PCL1 Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - May 25, 2019

Published on May 25, 2019 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (16-30) vs. Omaha Storm Chasers (21-27)

Game #47 of 140/Road #24 of 70 (8-15)

Pitching Probables: OKC-LHP Rob Zastryzny (1-2, 5.95) vs. OMA-RHP Scott Blewett (2-4, 8.10)

Saturday, May 25, 2019 | Werner Park | Papillion, Neb. | 7:05 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The OKC Dodgers open a six-game road series over a five-day span against the Omaha Storm Chasers at 7:05 p.m. at Werner Park...The Dodgers are in the midst of their longest road trip of the season (14 games) and so far are 1-3 on the journey.

Last Game: The PCL's top pitcher Zac Gallen allowed one run over seven innings and New Orleans scored four runs with two outs, sending the Dodgers to a 4-1 defeat Friday night at the Shrine on Airline. Gallen (6-1) gave up just one run and four hits over seven innings, walking one and striking out six. The Dodgers scored their only run in the first inning due to an unorthodox sequence. With two outs, the Baby Cakes committed two errors on the same play when Shane Peterson stole second base. Peterson advanced to third on a throwing error by catcher Wilkin Castillo and then scored on a fielding error by center fielder Monté Harrison. New Orleans pulled even in the bottom of the first with a two-out RBI single by Yadiel Rivera. The Baby Cakes took the lead two innings later on a two-out RBI double by Lewis Brinson. New Orleans took advantage of a series of OKC miscues in the fifth after the bases were empty with two outs, culminating with a two-run homer by Isan Diaz to make it a 4-1 lead. OKC starting pitcher Justin DeFratus (0-2) turned in seven solid innings, tying the longest start by a Dodger this season. He allowed four runs and seven hits, with no walks and six strikeouts. Kyle Keller kept the Dodgers hitless and scoreless over the final two innings to earn his first save.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Rob Zastryzny (1-2) returns to the mound to make his team-leading ninth start of the season and third against the Storm Chasers...In his last start May 20 against Omaha in OKC, Zastryzny allowed five runs on four hits, including a home run, with three walks and six strikeouts over 6.0 innings. He picked up the victory in OKC's 10-5 win as OKC secured its first series win of the season...Zastryzny has racked up a team-leading 50 K's this season, reaching at least nine strikeouts twice. On May 4 in New Orleans, he tied his career high with 10 K's and enters today with a 4.2 strikeout-to-walk ratio (50 K/12 BB)...Zastryzny spent the first six seasons of his career in the Chicago Cubs organization before being released near the end of Spring Training and signing with the Dodgers in late March...He played the majority of 2018 with Iowa (33 games) and made six appearances with Chicago. Working almost exclusively out of the bullpen, Zastryzny went 3-2 with a 3.86 ERA for Iowa over 56.0 IP...Zastryzny was selected by the Cubs in the second round of the 2013 MLB Draft from the University of Missouri...Over eight career appearances between Iowa and OKC, Zastryzny is 2-1 with a 3.31 ERA against the Storm Chasers. In addition to his last start, he also pitched April 9 at Werner Park and held Omaha scoreless and to two hits over 5.0 innings with two walks and six strikeouts during his team debut.

Against the Storm Chasers: 2019: 5-5 2018: 8-8 All-time: 162-151 At OMA: 77-77

The Dodgers return to Omaha for the fourth and final series of the season between the teams. The teams will play six games in five days at to make up a game on April 11 that was postponed...The Dodgers won the final meeting in OKC May 20, 10-5, to secure the their first series win of 2019...Six of the team's first 10 matchups of the season have been decided by one or two runs...Entering this final series, the Dodgers are outhitting the Storm Chasers, 106-98, while Omaha has a 70-60 edge in runs scored...So far in the 2019 series with the Storm Chasers, OKC's Edwin Ríos has a team-best 16 hits, 12 RBI, nine runs scored, three home runs and four doubles. Last season against Omaha, he batted .410 in 16 games, leading the Dodgers with 25 hits, including a team-best eight doubles, 10 RBI, nine runs scored and two home runs...OKC has only won one season series against Omaha over the last eight seasons (11-3 in 2016) and is 1-5-2 in the season series since 2011.

Will the Thrill: Will Smith had Friday night off, but he's recorded three hits in two of his last three games. He is 6-for-10 with two homers, a double, four RBI and two runs scored during that span...Smith has hit safely in seven of his last nine games, going 14-for-35 (.400) with four doubles, four home runs, 11 RBI and eight runs scored...He has a team-best 23 hits this month and paces OKC with 16 RBI and 15 runs scored.

Constant Castro: Daniel Castro collected another hit last night and has now hit safely in a season-best nine straight games, going 12-for-38 (.316), with five RBI and four runs scored. His nine-game hitting streak is the longest by a Dodgers player this season...His nine multi-hit games this season are tied for second among OKC players so far in 2019 and his 38 total hits this season are also second-most on the team.

On Strike: The Dodgers' pitching staff tied its season low with six strikeouts last night, all by starting pitcher Justin DeFratus over his seven innings. The Dodgers have notched double-digit strikeout totals in five of the last seven games, and the Dodgers currently rank third in the PCL with 444 strikeouts over 389.0 innings pitched. They trail league-leading Sacramento (466) and second-place New Orleans (451), but the River Cats and Baby Cakes have pitched 36.1 and 27.1 innings more than OKC, respectively.

Quiet Riot: During the four games in New Orleans, the Dodgers batted just .148 (19x128) and went 5-for-27 with runners in scoring position. The team struck out 49 times and collected a total of five extra-base hits. Over the last three games, the offensive struggles were even more pronounced, as the team batted .128 (12x94) with six runs and just two extra-base hits - both doubles...Excluding Will Smith, the rest of the OKC offense totaled only 13 hits and two extra-base hits while batting .110 (13x118) with six RBI...Entering the series the team had been on one of its best offensive stretches of the season, batting .315 with 47 runs, nine homers and 28 extra-base hits over the previous six games.

Mayday: Last night's 4-1 defeat marked the first time in eight games the Dodgers allowed less than five runs...Entering Friday, OKC had allowed at least five runs in seven straight games (59 runs total) and 16 times in the month of May (22 games)...OKC has allowed 165 runs and 232 hits this month - the second-most runs allowed in the Minors or Majors, only behind Reno (179 R) and the third-most hits allowed in the Minors or Majors behind Reno (252 H) and the Detroit Tigers (233 H)...The team's current ERA this month is 6.96. Since rejoining the PCL in 1998, OKC's highest monthly ERA on record is 6.83 in May 2007.

Shaggy 2 Dope: Reliever JT Chargois has been scored upon just twice in 14 outings this season and once over his last 13 games. In his last 12 outings, he's allowed just two runs in 16.0 innings. Opponents are 11-for-55 (.200) during the stretch with 21 strikeouts...Over his last five games, he's retired 14 of 17 batters faced with eight strikeouts.

Around the Horn: This is already the sixth time this season OKC has lost at least three straight games. Last season the team had eight total instances of losing at least three in a row...Last night marked the first time this season the OKC pitching staff did not allow a walk and the first time since Aug. 23, 2018 vs. Omaha...After slashing .207/.270/.310 over 19 games in April, Cameron Perkins is up to .328/.386/.576 over 16 games in May...Connor Joe has now reached base safely in 11 straight games, and although he's only batted .242 during that stretch, he's produced three homers, eight runs, six RBI and 13 walks...Yesterday's game was completed in 2 hours, 27 minutes, resulting in the team's quickest nine-inning game of the season.

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