PCL1 Oklahoma City Comets

RedHawks Game Notes: June 22, 2014

Published on June 22, 2014 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City RedHawks (42-35) vs. Tacoma Rainiers (34-41)

Houston Astros vs. Seattle Mariners

Game #78 of 144/Road #42 of 72 (24-17)

Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Nick Tropeano (5-4, 2.09) vs. TAC-RHP Jordan Pries (4-5, 2.50)

Sunday, June 22, 2014 | Cheney Stadium | Tacoma, Wash. | 3:35 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The RedHawks meet Tacoma for the second time in their four-game series at 3:35 p.m. Central time at Cheney Stadium. Nick Tropeano--who is in the top three in the PCL in ERA, WHIP, and opponent average---makes the start for OKC.

Last Game: Tacoma catcher Humberto Quintero hit a game-tying home run in the seventh inning before delivering the game-winning hit in the 11th in a 4-3 win for the Rainiers Saturday at Cheney Stadium. Tied 3-3 in the 11th, and with runners at the corners, Quintero lined a game-winning single to right field. With Tacoma trailing 3-1 in the seventh, Quintero hit a game-tying two-run homer to left field for just his second homer of season. OKC scored first Saturday in the second inning. Matt Duffy tripled to deep center field, and Carlos Perez followed with a sac fly for a 1-0 lead. Tacoma tied the game in the third when Michael Saunders connected on a solo homer. Austin Wates put the RedHawks back in the lead in the fifth with a RBI single. He stole second base, and Quintero's throw to second went into center field, allowing Ronny Torreyes to score from third for a 3-1 edge. The Tacoma bullpen held the RedHawks scoreless with one hit over six innings, and Todd Coffey (2-0) earned the win after retiring the side in order in the 11th. RedHawks reliever Andrew Robinson (0-2) pitched well over 2.2 innings with five strikeouts, but the one unearned run he allowed would be the difference.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Nick Tropeano (5-4) looks for a fourth win in as many starts today...He leads the PCL with a 0.91 WHIP, ranks second with a .185 opponent average, and is third with a 2.09 ERA. He also leads Astros minor leaguers in opponent average while ranking second in both ERA and WHIP...Tropeano has won each of his past three starts, allowing just two runs and 11 hits over 22.0 IP. He's pitched at least seven innings each time out and has 18 strikeouts against four walks while holding opponents to a .153 batting average...In his last start Monday against Las Vegas, Tropeano tossed seven scoreless innings and allowed just two hits in a 5-1 win. Only two runners reached scoring position, and he finished with six strikeouts...Tropeano has allowed two or fewer earned runs in each of his last nine outings, as well as in 12 of his last 13...Over his last seven starts, Tropeano has posted a 1.55 ERA, a .163 average and has racked up 47 strikeouts and just eight walks in 46.1 innings. He had struck out just 18 batters (with 11 walks) over his first 27 innings...Surprisingly the RedHawks are just 5-6 in his starts and 6-8 in games in which he's appeared...Today is his first career game against Tacoma.

Against the Rainiers: 2014: 0-1 2013: 4-0 All-time: 40-40 In Tacoma: 15-25

Three of the last seven games between the squads have gone to extra innings, with the home team winning each time...Last season the RedHawks swept the four-game series, May 7-10 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. They held the Rainiers to one or no runs three times...In the second game of that series, the RedHawks scored six runs after having none on and two out in the ninth inning, including a game-tying grand slam by Jonathan Villar. The RedHawks then won the game in the 10th inning, 7-6, after a throwing error by Nick Franklin...This is the first trip to Tacoma for the RedHawks since Aug. 1-4, 2012. The Rainiers won that series, 3-1...The RedHawks last won a series in Tacoma during a rain-shortened three-game set in 2010, 2-1.

The Streak's Not Petit: Gregorio Petit extended his hitting streak to a career-best 14 games Saturday - also the longest by a RedHawk this season. Petit is batting .429 (24x56) during the streak with three homers, 12 RBI and seven runs scored. Since May 29, he has hit safely in 19 of 20 games at a .421 (32x76) clip --- second best in the PCL. The shortstop is batting .414 in June after a tough May in which he batted .202.

Kiké to Success: Kiké Hernandez recorded his ninth multi-hit performance in 11 games Saturday, going 2-for-4. He has hit safely in 10 of the 11 games, batting .460 (23x50) with eight RBI and two four-hit games. He's also hit safely in 17 of his last 19 games, batting .402 (33x82) with 12 multi-hit games. Since joining the RedHawks April 17, he is second in the PCL with 76 hits.

Hoes Heating Up: After having yesterday off, L.J. Hoes enters today on a nine-game hitting streak, going 18-for-36 (.500) with seven multi-hit games. Over his last 12 games, Hoes is batting .467 (21x45) after going 6-for-37 through his first 10 games with OKC.

Tremendous Trio: Since June 12 (10 games), Kiké Hernandez (21) and Gregorio Petit (19) are the only players in the Majors or Minors to record at least 19 hits. L.J. Hoes is tied with Milwaukee's Aramis Ramirez and Salt Lake's Brennan Boesch with 18 hits during the same time span.

Hitting Hiccup: After collecting 46 hits and scoring 27 runs over the previous three games, the RedHawks were limited to seven hits Saturday, with just one hit past the fifth inning. Entering yesterday, OKC's offense had been scorching over the last six games, batting .366 (83x227) with 49 runs and had collected at least 14 hits an incredible five times. They also had notched at least 11 hits 11 times over the previous 14 games...Saturday marked the first time in seven games, and the second time in 11 games, the RedHawks scored less than four runs...The RedHawks went just 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position Saturday after hitting .402 (35x87) with runners in scoring position over the previous five games, including 23-for-50 over the three nights prior.

Leaders, Not Followers: Both of the RedHawks' losses during the current road trip have been walk-off defeats. Outside of when the home team scored the winning run, the RedHawks have yet to trail for a full inning at any point over their last seven games. They've trailed for a half-inning twice, only to tie or take the lead in their next at-bat.

Loose With a Deuce: Yesterday marked the second time in four games the RedHawks lost after leading by at least two runs. Prior to Wednesday's loss in Reno, the RedHawks had not lost a game in which they led by at least two runs since April 21 at Memphis. It's now happened just four times all season.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE AND PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS (ALL TIMES CENTRAL)

DATE TIME OPPONENT OKC PITCHER(S) OPP. PITCHER

Monday, June 23 8:05 p.m. @ Tacoma RHP Asher Wojciechowski (0-0, 4.91)/LHP Rudy Owens (3-4, 4.77) LHP James Gillheeney (3-6, 5.36)

Tuesday, June 24 8:05 p.m. @ Tacoma RHP David Martinez (5-4, 4.36) RHP Taijuan Walker (1-1, 5.82)

Wednesday, June 25 OFF

Thursday, June 26 7:05 p.m. Omaha TBA TBA

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Pacific Coast League Stories from June 22, 2014


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