PCL1 Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - June 7, 2016

Published on June 7, 2016 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (28-27) vs. Round Rock Express (30-26)

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Texas Rangers

Game #56 of 144/Road #34 of 71 (19-14)

Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Jose De Leon (0-0, 0.00) vs. RR-RHP Kyle Lohse (2-1, 6.23)

Tuesday, June 7, 2016 | Dell Diamond | Round Rock, Texas | 7:05 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers wrap up their four-game road series against the Round Rock Express at 7:05 p.m. at Dell Diamond. The Dodgers lead the series between the teams, 2-1, and are trying to win a series for just the second time in the past six series overall.

Last Game: The Dodgers rallied for three runs with two outs in the sixth inning, and the bullpen duo of Grant Dayton and Logan Bawcom retired the final eight Round Rock batters to preserve a 4-3 win over the Express Monday night at Dell Diamond. Charlie Culberson led off the game with a home run, giving OKC an instant 1-0 lead. The Express knotted the score in the third inning when Drew Robinson hit a solo homer. Round Rock took the lead in the fifth. With the bases loaded and one out, rehabbing Texas Rangers outfielder Shin-Soo Choo collected his third hit of the night with a RBI single, putting Round Rock ahead, 2-1, but starting pitcher Nick Tepesch worked out of the jam to keep OKC down by just one run. The Dodgers had the bases empty with two outs in the sixth before four straight batters reached base, resulting in three runs. O'Koyea Dickson put the Dodgers in front with a two-run double, and Brandon Hicks followed with a RBI single, making it 4-2. The Express cut OKC's lead to one in the seventh inning on a RBI single by James Jones. With the tying run at third and one out, Dayton struck out both Robinson Chirinos and Joey Gallo, keeping the lead intact. Bawcom retired all six batters he faced over the eighth and ninth innings as he picked up his first save of the season. Making his OKC debut against his old team, Tepesch (5-2) picked up the win. He allowed two runs (one earned) and seven hits over five innings. Round Rock starting pitcher Michael Roth (4-2) allowed four runs over six innings and ended up with the loss. Both of his defeats this season have come at the hands of the Dodgers.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Jose De Leon (0-0) returns from the DL to make his second Triple-A start. He will be limited to three innings or 45 pitches tonight...De Leon was placed on the DL May 16, retroactive to May 14, with right shoulder soreness...He made his Triple-A debut May 3 against New Orleans in OKC, and pitched five scoreless frames in a no decision. He allowed two hits, one walk and recorded nine strikeouts...He joined OKC after spending a month in extended spring training...De Leon entered the season ranked as the Dodgers' No. 3 prospect according to Baseball America...He split the 2015 season between High-A Rancho Cucamonga and Double-A Tulsa and made a total of 23 starts, going 6-7 with a 2.99 ERA, .208 opponent average, and a 1.08 WHIP. He led all Dodgers minor leaguers and ranked tied for fourth overall in the Minors with 163 strikeouts in 114.1 IP...De Leon topped the Minors in 2015 with 12.83 strikeouts per nine innings and had a total of six double-digit strikeout games, with a season high of 12 (twice). He also ranked fourth in ERA among Dodgers minor leaguers...De Leon was selected by the Dodgers in the 24th Round of the 2013 Draft from Southern University in Baton Rouge, La...Carlos Frias is expected to follow De Leon on the mound tonight.

Against the Express: 2016: 6-1 2015: 11-5 All-time: 100-82 At Round Rock: 54-40

Last night marked OKC's 100th all-time win against the Express...OKC has already tied its record for most wins in Round Rock during a single season with six victories (set in 2010) and can establish a new record with another win tonight...The Dodgers swept the first series May 10-13, marking OKC's first-ever sweep at Dell Diamond, and handing the Express their first four-game sweep at home since May 17-20, 2012 vs. Fresno. OKC outscored Round Rock, 28-17, over the four-game set....The Dodgers won 11 of the 16 regular season meetings in 2015, marking OKC's highest win total in the season series between the teams since going 13-3 against the Express in 2010. However, the Express upended OKC in the first round of the 2015 playoffs with a three-game sweep...OKC has again ensured the team will not finish with a losing record in Round Rock since the 2009 season. The team has either won or split nine consecutive series (4-0-5), and has lost just one of its last 14 series (7-1-6) at Dell Diamond.

Zach Attack: Zach Walters went 2-for-4 with a double Monday for his fourth consecutive multi-hit game. Over those four games he's been scorching hot, going 10-for-17 with five extra-base hits, four RBI, and six runs scored...Walters has now hit safely in nine straight games and is 15-for-33 (.455) during that span with four doubles, two triples, a home run, 11 RBI, and seven runs scored. It's his longest since hitting safely in 13 consecutive games July 8-21, 2014 while with Triple-A Syracuse...After hitting just .170 in April, Walters is batting .333 (33x99) since the beginning of May.

Charlie in Charge: After going 1-for-9 through his first three games with OKC, Charlie Culberson has hit safely in seven of his last eight games, going 11-for-33 (.333) with a home run and three doubles. He has collected four multi-hit performances over his last seven games.

D-Day for Leadoff Homers: In quite the coincidence, Charlie Culberson's leadoff homer last night was the team's first leadoff homer in exactly one year. Darnell Sweeney hit the previous one on June 6, 2015, also at Dell Diamond...It was also Culberson's first homer in almost exactly one year. He last went yard on June 4, 2015 while playing for Albuquerque against Iowa.

Fear the Apostrophe: O'Koyea Dickson finished Monday's game with a season-high three hits and also collected his first stolen base of the season. After collecting two hits through his first six games with the Dodgers this season, Dickson has 12 hits in his 10 starts since. He is 4-for-10 with a home run, double, and four RBI over the first three games of the current series.

Special K, Part I: The Dodgers pitching staff struck out 10 Round Rock batters Monday, marking the 24th time this season (55 games) the Dodgers have struck out at least 10 batters in a game. The Dodgers rank second in the league with 490 strikeouts this season. Nashville leads the PCL with 505 strikeouts, but has played two more games than OKC.

Special K, Part II: The Dodgers struck out 13 times yesterday, marking the 26th time this season (55 games) they have struck out 10 or more times in a game...Oklahoma City leads the PCL with 522 strikeouts this season -- 38 more than second-place Fresno, which has played two more games...Between the seventh and ninth innings last night, the Dodgers struck out seven times with a runner in scoring position...The Dodgers are on pace to strike out 1,367 times this season, which would not only shatter the team's single-season record (1,081; set in 2012), but would also establish a new PCL single-season record (1,291; set by Tacoma in 2013).

UPCOMING SCHEDULE AND PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS (ALL TIMES CENTRAL)

DATE TIME OPPONENT OKC PITCHERS OPP. PITCHER

Wednesday, June 8 OFF

Thursday, June 9 4:35 p.m. Nashville RHP Jharel Cotton (4-3, 5.32) RHP Zach Neal (6-1, 2.83)

Game 2 Nashville RHP Frankie Montas (0-0, 0.00) RHP Angel Castro (0-2, 6.07)

Friday, June 10 7:05 p.m. Nashville RHP Zach Lee (6-4, 4.65) LHP Dillon Overton (5-4, 3.98)

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