OKC Closes out Home Series with 4-1 Win

Oklahoma City Baseball Club – 4

Salt Lake Bees — 1

Sunday, May 5, 2024 – Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark – Oklahoma City, Okla.

Game Summary: The Oklahoma City Baseball Club hit back-to-back home runs and held the Salt Lake Bees to one run in a 4-1 win Sunday afternoon at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Oklahoma City (20-13) took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a RBI double by Ryan Ward. The Bees (11-21) scored their lone run of the afternoon in their next at-bat on a RBI single by Chad Wallach. In the sixth inning, Kevin Padlo hit his fifth home run of the season out to left field and Ward followed with his team-leading 12th home run of the season out to right-center field to put Oklahoma City ahead, 4-1. Oklahoma City held the Bees scoreless and to two hits over the final seven innings in the series finale.

Of Note:

-Oklahoma City closed out its six-game series against the Bees with back-to-back wins and with wins in four of the final five games of the series, taking the series, 4-2…Oklahoma City picked up its 20th win of the season and is one of three teams in the PCL with at least 20 wins.

-The back-to-back home runs by Kevin Padlo and Ryan Ward in the sixth inning were the second back-to-back homers hit by Oklahoma City this season. Ward and Padlo also went back-to-back April 12 in Round Rock, but with Ward hitting the first homer in the road game…OKC now has hit three home runs over the last two games and 38 home runs over the last 21 games…OKC held the Bees without a home run Sunday and has not allowed a homer in a season-high six straight games.

-Five OKC pitchers combined to hold the Bees to one run — tied for the fewest runs allowed in a game by Oklahoma City this season and for the first time since April 12 in Round Rock…OKC allowed a total of 17 runs over the six-game series against Salt Lake.

-Oklahoma City pitchers recorded a season-best 17 strikeouts for the team’s highest strikeout total since Aug. 19, 2023 in Salt Lake when OKC also tallied 17 K’s.

-Starting pitcher Landon Knack (1-1) allowed one run and four hits over 5.0 innings with two walks and eight strikeouts — the most by an OKC pitcher in a game this season — as he was credited with the win. The start was Knack’s fourth with OKC in 2024 and first since April 10 after his previous three starts had been with the Los Angeles Dodgers as he had made his Major League debut April 17.

-Connor Brogdon opened his Major League Rehab Assignment and retired all three batters he faced in the sixth inning, including two strikeouts. He threw 11 pitches, including 8 strikes. Brogdon has been on the Los Angeles Dodgers Injured List with right plantar fasciitis since April 13, retroactive to April 10.

-Reigning PCL Player of the Week Ryan Ward went 2-for-4 with a double, home run and three RBI. He also made a sliding catch at the wall on a fly ball hit into foul territory in right field in the eighth inning…Over his last nine games, Ward is 13-for-35 (.371) with seven home runs, 15 RBI and 10 runs scored…Twenty of his 28 total hits this season have gone for extra bases and he leads OKC with 12 homers and 33 RBI this season.

-Andre Lipcius went 2-for-3 with a walk for his 13th multi-hit game this season and eighth multi-hit outing in his last 12 games.

-OKC recorded a season-high five stolen bases.

Next Up: Oklahoma City opens a 12-game road trip at 6:05 p.m. Tuesday against the Sugar Land Space Cowboys at Constellation Field. OKC is scheduled to play six games in Sugar Land and six games in Sacramento before returning to Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark May 21. Live radio coverage of each OKC Baseball Club game begins 15 minutes before first pitch on AM 1340 "The Game," 1340thegame.com and through the free iHeartRadio or MiLB First Pitch apps.