Ruiz Makes His Mark in Triple-A Debut

Oklahoma City - Keibert Ruiz made his Triple-A debut with the Oklahoma City Dodgers Sunday night, hitting a two-run homer and collecting four RBI in the Dodgers' 12-8 win against the San Antonio Missions at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.
With the win, the Dodgers completed a three-game series sweep of the American Southern Division-leading Missions and won a fourth straight game overall.

Ruiz was promoted from Double-A Tulsa Sunday and entered the 2019 season tabbed as the Dodgers top overall prospect according to Baseball America.
The catcher went 2-for-4 with four RBI and two runs scored. He grounded a RBI single to center field in his first at-bat and brought home another run in the second inning when he hit into a fielder's choice.
Ruiz then knocked a two-run homer down the left-field line in the fifth inning that landed in the lower left-hand corner of the Budweiser Deck for his first Triple-A home run. His four RBI Sunday were a season high and his most in a single game since Aug. 14, 2018 with Tulsa against Corpus Christi.
His home run was one of three hit by the Dodgers Sunday night as Oklahoma City homered in a season-best 14th straight game. The Dodgers have hit 36 home runs during the stretch, which is the team's longest home run streak since a 14-game stretch May 13-27, 2017. Sunday also marked Oklahoma City's seventh straight multi-homer game.
The Dodgers (46-54) took the field Sunday as Cielo Azul de Oklahoma City against the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio as part of MiLB's Copa de la Diversión during the second ¡Celebración Cielo Azul! of the season.
San Antonio (62-39) jumped out to the game's first lead, scoring three runs with two outs in the first inning. Cory Spangenberg drew a walk and scored when Hernán Pérez's single into right field was coupled with an error. Travis Shaw came up to bat next and homered out to center field for a 3-0 Dodgers advantage.
Gavin Lux tripled to lead off for Oklahoma City in the bottom of the first inning and scored on Ruiz's first Triple-A hit - a RBI single into center field to cut San Antonino's lead to 3-1. The Dodgers added another run when Ruiz scored on a RBI groundout by Connor Joe to cut San Antonio's lead to one run.
The Dodgers loaded the bases in the second inning and Ruiz grounded into a force out at second base to bring home another run for the Dodgers and tie the game, 3-3. A RBI single by Edwin Ríos put the Dodgers ahead, 4-3, as Ríos finished the night with a game-high three hits.
Joe led off the bottom of the third inning with a walk before Shane Peterson followed with a single. Jon Kemmer's RBI single then brought home Joe for a 5-3 Oklahoma City advantage.
San Antonio's Nate Orf homered out to center field in the fourth inning to trim the Dodgers' lead to 5-4.
Ríos hit a monster home run over the far right end of the batter's eye in center field to extend the Dodgers' lead to 6-4 in the fourth inning. DJ Peters was then hit by a pitch before Joe homered in a second straight game. His two-run shot out to the Dodgers' bullpen in left-center field extended OKC's lead to 8-4.
In the fifth inning, Ruiz hit a two-run homer down the left-field line for a 10-4 Oklahoma City advantage and his first Triple-A home run.
A RBI single by San Antonio's Trent Grisham cut OKC's lead to 10-5 in the seventh inning.
A RBI ground-rule double by Ríos pushed Oklahoma City's lead to 11-5 in the eighth inning and a wild pitch by San Antonio's Deolis Guerra allowed another run to score for a 12-5 OKC lead later in the inning.
San Antonio edged closer in the ninth when Pérez hit a three-run homer to cut Oklahoma City's lead to 12-8 with two outs.
Dodgers pitchers combined to strike out 13 San Antonio batters, while Oklahoma City hitters drew 11 walks Sunday to tie their season-high mark.
Pitcher Dennis Santana (4-7) picked up the win for Oklahoma City, allowing one hit over 1.2 scoreless innings with one walk and two strikeouts. Johan Belisario (0-2) was charged with the loss, allowing seven runs (five earned) with six hits over 3.0 innings with five walks and one strikeout.
The series sweep was the third of the season for the Dodgers and first of the season at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.
After a league-wide day off Monday, the Dodgers open a three-game road series at Nashville at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday at First Tennessee Park. Live radio coverage of each game begins 15 minutes before first pitch on AM 1340 "The Game," 1340thegame.com and through the free iHeartRadio or MiLB First Pitch apps.
The Dodgers return home for a three-game series starting at 7:05 p.m. Friday against Memphis at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Tickets are available through the OKC Dodgers ticket office located on South Mickey Mantle Drive, by phone at (405) 218-2182, or by visiting okcdodgers.com.