PCL1 Oklahoma City Comets

Oklahoma RedHawks (47-38) at New Orelans Zephyrs (38-47)

Published on July 1, 2008 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


TODAY'S MATCHUP

RH Kazuo Fukumori (0-2, 3.50) vs. RH Ruddy Lugo (5-7, 5.33)

Fukumori: Making second spot start of the season for OKL (ND in first start on 6/20 @ NAS) Lugo: Surrendered 6 R on 4 H over 1.1 IP with 3 BB & 1 K in 6/26 loss @ MEM (8-6 MEM)

LAST GAME: Nate Gold, Travis Metcalf, and Nelson Cruz knocked home runs as Oklahoma doubled New Orleans 8-4. The offense backed a quality start by Elizardo Ramirez, who pitched eight innings, allowing two runs on five hits. Raul Casanova and Michel Abreu hit home runs off Ramirez to provide half of the Zephyrs run support.

MORE ACCOLADES: Dustin Nippert was named PCL Pitcher of the Week yesterday afternoon for the week of June 23rd through 29th. Nippert, made history in his only start of the week by throwing the first no-hitter in Oklahoma franchise history. The 6-8 right-hander accomplished the feat in the first game of a doubleheader against the Omaha Royals June 29th. The 27-year-old West Virginia native struck out five batters and worked around two walks and an error in seven innings. Nelson Cruz and Chris Davis were honored last week as the RedHawks first league Batters of the Week, while Nippert follows as Oklahoma's first league Pitcher of the Week.

FUKUMORI TAKE TWO: Kaz Fukumori will make his second spot start for Oklahoma this season in tonight's game. Fukumori was signed by Texas during the off-season after a 13-year career in Japan, where he made 47 starts in 377 appearances, but hadn't started a game since 2002. He was forced into a starting role on June 20 in Nashville, pitching four and third, allowing two runs on five hits with no walks and three strikeouts.

NO JUNE SWOON: Oklahoma went 17-12 during the month of June, one less win than their April tally, but five more than what they won in May. The RedHawks hit .275 during June and had a team ERA of 4.15.

TAKING ANOTHER STEP: The Rangers promoted right-hander Tommy Hunter to Oklahoma's roster early today. Hunter began the season with Bakersfield and started nine games, going 5-4 with a 3.55 ERA. In mid-May he was promoted to Frisco and made eight starts for the RoughRiders, going 4-2 with a 3.78 earned run average. Hunter has a combined ERA of 3.66 this season with 78 strikeouts, 25 walks, and has allowed 45 earned runs over 110.2 innings this season. The 21-year old will enter the RedHawks rotation and start tomorrow night, one day before his 22nd birthday.

LOE DOWN AND OUT: Kameron Loe was placed on the disabled list with a sore lower back. The right-hander has not pitched since June 19, and is continuing to work into a starting role for the RedHawks. Loe is the first player placed on the DL since early May when Drew Meyer missed a week due to a groin injury, and just the fourth RedHawks player put on the disabled list this season.

NEW ORLEANS AT A GLANCE: Ruddy Lugo will face the RedHawks for the fourth time this season. Lugo is 0-3 with a 9.60 ERA against Oklahoma this season and 5-4 with a 4.36 ERA against the rest of the league... The Zephyrs have lost a season-high nine straight, and have gone 2-11 since leaving Oklahoma City on June 16... New Orleans has been outscored 62-32 during their current nine-game slide.

DOT-DOT-DOT: Nate Gold is riding a seven-game hitting streak dating back to June 23. During that span, Gold is hitting .417 with one home runs and eight runs batted in. The seven-game stretch is his longest hitting streak this season... Nelson Cruz has homered in back-to-back games six times this season including the home runs hit over the last two contests... Oklahoma is nine games over .500 for the first time since May 6. The RedHawks haven't been ten games over since May 3 when they were 20-10.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from July 1, 2008


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