Oaks carries Dodgers past Chihuahuas
The Oklahoma City Dodgers’ offense has been dominant during a sixgame win streak. On Monday night, Trevor Oaks reminded that the pitching hasn’t been half bad, either.
Oaks threw the Dodgers’ first complete game of the season, allowing three hits in an 8-1 win over a formidable El Paso squad before 3,870 fans at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.
Oaks, who had a no-hitter through 6 1/3 innings, struck out 11 and didn’t allow a walk. He threw only 106 pitches against an El Paso (65-58) team that started the game with 709 runs and a .305 batting average, both Pacific Coast League highs.
The right-hander improved to 5-1 and lowered his earned-run average to 3.03 while with the Dodgers. For the season, which includes a successful stop with Double-A Tulsa, Oaks has a 14-3 record over 23 starts.
With Oaks dominating on the mound, the Dodgers continued to score plenty of runs. Oklahoma City finished with 13 hits Monday night, two each coming from Andrew Toles, O’Koyea Dickson, Corey Brown, Charlie Culberson and Brandon Hicks.
Will Venable added a two-run homer to help the Dodgers finish off the series sweep.
Oklahoma City has outscored the opposition 46-9 during the win streak, which includes back-to-back shutouts of the Iowa Cubs. The Dodgers (69-52) also maintained a 10-game lead over second-place Colorado Springs in the American Conference’s Norther Division.
The Dodgers’ homestand continues at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday against the Albuquerque Isotopes, who had an eight-game win streak snapped Monday night by Colorado Springs.