PCL1 Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - May 29, 2016

Published on May 29, 2016 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (25-22) vs. Sacramento River Cats (21-29)

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. San Francisco Giants

Game #48 of 144/Road #29 of 71 (16-12)

Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Jharel Cotton (3-3, 5.97) vs. SAC-RHP Joan Gregorio (0-1, 3.60)

Sunday, May 29, 2016 | Raley Field | West Sacramento, Calif. | 3:05 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers and Sacramento River Cats continue their series at 3:05 p.m. Central time at Raley Field. The four-game series is tied, 1-1.

Last Game: The Dodgers went deep three times and received a strong performance from the pitching staff to beat Sacramento, 5-1, Saturday night at Raley Field. Zach Walters put the Dodgers on the board with a two-run homer in the second inning. Following a single by Micah Johnson, Walters lifted a deep fly ball out to right field for his third home run of the season, giving OKC a 2-0 lead. The power surge continued in the third inning. Scott Van Slyke homered a line drive over the left field fence, stretching the lead to 3-0. Van Slyke drove in another run in his next at-bat in the fifth inning. His two-out RBI single to center field scored Rico Noel, making it 4-0. Leading off the sixth inning, Rob Segedin swatted the Dodgers' third home run of the night. Meanwhile on the mound, the Dodgers held the River Cats scoreless through the first seven innings with just four singles. Ross Stripling started his first career Triple-A game in a predetermined three-inning outing. He allowed three hits, with no walks and three strikeouts. Reliever Lisalverto Bonilla followed Stripling with four scoreless innings. After allowing a single to the first batter he faced, Bonilla (1-0) proceeded to retire the next 12 batters in order, with five via strikeout. At one point, Stripling and Bonilla combined to retire 17 of 18 Sacramento batters. In the eighth inning, Sacramento's Darren Ford hit into a force out at second base, allowing a run to score. Matt Lujan (0-4) allowed three runs and five hits over four innings in the loss.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Jharel Cotton (3-3) looks to build on his dominant start in his last outing, seeking his fourth win...In his first start since April 24, Cotton turned in five strong innings May 23 in Fresno. After giving up a solo home run in the first inning, Cotton proceeded to retire the next 12 consecutive batters, with nine via strikeout. He retired 15 of 17 batters overall and finished with 10 strikeouts - the most by an OKC pitcher this season. Cotton allowed one hit and one walk and threw 45 of his 68 pitches for strikes. It marked the fifth double digit strikeout game of his career, as Cotton became the first OKC pitcher with 10 strikeouts in only five innings since Robinson Tejeda on Aug. 13, 2006 at Round Rock...Cotton began the season in the starting rotation and made four starts before shifting to the bullpen in late April, making six relief appearances for the Dodgers. He struggled in his relief role, allowing 10 runs and 13 hits over 10.0 IP. During that time he also surrendered four home runs...Cotton has 46 strikeouts and 11 walks over 34.2 innings. He leads the Dodgers in strikeouts and averages 11.94 strikeouts per nine innings...Today marks his first career appearance against the River Cats.

Against the River Cats: 2016: 1-1 2015: 0-4 All-time: 33-41 At Sacramento: 18-20

Last night's win snapped a six-game losing streak against Sacramento, dating back to 2014...This is the lone series between the teams, and the first appearance for OKC in Sacramento since 2014...The teams last met June 2-5, 2015 in OKC, with Sacramento sweeping the Dodgers, 4-0. The River Cats outscored the Dodgers, 22-11, and outhit OKC, 44-34, in the 2015 series. Sacramento scored at least five runs in each of the final three games last season. It was OKC's first sweep at home since Sacramento's previous visit to Bricktown, Aug. 10-13, 2012..OKC won the most recent series in Sacramento, 3-1, Aug. 16-19, 2014 and is 1-0-2 in the last three series at Raley Field.

Playing the Powerball: Oklahoma City homered a season-high three times Saturday night, as Zach Walters, Scott Van Slyke, and Rob Segedin each went deep. The Dodgers have now homered in three straight games for just the second time this season, and the team has hit five homers during that span.

Steady Segedin: Rob Segedin went 3-for-4 Saturday and collected his team-leading eighth home run of the season and a double. He has now already surpassed his 2015 home run total of seven (71 games). Saturday's game marked his sixth of the season with at least three hits. He paces Oklahoma City with 54 hits, 28 RBI, and 33 runs scored. His six triples lead the PCL and his 98 total bases rank fourth in the league. His 54 hits rank tied for seventh in the PCL.

On the Mend: Rehabbing Los Angeles Dodger Scott Van Slyke went 2-for-5 with two RBI, a home run and a run scored Saturday in his fourth game with Oklahoma City. He has four hits over his last three games...Alex Guerrero joined OKC Saturday, also on rehab assignment, and went 0-for-4...Pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu is scheduled to continue his rehab assignment with OKC and start Monday's series finale in Sacramento...Pitcher Frankie Montas is expected to also join OKC on rehab assignment soon.

Fear the Apostrophe: O'Koyea Dickson has hit safely in four straight starts, going 7-for-14 with a home run, double, three RBI and two runs scored. Dickson started the season hitless through his first three games (0-for-7), but has hit safely in six of his last eight games, going 9-for-26. He struck out in his only plate appearance last night pinch hitting in the ninth inning.

Rico Suave: Outfielder Rico Noel went 2-for-4 Saturday and has hit safely in a season-high five straight games, going 6-for-17 with four extra-base hits. The hitting streak is his longest since last hitting safely in five straight games Aug. 21-25, 2014 with El Paso.

Rebound on the Mound: The Dodgers held the River Cats to one run Saturday night after allowing 46 runs during their six-game losing streak. Saturday marked just the third time in the last 17 games the Dodgers held an opponent to less than four runs in a game. Saturday was also the fifth time in May the Dodgers held an opponent to one or no runs (26 games)...Last night the Dodgers did not allow an extra-base hit or a walk each for the fourth time this season.

Special K: The Dodgers struck out 11 Sacramento batters Saturday, marking the 21st time this season (47 games) they have struck out at least 10 batters in a game. Oklahoma City currently ranks second in the league with 424 strikeouts. Nashville paces the league with 432 strikeouts, but has played two more games than the Dodgers.

Personnel Files: Veteran outfielder Antoan Richardson is expected to join the OKC Dodgers today. Richardson signed as a minor league free agent on April 26, one day after being released by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Richardson appeared in six games for Triple-A Indianapolis prior to his release...He is a .275 career hitter in the Minors (.394 OBP) and has appeared in 22 career Major League games (ATL/NYY).

UPCOMING SCHEDULE AND PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS (ALL TIMES CENTRAL)

DATE TIME OPPONENT OKC PITCHERS OPP. PITCHER

Monday, May 30 3:05 p.m. at Sacramento LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu (0-0, 0.00) TBA

Tuesday, May 31 7:05 p.m. Iowa RHP Zach Lee (6-2, 4.58) RHP Alex Sanabia (0-1, 11.91)

Wednesday, June 1 7:05 p.m. Iowa RHP Carlos Frias (0-1, 10.29) RHP Drew Rucinski (3-4, 5.93)

Thursday, June 2 7:05 p.m. Iowa RHP Ross Stripling (0-0, 0.00) TBA

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Pacific Coast League Stories from May 29, 2016


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