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PCL1 Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - July 7, 2018

July 7, 2018 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Round Rock Express (42-45) vs. Oklahoma City Dodgers (45-38)

Texas Rangers vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

Game #84 of 140/Home #44 of 70 (27-16)

Pitching Probables: RR-RHP Adrian Sampson (4-3, 5.14) vs. OKC-LHP Manny Bañuelos (8-4, 3.14)

Saturday, July 7, 2018 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 7:05 p.m. CT

TV: YurView on Cox (Channel 1333/703) - Alex Freedman & Steve Marshall

Radio: KGHM AM-1340 The Game, 1340thegame.com, iHeartRadio - Randy Renner

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers will take the field as the Oklahoma City 89ers at 7:05 p.m. against the Round Rock Express at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Dodgers players and coaches will wear special retro 89ers jerseys and hats, and the jerseys will be auctioned during the game to benefit the OKC Dodgers Baseball Foundation. The first 2,000 fans through the gates will receive a complimentary Dodgers floor mat. The Dodgers are 2-11 over the last 13 games and have tied a team record with nine straight losses at home.

Last Game: The Dodgers scored a late run to avoid a shutout, but Round Rock hung on to defeat the Dodgers, 3-1, Friday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Express took an early lead for the third straight game. Drew Robinson led off the game with a triple then scored on a one-out RBI single by Scott Heineman. Andy Ibanez's sacrifice fly boosted the Express lead to 2-0 later in the inning. The Express extended their lead to 3-0 in the third inning on a bloop RBI single into right field by Ibanez. The Dodgers were held scoreless through seven innings, but broke through in the bottom of the eighth inning. Travis Taijeron led off with a walk and advanced to third base on Henry Ramos' single. Angelo Mora followed, hitting a grounder toward first base. Express first baseman Hanser Alberto secured the out at first base then helped catch Taijeron in a rundown between third base and home for the second out of the inning. Connor Joe followed and hit a deep fly ball to center field to score Ramos on a RBI triple to cut the Express lead to 3-1. Dodgers starting pitcher Brock Stewart (1-1) was charged with the loss, allowing three runs on seven hits over 4.0 innings. Express starting pitcher Michael Roth (5-4) picked up the win, tossing 6.0 shutout innings and holding Oklahoma City to three hits. R.J. Alvarez retired the Dodgers in order in the bottom of the ninth for his league-leading 18th save.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Staff leader and PCL All-Star Manny Bañuelos (8-4) returns after a stint on the Disabled List to make his team-leading 15th start of the season...Bañuelos was one of four OKC Dodgers selected to the Triple-A All-Star Game July 11. It's his third career Mid-Season All-Star honor and the second time he's been selected to the Triple-A All-Star Game (also 2015 with Gwinnett)...Bañuelos currently ranks fourth in the PCL with 91 strikeouts, while his 3.14 ERA ranks fifth in the league and his 1.24 WHIP is fifth as well. He is also posting 10.48 strikeouts per nine innings - second-most among PCL starting pitchers...In addition to starts, wins and strikeouts, he leads OKC in innings (77.1)...He suffered his first loss since May 21 in his last outing June 27 against Nashville in OKC. He tied his season high with five runs allowed (four earned) and eight hits over 5.1 innings. He issued one walk and struck out five batters in the Sounds' 5-4 win...Fellow lefties are batting .189 against him and he is holding all opponents to a .213 clip with runners in scoring position...He signed with the Dodgers as a free agent Nov. 14, 2017 after spending the 2017 season with Triple-A Salt Lake in the Los Angeles Angels organization...Tonight is his third start of the season against the Express. So far this season, he is 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA against Round Rock. He has allowed two runs and eight hits over 12.0 innings, with two walks and 11 strikeouts.

