PCL1 Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes

Published on August 24, 2016 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Colorado Springs Sky Sox (62-64) vs. Oklahoma City Dodgers (72-57)

Milwaukee Brewers vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

Game #130 of 144/Home #64 of 72 (37-28)

Pitching Probables: COL-RHP Drew Gagnon (1-1, 6.50) vs. OKC-RHP Sam LeCure (5-4, 4.20)

Wednesday, August 24, 2016 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 7:05 p.m. CT Radio: KGHM AM-1340 The Game, 1340thegame.com, iHeartRadio - Alex Freedman

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers open a pivotal five-game home series against the division rival Colorado Springs Sky Sox at 7:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The first-place Dodgers lead the second-place Sky Sox in the American Northern Division by 8.5 games, with 15 games remaining in the regular season.

Last Game: The Dodgers emphatically broke a tie in the 10th inning, scoring six times en route to a 7-1 win over New Orleans Tuesday night at Zephyr Field. With the bases loaded, Will Venable sent a single through the right side of the infield to plate a pair of runs and make it 3-1. Jack Murphy walked to load the bases again. Corey Brown came up next and sent a pitch from Chris Reed out to left field for a grand slam. The Zephyrs were on the brink of victory in the ninth inning, putting the winning run at third base with none out. Instead, a pop out and two strikeouts induced by the duo of Randy Choate and Casey Fien sent the game to extras. The Zephyrs broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning. Destin Hood, Matt Juengel, and Tomas Telis collected consecutive singles with one out to give New Orleans a 1-0 lead. The Dodgers still trailed, 1-0, and had collected just one hit heading to the seventh inning. With one out in the inning, Brown walked and Brandon Hicks followed with a single to put runners at the corners. Alex Hassan then laid down a squeeze bunt along the first base line, scoring Brown and tying the game. Fien (1-0) retired all four batters he faced between the ninth and 10th innings, with two via strikeout, as he earned his first win with OKC. Zephyrs reliever Drew Steckenrider (0-1) didn't retire any of the five batters he faced in the 10th inning and took the loss.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Sam LeCure (5-4) makes his his 12th start of the season for OKC, and his first start since Aug. 1...LeCure has pitched in 27 games for OKC this season, and mainly out of the bullpen over the last three months, going 5-4 with one save and a 4.20 ERA over 83.2 IP...LeCure most recently pitched one inning of relief Aug. 21 in New Orleans and was charged with the loss, allowing two runs and three hits...LeCure last started Aug. 1 at Colorado Springs, tossing 5.0 innings and allowing two runs and five hits in a no decision with one walk and four strikeouts...LeCure made 10 starts to open the season with the OKC Dodgers before moving to the bullpen...Prior to this season, LeCure had not started a game since April 27, 2011 for the Cincinnati Reds at Milwaukee...He signed a minor league contract with the Dodgers April 6 after spending spring training with the Arizona Diamondbacks...LeCure has made three appearances and two starts against the Sky Sox this season, going 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA. He has allowed four runs and nine hits, with two walks and eight strikeouts over 12.0 IP.

Against the Sky Sox: 2016: 6-5 2015: 8-8 All-time: 91-68 At OKC: 54-25

The Dodgers and Sky Sox meet for five games at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark to close out their season series...Colorado Springs won the most recent series between the teams July 30-Aug. 2 in Colorado. OKC won the first game before the Sky Sox took the final three games...The Dodgers swept their last series against the Sky Sox in OKC, 3-0, July 4-6...OKC has a slight 55-53 advantage in runs scored during the season series...Corey Brown has a team-leading seven RBI and three homers against Colorado Springs...The teams split the season series in 2015. Four of Colorado Springs' eight wins against OKC last season came when trailing after seven innings...Oklahoma City has not lost a season series to the Sky Sox since 2010.

