Baker Dominates As Dodgers Crush Sky Sox

The Oklahoma City Dodgers scored five unanswered runs and starting pitcher Scott Baker retired the final 16 batters he faced in a 5-1 win Tuesday night against the Colorado Springs Sky Sox at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

The league-leading Dodgers (47-23) won the series opener between the teams in front of a crowd of 4,627, and have now won 12 of the last 14 games.

Oklahoma City's first runs of the night came in the fourth inning, as they overcame an early Colorado Springs (28-41) lead.

Elian Herrera hit a RBI single to score Logan Schafer and give the Sky Sox a 1-0 edge in the first inning.

Sky Sox starting pitcher Drew Gagnon retired 10 straight Oklahoma City batters to open the game before Austin Barnes hit a one-out single to center for the Dodgers' first hit of the night in the fourth inning.

Chris Heisey and Andy Wilkins drew back-to-back walks with two outs to load the bases for Scott Schebler. With Schebler at the plate, a wild pitch by Gagnon allowed Barnes to score and tie the game, 1-1.

Schebler then connected on a two-run double to center to give Oklahoma City a 3-1 advantage in the fourth inning.

The Dodgers took a 4-1 lead in the fifth inning. Buck Britton led off the bottom of the frame with a single, then advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt by pitcher Scott Baker. He moved to third base on a groundout by Darnell Sweeney, then scored on a wild pitch by Gagnon with Barnes at the plate for a three-run Oklahoma City advantage.

In the seventh inning, O'Koyea Dickson hammered a solo home run down the left field line to put the OKC Dodgers ahead, 5-1. The homer was his fifth of the season.

After the RBI single allowed by Baker in the first inning, he went on to retire the next 16 Sky Sox batters. Baker (6-3) pitched six innings, allowing one run and three hits with one strikeout in the win.

Los Angeles Dodgers pitchers Paco Rodriguez and Pedro Baez, on MLB rehab assignments, followed Baker. Rodriguez struck out one in one inning. He threw six pitches, including five for strikes. Baez threw 13 pitches, including eight strikes, over one inning. Chin-Hui Tsao entered the game to pitch the ninth and allowed one hit.

The Dodgers pitching staff combined to retire 24 straight batters at one point.

Pitcher Gagnon (1-9) was charged with the loss for Colorado Springs. He allowed five runs and five hits and walked three over six innings.

The Dodgers continue their three-game series against Colorado Springs at 11:05 a.m. Wednesday.