PCL1 Oklahoma City Comets

RedHawks Game Notes: July 14, 2013

Published on July 14, 2013 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City RedHawks (51-45) vs. New Orleans Zephyrs (48-49)

Houston Astros vs. Miami Marlins

Game #97 of 144/Home #48 of 73 (26-21)

Pitching Probables: OKC-LHP Wade LeBlanc (0-1, 11.25) vs. NEW-RHP Doug Mathis (4-7, 3.87)

Sunday, July 14, 2013 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 6:05 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The RedHawks and New Orleans Zephyrs meet for the final time in 2013 at 6:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Oklahoma City leads the season series, 8-7, while the Zephyrs lead the current five-game series, 3-1. This is the final game for both teams before the Pacific Coast League All-Star break.

Last Night: The Zephyrs broke a 1-1 tie in the seventh inning and hit two home runs in a 4-2 win Saturday against the RedHawks in front of a sellout crowd at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Zephyrs struck first with an RBI triple by Matt Downs in the third inning, and the RedHawks tied the game following a Jose Martinez RBI groundout in the fifth. Nick Green tallied the go-ahead run for New Orleans when he led off the top of the seventh with a solo home run off Hector Ambriz (0-1). The Zephyrs added another in the eighth before Kyle Skipworth hit a solo homer in the ninth. Brandon Laird homered in the bottom of the inning, but Chris Hatcher was able to close out the game to earn his league-leading 26th save of the year. Making his Zephyrs debut, Jay Jackson notched the win. Jackson (1-0) allowed one run and five hits in 6.2 innings, striking out three and walking two.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Wade LeBlanc makes his third start of the season with the RedHawks and tries for his first win with Oklahoma City...LeBlanc looks to rebound from a tough night in Round Rock Tuesday when he tied a career high with nine runs allowed over 3.1 innings and 11 hits. He struck out six and issued no walks in the RedHawks 11-8 loss against the Express...LeBlanc began the season in the Miami Marlins' starting rotation and made 13 overall appearances with the Marlins, going 1-5 with a 5.18 ERA...He was designated for assignment and claimed off waivers by Houston June 8. After making three relief appearances for the Astros, he was designated for assignment again. He cleared waivers and was outrighted to the RedHawks on June 28...Tonight is LeBlanc's first matchup with the Zephyrs since May 19, 2009 while he was pitching for the Portland Beavers (Padres Triple-A)...He made 16 starts for New Orleans last season, going 5-5 with a 3.74 ERA. Over 98.2 innings, he struck out 91 while walking just 20 batters.

Against the Zephyrs: 2013: 8-7 2012: 8-8 All-time: 129-119 In OKC: 73-54

The RedHawks and Zephyrs conclude their season series tonight...The teams split their 2012 season series, 8-8, and have ended three of the last six season series in a tie...Four of the last six meetings between the teams have resulted in shutouts, including the first three games in this series...New Orleans has outscored Oklahoma City, 24-7, during the current series. The RedHawks had outscored New Orleans, 46-33, through the first 11 meetings between the teams. After scoring just 24 runs in the team's first nine meetings, the Zephyrs have piled up 33 runs over the last six games...Oklahoma City won the first series of the season between the teams at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, 3-1, April 25-28. The first game this year was a 15-inning, 4-four, 54-minute marathon on April 25 in Oklahoma City. The Zephyrs won, 10-8...The Zephyrs homered 27 times against OKC last season but have gone deep only 12 times this year, including twice Saturday night.

Scoreless Streak Ends: Matt Downs' two-out RBI triple in the third inning last night brought an end to a streak of 16 consecutive scoreless innings for RedHawks starting pitcher Asher Wojciechowski. It was the only run Wojceichowski allowed last night as well as the only run he's given up over his last 20 innings.

Springing to the Big Apple: The RedHawks will be without George Springer once again, but for good reason. Springer is currently in New York and will participate in the annual All-Star Futures Game today at Citi Field. He has hit safely in 15 of his last 16 games, batting .434 (23x53) with seven home runs and 17 RBI. Since June 28, he leads the PCL in homers and RBI and is tied for the most homers in all of the Minors. With the recent surge, he has also catapulted into a tie for second overall in the Minors with 26 homers this season, trailing only Ryan Rua of Low-A Hickory, who has 28. Springer has also swiped 28 bases and is in striking distance of becoming the first player in the Minors to go 30/30 since Grant Desme in 2009.

Back to the Future: Three current RedHawks have played in the Futures Game in the past: outfielder Che-Husan Lin (2008), pitcher Brad Peacock (2011), and first baseman Jon Singleton (2012). (Recently promoted pitcher Jarred Cosart also participated in 2010 and 2011.) Lin was the MVP of the 2008 game at Yankee Stadium when he went 2-for-2 with a two-run homer and led the World Team to a 3-0 win.

Sosa More Than So-So: Ruben Sosa went 2-for-3 Saturday and he is batting .400 (10x25) over his last nine games. When used as the designated hitter, he has gone 4-for-8.

Friends Turned Foes: As mentioned above, Wade LeBlanc will pitch against the Zephyrs for the first time since playing for New Orleans last season. New Orleans starting pitcher Doug Mathis will also square off against a team he used to suit up for. Mathis pitched for the RedHawks in part of three seasons from 2008-2010. In 39 games, including 35 starts, Mathis went 14-10 with a 4.24 ERA.

Shutout Stoppage: Saturday ended a stretch of four straight games that resulted in a shutout. Five of the RedHawks last seven games, and six of the last nine, have ended in either a shutout win or loss. Each of the RedHawks last three wins have been shutouts, doubling their season total through July 7.

Last Dance...For Now: The RedHawks and Zephyrs will meet in the final game before the All-Star Break for the second straight season. Last year the RedHawks went into the break with a 3-2 win, with all of OKC's runs scoring on a three-run homer by Carlos Corporan in the second inning. Over the last five seasons, the RedHawks have won the final game before the break four times.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE AND PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS (ALL TIMES CENTRAL)

DATE TIME OPPONENT OKC PITCHER OPP. PITCHER

Monday July 15-Wedesday, July 17 ALL-STAR BREAK

Thursday, July 18 7:05 p.m. @ Memphis RHP Brad Peacock (5-2, 2.59) LHP Nick Additon (6-5, 4.45)

Friday, July 18 7:05 p.m. @ Memphis RHP Jake Buchanan (1-2, 5.00) LHP Tyler Lyons (4-1, 3.41)

Saturday, July 19 6:05 p.m. @ Memphis RHP Asher Wojciechowski (5-4, 2.95) RHP Boone Whiting (4-4, 4.77)

Check out the Oklahoma City Comets Statistics

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