Puig Homers, Dodgers Break Slump

<p>Starting pitcher Brock Stewart helped himself by driving in three runs and Yasiel Puig hit his first Triple-A homer as the Dodgers beat Iowa 6-0 on Tuesday.</p>

Wednesday, August 10th 2016, 10:41 am

By: News 9

Oklahoma City Dodgers starting pitcher Brock Stewart drove in three runs and Yasiel Puig brought home two more, including one on his first Triple-A home run, to fuel the Dodgers’ offense early in an eventual 6-0 win Tuesday night at Principal Park.

On the mound, four Dodgers pitchers combined for the team’s second one-hit shutout of the season and their eighth shutout victory overall of 2016.

With the win, the Dodgers halted a three-game losing skid and cut Iowa’s lead in the four-game series to 2-1.

Oklahoma City took a 1-0 lead in the first inning and went on to build an early 5-0 advantage.

Puig hit a towering fly ball to left-center field for his first home run with Oklahoma City, giving the Dodgers the early lead with one out in the first inning.

The Dodgers (64-52) loaded the bases with none out in the second inning for pitcher Stewart, who answered with a bases-clearing double to left-center field to extend Oklahoma City to a 4-0 advantage.

Puig later lined a one-out RBI single high off the wall in left field to put the OKC Dodgers in front, 5-0, in the second inning. Puig finished the night batting 2-for-4 with two RBI, a run scored and a walk in his third game with Oklahoma City.

The Dodgers later added a run in the sixth inning when Brandon Hicks scored from second base on an errant pick-off attempt by the I-Cubs for a 6-0 Oklahoma City advantage.

On the mound, Stewart retired nine of the 10 batters he faced, allowing one hit and striking out four over 3.0 innings for the Dodgers.

Ralston Cash (2-0) followed with 3.1 scoreless and hitless innings, walking two and striking out two in the win.

Randy Choate retired the two batters he faced in the seventh inning. Jacob Rhame pitched the final two innings for the Dodgers, holding Iowa without a hit or run and issuing one walk.

Iowa starting pitcher Jordan Pries (4-3) was charged with the loss, allowing five runs on eight hits with two walks and three strikeouts over 4.0 innings.

The I-Cubs fell to 51-67 on the season.

The Dodgers last shut out an opponent July 20 in a 7-0 victory in Tacoma. Tuesday marked the team’s second one-hit shutout of the season, with their first coming in a 5-0 victory against New Orleans May 4 in Oklahoma City.

The Dodgers’ road series against the Iowa Cubs wraps up at 12:08 p.m. Wednesday at Principal Park.