PCL1 Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - May 6, 2018

Published on May 6, 2018 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Colorado Springs Sky Sox (18-10) vs. Oklahoma City Dodgers (21-6)

Milwaukee Brewers vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

Game #28 of 140/Home #15 of 70 (14-0)

Pitching Probables: COS-RHP Corbin Burnes (1-0, 5.47) vs. OKC-RHP Justin DeFratus (1-1, 4.32)

Sunday, May 6, 2018 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 2:05 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers carry a 14-0 home record into today's 2:05 p.m. matchup against the Colorado Springs Sky Sox at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark on a Chaparral Energy Family Sunday. The Dodgers are off to their best home start since the ballpark opened in 1998 and a win today would give Oklahoma City its second-longest home winning streak since 1998. The Dodgers are the lone team in professional baseball still undefeated at home this season.

Last Game: Rocky Gale belted two home runs onto the Budweiser Deck in left field Saturday night to guide the Dodgers to a 4-1 win against Colorado Springs. Gale gave the Dodgers the early lead with his first homer of the night in the second inning to put OKC in front, 1-0. A one-out RBI double by Colorado Springs' Nate Orf in the fifth inning knotted the game, 1-1. Jake Peter's RBI single in the seventh inning broke the tie and put the Dodgers in front, 2-1. Later in the inning, a two-out RBI single into right field by Alex Burg extended the Dodgers' lead to 3-1. Gale connected on his second homer of the night in the eighth inning to push OKC's lead to 4-1. Dodgers reliever Edward Paredes (2-2) pitched 1.1 shutout innings with two walks and two strikeouts and was credited with the win. Brian Schlitter retired the side in the top of the ninth inning for his league-leading seventh save. Erik Davis (1-4) was charged with the loss for the Sky Sox.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Justin DeFratus (1-1) looks to bounce back from his first loss of the season when he takes the mound for his fourth start...DeFratus last pitched May 1 in Memphis, allowing a season-high five runs and eight hits over 6.0 innings. He issued two walks and had one strikeout. As of today, it stands as the only loss by a Dodgers starting pitcher this season...The 30-year-old veteran started the season with Double-A Tulsa, where he made two starts and went 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA over 11.1 innings and was named the first Texas League Pitcher of the Week of the season...He signed with the Dodgers as a free agent Feb. 17...DeFratus started the 2017 season in the independent Atlantic League before signing with Seattle May 11 and spending the rest of the season with Double-A Arkansas, going 5-7 with a 4.85 ERA over 98.1 innings with 53 K's against 14 walks...DeFratus made his MLB debut Sept. 18, 2011 with Philadelphia and has appeared in 191 MLB games with the Phillies...He was originally drafted by the Phillies in the 11th round of the 2007 MLB Draft from Ventura (Calif.) College...Tonight is his first start and second career appearance against Colorado Springs. He pitched one inning of scoreless relief June 27, 2016 against the Sky Sox while with Round Rock, preserving a 1-1 tie in the 11th inning.

Against the Sky Sox: 2018: 2-0 2017: 4-12 All-time: 100-82 At OKC: 61-33

The top two teams in the American Northern Division face off for their first series of 2018...Colorado Springs won 12 of 16 meetings against Oklahoma City last season, including six of the final seven games. They took three of four games in each of the four series...The Sky Sox collected more than eight wins in a season against OKC for the first time since the teams started playing in 1998...Colorado Springs outscored the Dodgers, 96-66, and outhit OKC, 161-139...Alex Verdugo led the Dodgers offense in the series, batting .408 over 14 games with a team-best 20 hits, while O'Koyea Dickson had 12 RBI in 14 games. Bobby Wilson hit five homers in 12 games...Since joining the PCL in 1998, the only other instance the team lost 12 games in the same season against one opponent was in 2007, when OKC was 6-12 against Nashville.

Out of the Gates: The Dodgers have won 21 of their first 27 games of 2018, setting the best overall record by an Oklahoma City team through 27 games since rejoining the PCL in 1998...The Dodgers own the best winning percentage in the Minors (.778). OKC and High-A Jupiter (Marlins) pace the Minors with 21 wins each.

Home Front: The Dodgers are 14-0 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark for the best start in OKC since the ballpark opened in 1998. The team's previous best start was 5-0 in 2006...The Dodgers have trailed at some point in eight of 14 home contests, including seven of the last 11, and have trailed in the eighth inning or later in five games...The Dodgers have four walk-off wins this season, including three straight April 14-16 against New Orleans...At the plate, the Dodgers are batting .332 at home for the second-highest home batting average in Triple-A, only behind Colorado Springs (.341). OKC has outscored opponents, 94-39, at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark and has also outhit opponents, 159-101...Over their first 14 home games, the Dodgers have slashed .332/.408/.489. They have eight-plus runs in five of 14 games and totaled four games with 14 or more hits...They've scored four or more runs in an inning eight times already...This current home winning streak is tied for the club's second-longest since moving to Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark (also May 10-June 7, 2012), and today, the team looks to win 15 straight for just the second time in ballpark history.

Mound Men: The Dodgers pitching staff has allowed just two runs over the past three games, and OKC paces all Triple-A teams with a 2.56 ERA. The Dodgers have held an opponent to one run or less 10 times this season, including in the last three games straight and in six of the last nine games...Going back to Wednesday night, opponents are 2-for-the-last-31 with runners in scoring position, and OKC opponents are batting just .167 with RISP (17x102) over the last 15 games...The Dodgers have allowed just two runs over the last 28 innings, and although the opposition has had a total 35 hits/walks, the Dodgers have held them 7-for-41 (.171) with runners on...Entering Saturday, the Dodgers had issued just 11 walks over the previous 67 innings before tying their season high with eight walks last night.

Brock and Rock: The Dodgers have gotten tremendous production from the catching duo of Rocky Gale and Cael Brockmeyer, as they have combined to bat .351 (34x97) with 19 RBI...Playing in his 656th career game between the Minors and Majors, Gale collected his first career multi-homer game last night. Gale had three homers total last season between San Diego and Triple-A El Paso, but already has four homers through his first 18 games of 2018. He's currently riding an eight-game hitting streak (12x31, 8 RBI), and over his last five games, he is 9-for-21 with four multi-hit games and six RBI. For the season, Gale is 9-for-24 (.375) with 15 RBI with runners in scoring position...Brockmeyer is currently on a nine-game hit streak that ties his career high -and is the longest hitting streak by a Dodger this season. Over the nine games, Brockmeyer is 14-for-27 (.519) with five doubles and seven runs. It's his longest hit streak since June 4-14, 2015 with the Low-A South Bend Cubs. For the season, Brockmeyer is 15-for-31 (.484). He has hit safely in all nine of his starts and in 10 of 12 games overall.

Around the Horn: Donovan Solano leads the Dodgers with 33 hits and ranks fourth in the league with a .367 average. He's batting .397 (31x78) over last 19 outings...Reliever Pat Venditte has put together eight straight scoreless relief outings totaling 11.1 innings, allowing four hits and one walk with 14 strikeouts. Opponents have gone 4-for-41 (.098) during the stretch...Travis Taijeron drew a season-high three walks Saturday to boost his team-leading total to 16 walks this season...OKC is 3-2 in day games so far this season (2-0 at home).

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