Dodgers Lose Series Opener To I-Cubs

The Iowa Cubs scored four unearned runs in the first inning on the way to an 11-6 win Tuesday night against the Oklahoma City Dodgers at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

After an 83-minute rain delay, Iowa took a quick lead in the first inning fueled by two Dodgers errors in front of a crowd of 3,679.

The Dodgers (26-24) started their day in Sacramento, Calif., and went on to commit a season-high four errors in the series opener between the teams.

Iowa (24-26) took a quick 4-0 lead in the first inning on four unearned runs.

Arismendy Alcantara led off the game and reached base on a fielding error by Dodgers first baseman O’Koyea Dickson. Alcantara advanced to second base on a wild pitch by Zach Lee and then took third on a groundout by Willson Contreras. Albert Almora Jr. then reached on another fielding error by Dickson and Alcantara scored on the play for a 1-0 Iowa lead.

Almora stole second base then scored on a one-out single by Dan Vogelbach for a two-run advantage. Logan Watkins later hit a two-out RBI double and John Andreoli followed with a RBI triple to put Iowa in front, 4-0.

Iowa added to its lead in the third inning when Vogelbach led off with a solo home run to give Iowa a 5-0 advantage.

The Dodgers put three runs on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third inning.

With the bases loaded and two outs, Zach Walters hit a triple that ricocheted off the top of the wall in left-center field and cleared the bases to cut Iowa’s lead to 5-3.

Iowa added two more runs in the fourth inning on a RBI single by Alcantara, who advanced to third base on the play when catcher Jack Murphy was unable to wrangle a throw from left fielder Scott Van Slyke. Contreras followed with a RBI single to bring home Alcantara for a 7-3 Iowa margin.

A two-run triple by Contreras and RBI single by Almora in the sixth inning pushed Iowa head, 10-3. Watkins later added a RBI single for an 11-3 I-Cubs lead.

The Dodgers strung together four straight hits in the bottom of the ninth inning and scored three runs.

Brandon Hicks doubled and Micah Johnson followed with a single. Antoan Richardson came up next and hit a RBI single to center fielder Almora, who was charged with a fielding error on the play, allowing another run to score and Richardson to advance to third base. Austin Barnes drove in the Dodgers’ third run of the inning to cut Iowa’s lead to 11-6.

Iowa starting pitcher Alex Sanabia (1-1) allowed three runs on five hits, walked two and struck out two over five innings in the win.

Oklahoma City starting pitcher Zach Lee (6-3) allowed seven runs (two earned) on seven hits in the loss. He walked two and had three strikeouts over 4.0 innings.

Jordan Schafer, Grant Dayton, Joe Thatcher and Logan Bawcom followed Lee as the Dodgers pitching staff combined up 15 strikeouts Tuesday, one shy of their season high of 16 strikeouts April 11 in Memphis.

The series between the teams continues at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Gates open at 6 p.m.