Against the Express: 2018: 6-4 2017: 9-6 All-time: 120-96 At OKC: 58-51 Round Rock leads the current series, 3-0, and has won three consecutive games at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark for the first time since 2014 when the Express won four games in a row in OKC. However, it's the first time they've won three straight in one series since 2011...The teams last met April 17-20 in Round Rock, with the Dodgers winning the road series, 3-1. Their lone loss to the Express came in 10 innings April 18 and the Dodgers won the final two games of the series...The Dodgers swept Round Rock, 3-0, at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark April 10-12 to open the home portion of their schedule. The Dodgers outscored the Express, 30-9, and outhit Round Rock, 38-18. The Dodgers batted .358, while holding the Express to a .188 average...The Dodgers won the 2017 head-to-head series, 9-6, and have won three straight season series against Round Rock.

Home-Less: The Dodgers have lost nine straight home games for just the second time since moving to Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in 1998. The nine-game skid is tied for the longest in the team's PCL era, previously set June 15-27, 2005...The Dodgers started the season 15-0 at home but are 12-16 since. They have also gone 4-11 over their last 15 home games following a 23-5 start...Over the current nine-game home losing skid, the team is batting .259 (78x301) with 32 runs (3.6 per game). Prior to the recent struggles, the team was batting .315 and averaging 6.03 runs per game...The pitching staff has also struggled, posting a 5.42 ERA (47 ER/78.0 IP) and 1.74 WHIP, with 52 runs, 102 hits, 34 walks and 70 strikeouts. Opponents are batting .321 (102x318), including .252 with RISP (28x111). The opponent has tallied at least five runs six times and at least 10 hits seven times. The troubles have been even more pronounced over the last four games, with the pitching staff surrendering 28 runs (26 ER) and 50 hits (50x152), with 20 additional walks (6.50 ERA, 1.94 WHIP).

Teach Me How to Dugie: Alex Verdugo did not play yesterday, but he is 11-for-20 over his last five games, with four multi-hit outings. His .350 season batting average is tied with Salt Lake's David Fletcher for tops in the PCL...Verdugo has racked up 27 hits over his last 18 games and leads the team with 23 multi-hit games this season. Verdugo also paces the Dodgers with 79 hits despite playing in just 57 of the team's 82 games...The 22-year-old has hit seven homers this season with the Dodgers. In 2017, Verdugo only hit six homers in 117 games with OKC.

Along the RÃ-os Grande: Edwin Rios went 1-for-3 with a double last night, and over his last four games, he is 6-for-10. Prior to that, RÃ-os had been mired in a 1-for-19 slide...After missing close to two months at the start of the season due to injury, RÃ-os is slashing .310/.355/.476 over 35 games and has picked up 13 multi-hit games...Over the past two seasons, RÃ-os is 18-for-39 (.462) over 11 games versus Round Rock.

The Struggle is Real: Following a 5-3 win over Las Vegas on June 17, the Dodgers stood a season-best 17 games above .500 with a 41-24 record. Since then, they have proceeded to go 4-14, including 2-11 over the last 13 games and 1-5 over the last six games. Entering June 18 they were 6.0 games ahead of Colorado Springs but are now 1.5 games out of first place -- the furthest they have been out of first place this season...During the 18-game stretch, the pitching staff has posted a 5.13 ERA, 1.63 WHIP and opponents are batting .303 while scoring five-plus runs in 10 games (93 runs total). The starting rotation has given up 49 runs and 81 hits over 64.1 IP during the last 14 games, with six starts of 4.0 or fewer innings...Prior to June 18, the team had a +89 run differential for the season, but it is -26 over the last 18 games.

Around the Horn: OKC designated hitters this season have combined to bat .325 with 20 extra-base hits and 20 RBI over 38 games...Pat Venditte ranks first among PCL relief pitchers in fewest baserunners per 9.0 innings (9.16) and ranks second in opponent average (.182)...Kyle Garlick is 8-for-21 (.429) with four extra-base hits over his last six games. During his first two games of the current series, he is 5-for-8 with a homer and two doubles...Andrew Toles is 0-for-13 this series following a streak of six straight multi-hit games, during which he was 14-for-24.

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