De Leon Shines, Dodgers Clinch American Northern Division In Win Against Sky Sox

Pitcher Jose De Leon struck out a season-high 13 batters and the Oklahoma City Dodgers scored six runs over the seventh and eighth innings on the way to a 6-1 win against the Colorado Springs Sky Sox Sunday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

The win clinched the PCL American Northern Division title for the Dodgers, giving Oklahoma City back-to-back division titles and their third division title in the last four seasons.

De Leon (7-1) pitched 7.2 scoreless innings, striking out 13 and allowing four hits with no walks. The game was De Leon’s third consecutive start with at least 10 strikeouts and no walks. He also became the first Oklahoma City pitcher during the team’s PCL era to record five double-digit strikeout games in a season.

The 13 strikeouts by De Leon were the second-most by an Oklahoma City pitcher in a single game since the team joined the PCL in 1998 behind Chuck Smith who recorded 14 strikeouts June 23, 1999 in Memphis.

The two teams played to a scoreless tie until the seventh inning when Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes homered onto the roof of the Budweiser Deck in left field to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead in front of a crowd of 6,331.

The Dodgers (75-59) then added five more runs in the eighth inning to capture a third straight victory and win the season series against the Sky Sox, 9-7.

Drew Maggi hit a sacrifice bunt in the eighth inning, that allowed Will Venable to score from third base. Later with the bases loaded, Barnes connected on a RBI single to bring home Brandon Hicks. A wild pitch from Colorado Springs pitcher Damien Magnifico allowed Maggi to score from third base. A sacrifice fly by O’Koyea Dickson and RBI single by Corey Brown later extended the Dodgers lead to 6-0.

Colorado Springs (64-67) broke through the shutout in the ninth inning, scoring on a RBI double by Garrett Cooper to cut Oklahoma City’s lead to 6-1.

Colorado Springs starting pitcher Wei-Chung Wang (1-2) was charged with the loss, allowing one run and five hits over seven innings with no walks and five strikeouts.

The Dodgers captured their ninth division title since joining the PCL in 1998 and will play the American Southern Division champion Nashville Sounds in a best-of-five series beginning Wednesday, Sept. 7 in Oklahoma City. The Dodgers will host the first two games of the series Sept. 7 and 8 before the series shifts to Nashville for the final three games of the series.

Playoff tickets will go on sale starting at 10 a.m. Monday morning.

The Dodgers next open a four-game series against the Memphis Redbirds at 7:05 p.m. Monday at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The series marks the final home series of the regular season for the Dodgers.