PCL1 Oklahoma City Comets

RedHawks Game Notes

Published on June 9, 2012 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


New Orleans Zephyrs (31-30) vs. Oklahoma City RedHawks (37-24)

Miami Marlins vs. Houston Astros

Game #62 of 143/Home #34 of 71 (24-9)

Pitching Probables: NEW-LH Brad Hand (4-3, 4.30) vs. OKC-LH Dallas Keuchel (5-4, 4.30)

Saturday, June 9, 2012 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla.| 7:05 p.m. CT

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

UPCOMING SCHEDULE AND PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS (ALL TIMES CENTRAL)

Sunday, June 10 vs. New Orleans (MIA): OKC-RH Brian Bass (1-0, 3.18) vs. NEW-LH Wade LeBlanc (3-4, 3.42) - 6:05 p.m., KGHM-AM 1340, 1340thegame.com, IHeartRadio

Monday, June 11 @ New Orleans (MIA): OKC-LH Wes Musick (1-1, 3.80) vs. NEW-RH Tom Koehler (6-5, 3.51) - 7 p.m., KGHM-AM 1340, 1340thegame.com, IHeartRadio

Tuesday, June 12 @ New Orleans (MIA): OKC-RH Paul Clemens (7-4, 6.10) vs. NEW-RH J.D. Martin (3-5, 6.50) - 7 p.m., KGHM-AM 1340, 1340thegame.com, IHeartRadio

Wednesday, June 13 @ New Orleans (MIA): OKC-RH Aneury Rodriguez (2-5, 6.85) vs. NEW-RH Alex Sanabia (3-4, 3.73) - 11:30 a.m., KGHM-AM 1340, 1340thegame.com, IHeartRadio

Thursday, June 14 @ Round Rock (TEX): OKC-LH Dallas Keuchel (5-4, 4.30) vs. RR-TBA - 7:05 p.m., KGHM-AM 1340, 1340thegame.com, IHeartRadio

Tonight's Game-- After their franchise-record, 14-game home winning streak ended last night, the RedHawks look to start a new one against New Orleans at 7:05 p.m. The first 2,000 fans will receive a RedHawks desk caddy, and following the third inning, the RedHawks will honor former Oklahoma City firefighter Phil Bargman as part of the INTEGRIS Health "Home Run For Life" series.

Last Night-- Gaby Sanchez went 4-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs and Alex Sanabia pitched seven strong innings to lead the Zephyrs past the RedHawks, 6-1. Sanchez started his big night with a booming three-run homer in the first inning to give New Orleans the early lead. He added three singles and drove in another run in the ninth. Trailing 3-0 in the fourth, the RedHawks scored on the first two pitches of the inning. Jimmy Paredes led off with a triple and Scott Moore immediately followed with an RBI double. Sanabia (4-4) kept the RedHawks quiet the rest of the way and earned his first win since April 27, allowing just the one run and five hits over seven frames. He struck out three with no walks and threw 62 of his 87 pitches for strikes. New Orleans added runs in the sixth, eighth, and ninth, but it was more than enough. The RedHawks put a runner in scoring position just once after the fourth. After laboring through the first two innings, Aneury Rodriguez was able to get through five for the RedHawks, but still took the loss. Rodriguez (2-6) was charged with four runs and four hits over five-plus innings.

Tonight's Probable Pitchers-- Dallas Keuchel looks to lead the RedHawks back into the win column...Keuchel is coming off a no decision Sunday against Iowa in which he allowed five runs and six hits over 6.2 IP...It's the first time in 11 career starts at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark he allowed more than three runs and just the fourth time he's allowed more than one earned run...Overall, he's 5-1 with a 1.73 ERA in OKC...Keuchel currently has the lowest walk rate in the PCL (1.31 per nine inn.) and is second in the league with 75.1 IP...He's faced New Orleans twice in 2011 with varying results...He allowed five runs and seven hits over 5.2 IP at Zephyr Field, but allowed just one run over seven strong innings to conclude the season in OKC...New Orleans pitcher Brad Hand has also had more success at home than on the road...In five road starts, Hand is 1-2 with a 6.59 ERA, compared to 3-1 with a 1.59 ERA in New Orleans...His .232 batting average against is fifth-best in the league...Hand is usually dependable to pitch deep in games, lasting six inning in eight of 12 starts...Last season he bypassed New Orleans and went straight from Double-A to the Marlins, where he was 1-8 with a 4.20 ERA in 12 starts.

It Was a Good Run-- The RedHawks saw their record-setting, 14-game home winning streak end last night. The previous long was 13, set in 1999 (August 12-September 2). They also tied a franchise record with a nine-game overall win streak (August 2-12, 2005; August 17-26, 1999). The team has never won 10 in a row.

Different Streak Snapped-- Yesterday also broke a season-best streak of eight games in which the RedHawks hit at least one home run.

Rare Feat-- New Orleans handed the RedHawks a five-run loss, tied for their worst at home this season (6-1 vs. Albuquerque, April 21). Over half of the RedHawks' nine home losses have been by one run, and the average margin of defeat at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark is 2.3 runs.

Bricktown Magic-- Since the NBA playoffs began, the RedHawks and Thunder are a combined 24-3 in OKC. (RedHawks 16-3; Thunder 8-0)

Barnes' Bat-- Outfielder Brandon Barnes has been hot since joining the RedHawks on May 27. He's hit safely in 10 of 11 games, and he is hitting .480 (12x25) with five RBIs during his current seven-game hitting streak.

Moore Offense-- Scott Moore is off to a hot start in the series, going 6-for-8 with five RBIs. He is tied for the PCL lead with 22 doubles and is tied for second with 30 extra-base hits. His 46 RBIs rank fifth and his .333 average is in the top 10 as well. Moore's average has never been lower than .306 since the second game of the season.

Outhit, Not Outclassed-- Last night marked 13th time in the last 15 games the RedHawks did not outhit their opponent. During this stretch, they've been outhit nine times and had the same amount of hits as the opposition four times. It hasn't been a problem, as they've won four of the last five times they've been outhit.

So...He's Human, Part I-- After he became part of PCL history with his five homers over two consecutive games on Monday, Mike Hessman is 0 for his last 8.

So...He's Human, Part II-- Thursday night Jose Valdez allowed his first earned run since May 9, a stretch that spanned 12 appearances and 11.2 innings. It also was just the third time in 26 games he's allowed more than one hit.

Against the Zephyrs-- Tonight is the third of seven straight games these teams will play against each other...Following their four-game set in OKC, they'll start a three-game series in New Orleans Monday...These teams will become very familiar quickly as the 16 of the next 35 games are against each other...Last season the RedHawks dropped nine of 15 against the Zephyrs, hitting just .229 and were shutout three times...New Orleans won five of eight games at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from June 9, 2012


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