Matz Human After All, 51s Win Anyway

Oklahoma City Dodgers @ Las Vegas 51s

May 21, 2015

Scott Baker @ Steven Matz

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Oklahoma City	3	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	0		6	9	1
Las Vegas	3	2	0	3	0	0	3	0	X		11	11	2

W: Matz (5-2, 2.24 ERA); L: Baker (2-3, 4.88 ERA)

MiLB.com Boxscore

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Steven Matz – 6.1 IP, 8 H, 6 R (4 ER), BB, 7 SO, 2 HR, 92 Pitches (66 Strikes), 9 GO: 2 FO

Zack Thornton (H, 3, 4.19 ERA) – 0.2 IP, H, BB, SO, 1 IR – 1 S

Scott Rice (0.77 ERA) – 1 IP, 2 SO, 1 GO

Cody Satterwhite (6.75 ERA) – 1 IP, 2 SO, 1 FO

Batters

Daniel Muno – 2-3, 3 R, 3B (1), HR (1), 2 RBI (11), BB, SAC

Matt Reynolds – 1-4, 2 R, BB, SO

Brooks Conrad – 1-4, R, HR (2), 3 RBI (15), SO

Alex Catellanos  -1-4, R, 2 RBI (28), SO

Travis Taijeron – 1-3, BB, SO

Cory Vaughn – 2-4, R, 3B (2)

Dan Rohlfing – 1-3, R, 2 RBI (11), SF

Wilfredo Tovar – 1-4, 2 SO

Steven Matz – 1-3, 2 R

Recap

            Steven Matz proved to be human after all, but the Las Vegas 51s won anyway. Matz allowed as many runs Thursday night as he had in his previous 6 starts combined, and more than 2 runs for just the second time all season, and this was against the worst offense in the PCL by OPS. But he was in the PCL, with the league’s best offense (by far) on his side, so this game was never in doubt, right?

            The Dodgers jumped on Matz for three runs in the 1^st, thanks to consecutive two-out homers. The 51s had a chance to get out of the inning unharmed, as Matz induced a grounder to Muno with one out and a runner on 1B, but Corey Seager would beat the throw to 1B to keep the inning alive.

            It took exactly three batters in the bottom of the 1^st for the 51s to tie this game right back up, as Danny Muno walked, Matt Reynolds lined a single into CF, and then Brooks Conrad delivered his second bomb of the year.

            After Matz worked around a two out single in the top of the 2^nd, the 51s took the lead for good in the bottom half, thanks to their second homerun of the game. Wilfredo Tovar would reach on a one out single to LF, but was erased from the base paths on a Matz fielder’s choice grounder to 3B. Muno followed with his first blast of the year – power has been the one area of his game lacking so far with Las Vegas. If Matz hadn’t hustled down the line to beat out the play, this might’ve been a different game.

            Matz allowed a lead off double in the 3^rd, but got Heisey swinging this time, and would allow no damage in the frame. He worked his first 1-2-3 inning in the 4^th, striking out the first two in the inning.

            The 51s extended their lead in the bottom of the 4^th, with a Cory Vaughn leadoff triple getting the rally started. Dan Rohlfing would follow with a single that made it a 6-3 game, but the 51s weren’t done yet, as Matz kept the rally going with a single to LF two batters later. Muno was then asked to lay down a sac bunt, which he did, and which the catcher threw away for a 3-base, 2-run error.

            Matz got into trouble by allowing back-to-back hits leading off the 5^th – 2014 B-Mets infielder Brian Burgamy got the rally started with a single. After a double moved Burgamy to 3B, Matz induced grounder to the 2-3-4 hitters, but both runs would come home. Matz would face two batters in the 7^th, allowing a double – the 4^th extra base hit off of him on the night – and picking up his 7^th strikeout of the night. The double would come around to score on a missed catch error by Conrad at 1B, but Thornton prevented further damage in the inning. Overall, Matz was good but not spectacular. He worked mostly 92-94 with his fastball, and mixed in his curve/change as the start went on.

            Muno’s big night continued in the bottom of the frame, leading off the 7^th with a triple to start a rally. Reynolds would walk and move to 2B on a wild pitch, and then Alex Castellanos brought them both home with a single to LF. Castellanos would come home later in the inning on a sac fly from Rohlfing.

            Scott Rice avoided any control problems during a 1-2-3 8^th, and then Cody Satterwhite followed with a perfect 9^th, with both relievers picking up a pair of strikeouts. Satterwhite has been settling in to the PCL lately, looking like the strong reliever I saw with Bingo at the end of 2014.

            This series continues Friday night at 10 PM, with Tyler Pill scheduled to pitch for Las Vegas.

Galaxy’s snacking habits revealed, http://t.co/dHGHDEGTtf pic.twitter.com/qZryUjACyN

— Astronomy Magazine (@AstronomyMag) May 21, 2015