PCL1 Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - May 26, 2018

Published on May 26, 2018 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (29-16) vs. Nashville Sounds (24-23)

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Oakland Athletics

Game #46 of 140/Road #22 of 70 (9-12)

Pitching Probables: OKC-LHP Caleb Ferguson (NR, -.--) vs. NAS-RHP Matt Milburn (0-0, 6.23)

Saturday, May 26, 2018 | First Tennessee Park | Nashville, Tenn. | 6:35 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers and Nashville Sounds meet for the second time in their five-game series at 6:35 p.m. at First Tennessee Park. The Dodgers lead the series, 1-0, and own the best winning percentage in the PCL (.644). They are tied with Fresno and Memphis for the most wins in the league.

Last Game: The Dodgers scored four runs over the first four innings and the pitching staff held Nashville to one hit over the final seven innings, leading to a 5-2 Dodgers win at First Tennessee Park Friday night. For the third straight game, the Dodgers found themselves trailing after one inning. In the bottom of the first, doubles by Nick Martini and Josh Phegley gave Nashville a 1-0 lead. The Dodgers scored twice in the second inning to take the lead, with RBI's provided by Jacob Scavuzzo and Tim Locastro. A RBI single by Martini tied the game for Nashville in the bottom of the inning. The Dodgers responded in the third inning. With the bases loaded and two out, Danny Espinosa lined a single to center field to regain the lead, 3-2. In the next inning it was Kyle Garlick's turn to strike with two outs. He sent a sharp grounder up the middle to plate Locastro to give the Dodgers a two-run advantage in the fourth. Following Martini's RBI single in the in second inning, the Dodgers pitching staff retired 15 straight Nashville batters and 22 of the final 24 Sounds to step to the plate. Leading off the seventh inning, Kyle Farmer connected on his second homer of the season. OKC starting pitcher Guillermo Moscoso (2-2) allowed two runs and four hits over six innings, retiring the final 13 batters against him to earn the win. He struck out six and walked two. Yimi Garcia retired the side in order in the ninth to earn his first save. Nashville starting pitcher James Naile (4-5) took the loss after pitching a season-low 3.1 innings.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Caleb Ferguson joins the Dodgers to make his Triple-A debut...Ferguson has made eight starts for Double-A Tulsa, posting a 3-0 record and 1.38 ERA over 39.0 innings with 10 walks against 40 strikeouts...At the time of his promotion to OKC, he led the Texas League in ERA (1.38) and ranked fifth in WHIP (1.05). Ferguson also paced the Drillers with 39.0 innings pitched...Over first seven starts with Tulsa, the lefty allowed a total of two earned runs (seven runs total) across 33.1 innings (0.54 ERA). He had four straight starts without allowing an earned run April 17-May 4 (22.0 IP)...His last outing was May 15 against Springfield, and he allowed a season-high four runs over 5.2 innings in a no decision. After holding the Cardinals to one run and two hits over five innings, he ran into trouble in the sixth and surrendered a three-run homer...Ferguson spent the entire 2017 season with High-A Rancho Cucamonga and led the California League in ERA (2.87), while finishing third in strikeouts (140), fifth in WHIP (1.37) and second with a .246 opponent average. He was named a California League Mid-Season All-Star, Baseball America High-A All-Star, MiLB.com Organization All-Star and Cal League Post-Season All-Star...Ferguson was selected by the Dodgers in the 38th round of the 2014 MLB Draft out of West Jefferson High School in Ohio.

Against the Sounds: 2018: 4-1 2017: 11-5 All-time: 180-145 At NAS: 85-77 The Dodgers and Sounds are meeting for their second series of the season -- and for the second time in a week...The Dodgers won their previous series May 17-20 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, 3-1. The Dodgers outscored the Sounds, 32-15, and outhit Nashville, 50-30, in the four-game set, batting .350 as a team. OKC's pitching staff racked up 47 strikeouts in the series...Donovan Solano paced OKC, batting .500 (9-for-18), with three doubles, a homer, six RBI and four runs scored. Travis Taijeron had a team-best seven RBI, and Jake Peter homered twice...In 2017, the Dodgers won the season series, 11-5, posting at least 10 wins against the Sounds for the third straight year. The Dodgers went 6-2 at home and 5-3 in Music City...OKC outscored the Sounds, 85-54,and Dodgers pitchers racked up 158 strikeouts in 16 meetings for an average of 9.9 per game...Since 2015, the Dodgers are 36-17 against the Sounds, including a 17-8 mark at First Tennessee Park.

Fueled By Valera: Breyvic Valera has hit safely in five straight games to tie his season-high hitting streak. He has also hit safely in nine of his last 10 games, going 14-for-36 (.389) with two doubles, a triple, three homers, 10 runs and six RBI...He is tied with Kyle Garlick for the team lead with six homers and is tied with Tim Locastro for the team lead with 27 runs scored...He has scored a team-best 14 runs in 16 games in the month of May...Valera stayed inside the park last night, but has homered in three of the last four games. Over his last 61 Triple-A games, Valera has smacked 12 homers. He hit just eight homers in his first 772 games in the Minors.

On the Farm: Kyle Farmer led the OKC offense Friday, posting a game-high three hits, including a homer and double. He also scored twice...Since being optioned by the Los Angeles Dodgers earlier this month, Farmer has hit safely in seven of eight games with OKC, going 12-for-32 (.375) with nine RBI and six runs...Farmer has had with way with Nashville the last two seasons, batting .422 (19x45) with two homers, five doubles, nine runs and 11 RBI in 11 games. Including the 2016 postseason, he's batted .414 (24x58) with nine extra-base hits, 11 runs and 13 RBI in 14 career meetings...Along with Rocky Gale and Cael Brockmeyer, Dodgers catchers have combined to bat .356 (58x163) with 27 RBI.

"Pen Pals: In his last 14 appearances, reliever Joe Broussard has only been scored upon twice. During the stretch he's allowed three runs (two earned) and nine hits, with two walks and 18 strikeouts over 16.2 IP. He owns a 0.62 WHIP this month and has held opponents to a .152 average...Switch-handed pitcher Pat Venditte has put together 11 straight scoreless relief outings with OKC, totaling 14.1 innings, allowing four hits and one walk with 16 strikeouts. Venditte has not allowed an earned run in 12 straight outings (15.1 IP) and has not issued a walk in 10 consecutive appearances (12.1 IP). Opponents have gone 4-for-50 (.080) during the stretch...Last night Yimi Garcia earned his first save since April 21, 2015 while playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers against the San Diego Padres.

Doink!: Tim Locastro tied a PCL record Friday night by getting hit by a pitch three times in one game, last done May 4, 2016 by Albuquerque's Dustin Garneau. Locastro has been plunked an average of 30 times per season in each of his first four full years of pro ball.

Road Rash: Although the Dodgers have a sterling 20-4 record at home, it has not been the same story on the road. With last night's victory, the Dodgers improved to 9-12 in road games this season, marking just their second win in their last eight road games and just their third win in their last 11 road games...Of OKC's 12 total road losses, eight have come by one or two runs...The Dodgers have been held to two or fewer runs six times over the last 13 road games, with four games tallying one or no runs. The team is slashing .241/.305/.370 with 3.95 runs per game on the road compared to .317/.379/.493 with 6.1 runs per game at home.

Around the Horn: The Dodgers have allowed seven runs in the first inning the last three games after allowing 10 runs in the first inning all season...Edwin Rios notched two hits in his season debut with last night, while Matt Beaty singled and walked his Triple-A debut.

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