De Leon Shuts Down Zephyrs

Jose De Leon allowed one hit over seven scoreless innings and struck out 10 batters in a dominant performance, leading the Oklahoma City Dodgers to a 7-0 win over the New Orleans Zephyrs Monday night at Zephyr Field.

De Leon (6-1) retired 21 of the 23 batters he faced. Through six innings De Leon did not allow a hit, with the only one Zephyrs hitter reaching base on an error. Heading into the seventh inning, De Leon had retired 13 consecutive batters.

J.T. Riddle broke up De Leon’s no-hit bit with a line drive single to left-center field leading off the seventh inning. De Leon retired the next three batters to complete seven innings for the fourth time in his last five starts.

With 10 more strikeouts Monday, De Leon became the first Oklahoma City pitcher during the team’s PCL era to notch four double-digit strikeout games in one season. Monday also marked his second consecutive start with 10 strikeouts and no walks. De Leon threw 66 of his 88 pitches for strikes.

Jacob Rhame retired the side in order in the eighth inning. After Austin Nola singled to lead off the ninth inning for the Zephyrs (64-64), the Dodgers brought in Randy Choate, who got Cole Figueroa to hit into a forceout and Riddle to ground into a game-ending double play. The trio of pitchers combined for the Dodgers’ 10th shutout of the season, and third with two or fewer hits allowed. New Orleans did not have a single runner reach scoring position.

After batting .188 and scoring three of fewer runs in each of the previous six games, the Dodgers offense broke out for seven runs and 12 hits Monday night.

The Dodgers (71-57) jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning. They loaded the bases with one out for Will Venable, who grounded into a forceout at second base, but also brought home a run. Later with Alex Hassan at the plate, Zephyrs pitcher Justin Nicolino uncorked a wild pitch on ball four, allowing Chris Taylor to score from third base.

OKC doubled its lead in the third inning. Hassan hit a sacrifice fly, and Brandon Hicks followed with a RBI single to make it 4-0.

Yasiel Puig led off the fifth inning with a solo home run to left field. Puig finished 2-for-5, and over his first 13 games with OKC, he now has four homers, 12 RBI, and eight multi-hit games.

Later in the fifth, Hassan ripped a RBI double down the left field line, scoring Venable all the way from first base.

Taylor rounded out the scoring with a RBI triple in the eighth inning. In his first game with OKC since getting optioned by the Los Angeles Dodgers, Taylor went 3-for-5 with two extra-base hits, two runs, and a RBI. In four games with OKC this season, Taylor has gone 9-for-17.

The Dodgers also drew eight walks, and seven of eight position players reached base twice via hit or walk. Hassan, Hicks, and Austin Barnes each finished with multi-hit games in addition to Puig and Taylor.

Nicolino (7-6) was bounced from the game after a season-low 4.2 innings and allowed six runs, tying his season high. The lefty gave up eight hits and walked a season-high four batters, with no strikeouts. Entering Monday, Nicolino had walked two batters in his previous seven starts combined.

With the win, the Dodgers snapped a four-game losing streak while also ending New Orleans’ five-game winning streak.

The Dodgers and Zephyrs meet for the final time in this season 6 p.m. Tuesday at Zephyr Field.