Pitching Prowess: Over the last 14 games, the pitching staff has posted a 2.09 ERA (29 ER/125.0 IP) and has allowed two or fewer runs in nine of the 14 games. Opponents are batting .216 (99x459) and are 19-for-85 (.224) with runners in scoring position...The Dodgers have allowed a total of three home runs during that time, including none over the last five games...Against New Orleans, the Dodgers gave up only three extra-base hits -- all doubles -- and only one over the final three games...The team's 3.03 ERA this month is best in the league.

The Brown Bomber: Corey Brown's grand slam in the 10th inning marked his 21st homer of the season to move him into a tie with Rob Segedin for the team lead. The grand slam was the second of the season for the Dodgers (Austin Barnes, July 1 at Nashville). It was also the fifth grand slam of Brown's career and first since April 14, 2015 while with Triple-A Durham...After hitting just three homers through his first 48 games, Brown has gone deep 18 times in his last 59 games. Since June 9, he's tied for third in the PCL in home runs...He now has 23 RBI over his last 18 games, which is tied for third-most in the PCL since July 29.

#PuigYourFriend: Through his first 14 games with OKC, Yasiel Puig has eight multi-hit games and is batting .396 (21x53) with seven extra- base hits (4 HR), five walks, 12 RBI, and 10 runs scored...He's hit safely in 11 of 13 starts and reached base in 12 of 13 starts.

Taylor Made: In his first two games with OKC since being optioned by the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chris Taylor is 4-for-8 with two extra-base hits, three runs, and a RBI, reaching base in six of 10 plate appearances...Over five games with OKC this season, Taylor is 10-for-20 with five extra-base hits, four RBI, and six runs.

O'Koyea's O'K: O'Koyea Dickson entered Tuesday's game as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning and struck out in his lone at-bat, ending his streak of reaching base safely at 27 games. The streak is tied for the sixth-longest in the PCL this season...Dickson paces the Dodgers with 23 hits, including nine for extra bases, 19 runs scored, and 16 walks through 22 games this month. He also has 14 RBI and a .415 OBP...Over his last 26 games, Dickson is batting .333 (30x90) with 10 multi-hit games, 12 extra-base hits, 17 RBI, and 25 runs...Since coming off the Disabled List May 22, Dickson is batting .322 (88x273) with 14 homers and 52 RBI (85 games). During that time, he ranks tied for fourth in the PCL in doubles (24), fourth in extra-base hits (40), eighth in on-base percentage (.401), and tied for ninth in batting average.

Kings of K's: The Dodgers pitching staff picked up nine more strikeouts Monday to add to their team single-season record. Oklahoma City now paces the PCL with 1,146 strikeouts this season, surpassing the previous team record of 1,114 strikeouts set last season...Their total is 53 strikeouts ahead of the next closest team (Iowa), and the Dodgers are on pace to record 1,279 strikeouts this season. The PCL record during the modern era is 1,236, set by the Nashville Sounds in 2014.

First Impressions: Entering tonight, the Dodgers have lost four of the last five series openers. They are 19-14 overall in series openers, including 10-6 at home.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE AND PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS (ALL TIMES CENTRAL)

DATE TIME OPPONENT OKC PITCHERS OPP. PITCHER

Thursday, August 25 7:05 p.m. Colorado Springs RHP Logan Bawcom (5-4, 1.73) RHP Hiram Burgos (8-9, 4.60)

Friday, August 26 7:05 p.m. Colorado Springs RHP Brock Stewart (4-0, 2.49) LHP Josh Hader (1-5, 4.79)

Saturday, August 27 7:05 p.m. Colorado Springs RHP Trevor Oaks (5-1, 3.03) LHP Wei-Chung Wang (1-1, 5.02) Sunday, August 28 6:05 p.m. Colorado Springs RHP Jose De Leon (6-1, 2.86) RHP Aaron Wilkerson (1-5, 6.15)

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Pacific Coast League Stories from August 24, 2016


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