Dodgers Nip River Cats, 1-0

Oklahoma City Dodgers – 1

Sacramento River Cats – 0

Friday, April 22, 2022 – Sutter Health Park – West Sacramento, Calif.

*Game Summary: *A run in top of the first inning held up throughout the night as four Oklahoma City Dodgers pitchers combined to shutout the Sacramento River Cats, 1-0, Friday night at Sutter Health Park. Andy Burns drove in Miguel Vargas with two outs in the first inning with a double down the left field line, giving OKC an early 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the third inning, Sacramento had runners David Villar at first base and Heliot Ramos at second base with two outs. Luke Williams hit a single to right-center field. OKC center fielder Drew Avans threw the ball to third base, where the tag was made on Villar before the Ramos touched home plate, negating the run and ending the inning. From the third inning on, the Dodgers were held hitless and although the River Cats picked up two hits, they did not have a runner advance into scoring position. Ryan Pepiot threw five scoreless innings to earn his first win and Reyes Moronta closed the game for his second save.

Of Note:

-With Friday’s victory, the Dodgers have won six of their last seven games. They have also taken three of the first four games during the current series in Sacramento.

-The Dodgers pitched their first shutout of the season and first since an 8-0 win Sept. 11, 2021 at Salt Lake. It was also the team’s first 1-0 win since May 3, 2018 at Memphis. Four pitchers combined to limit Sacramento to five hits and no extra-base hits, marking the third time this season the OKC pitching staff did not yield an extra-base hit. They also set a season high with 14 strikeouts. Over the final six innings, the Dodgers retired 18 of 21 Sacramento hitters.

-Starting pitcher Ryan Pepiot set season highs with five innings, eight strikeouts and 81 pitches while earning his first win of the season. He allowed three hits and three walks, and over his final two innings, Pepiot retired all six batters, with five via strikeout. The eight strikeouts were his most in his 15 career games with OKC.

-Relievers Yency Almonte, Carson Fulmer and Reyes Moronta tossed the final four innings. Almonte retired six of seven batters faced with four strikeouts. Moronta gave up a two-out single in the ninth inning, but quickly followed by striking out Ricardo Genovés to end the game and earn his second save.

-Andy Burns provided the game’s only extra-base hit and RBI with his double in the first inning. He’s now on a five-game hitting streak, going 8-for-19 with five extra-base hits and six RBI.

-Ryan Noda picked up a single and extended his on-base streak to 15 games – tied for longest in the PCL this season. However, Kevin Pillar saw his 12-game on-base streak end, going 0-for-4. In the top of the sixth inning, Pillar drove a ball to deep left field, but Sacramento’s Bryce Johnson reached over the wall to rob Pillar of a home run.

-For the first time this season, the Dodgers were held to fewer than three runs in a game. They also finished with a season-low four hits.

What’s Next: The Dodgers next meet the River Cats at 8:37 p.m. Central Saturday night in Sacramento. Live radio coverage of each OKC Dodgers game begins 15 minutes before first pitch on AM 1340 "The Game," 1340thegame.com and through the free iHeartRadio or MiLB First Pitch apps. All OKC Dodgers games are also available streamed live on MiLB.TV with a subscription.