OKC split the most recent series with the Storm Chasers May 8-11 at Werner Park...The Dodgers won three of four April 25-28 in OKC. It marked the team's first four-game series win against the Storm Chasers since a road sweep July 16-19, 2012 and their first four-game series win at home since June 26-29, 2010...Since the start of the 2011 season, Omaha is 22-15 in Bricktown and is 3-0-1 in the season series.

Victory Lane: The league-leading Dodgers' four-game winning streak came to an end Saturday, but they have won four of the last five games and five of the last seven overall. With a win tonight, the team can again match its all-time best record of 26 games above .500. Other than this season, the only other time an Oklahoma City team was 26 games above .500 was Sept. 2, 1999 (82-56)...The Dodgers are currently tied with Double-A Corpus Christi for the most wins in the Minors or Majors (53).

On the Mend: Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Carl Crawford will join the team on rehab assignment today. Crawford suffered a torn right oblique while taking a swing on April 27 and has been on the Disabled List since April 28. He began his rehab assignment with High-A Rancho Cucamonga earlier in the week, and over two games, he went 1-for-4 with a triple and two RBI...Crawford is the seventh L.A. Dodger to appear with OKC on rehab assignment this season and the sixth since June 18.

Bringing the Boom: Austin Barnes' ninth-inning home run last night extended the team's current home run streak to a season-best five straight games. The Dodgers have belted 10 dingers over that time.

Darwin's Evolution: Darwin Barney is currently riding a season-best nine-game hitting streak, going 16-for-39 (.410) with five multi-hit games. Since rejoining the OKC Dodgers, Barney has hit safely in 13 of 14 contests, recording eight multi-hit games. He's batting .421 (24x57) with two home runs, three doubles, seven RBI, and nine runs scored.

Sweeney Stopped: Darnell Sweeney went 0-for-5 Saturday to end his six-game hitting streak, during which he was 12-for-24 with seven extra-base hits (3 HR), seven RBI, and seven runs scored. Sweeney leads the PCL with 26 stolen bases and ranks among the league's best with 89 hits (T-4th) and 21 doubles (T-10th). He also leads OKC with 28 multi-hit games, 36 RBI, and 44 runs scored.

Wilk this Way: Andy Wilkins has hit safely in each of his last four starts, going 6-for-14 with four extra-base hits (HR, 3 2B) and three RBI. Last night he picked up his team-leading ninth multi-RBI game of season, and since joining the team on May 7, he leads OKC with 30 RBI.

Bullish Pen: For just the second time in the last eight games, the OKC Dodgers bullpen allowed a run. Over the eight-game stretch, the bullpen has allowed just two runs and 19 hits over 26.2 IP, with six walks and 25 strikeouts.

On Strike: Last night marked the 11th time this season the Dodgers pitching staff did not allow a walk. OKC has issued the fewest walks in the PCL this season (198) and the team's 3.1 strikeout-to-walk ratio is also best the league.

Crowded House: Last night's attendance of 11,920 was the largest under Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark's current configuration (since 2011) as well as the largest crowd overall since July 4, 2008 vs. Iowa (13,066).

Odds & Ends: The Dodgers set a season high with five doubles last night...Chris Heisey finished yesterday's game 2-for-4 with two doubles, marking his first multi-hit game with OKC or L.A. since April 17 at Iowa...The Dodgers are 5-1 on Chaparral Energy Family Sundays.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE AND PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS (ALL TIMES CENTRAL)

DATE TIME OPPONENT OKC PITCHER OPP. PITCHER

Monday, July 6 7:05 p.m. Omaha RHP Brandon Beachy (1-0, 1.64) RHP Yohan Pino (4-3, 5.14)

Tuesday, July 7 7:05 p.m. Omaha LHP Ian Thomas (3-1, 7.09) RHP Andy Ferguson (1-2, 4.66)

Wednesday, July 8 8:05 p.m. @ Colorado Springs TBA TBA

Thursday, July 9 8:05 p.m. @ Colorado Springs RHP Deck McGuire (3-4, 4.33) TBA

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