Dogs (21-21, 4th North) vs. AirHogs (9-34, 6th South)

 

Probables

Friday, 7/5 Game One: LHP Jake Dahlberg (2-2, 4.08 ERA) vs. RHP Travis Ballew (1-5, 3.75 ERA)

Friday, 7/5 Game Two: RHP Trevor Simms (1-4, 6.26 ERA) vs. RHP Taylor Wright (1-2, 6.46 ERA)

Saturday, 7/6: LHP Austin Wright (1-5, 4.27 ERA) vs. RHP Zech Lemond (0-5, 6.09 ERA)

Sunday, 7/7: LHP D.J. Snelten (3-2, 4.13 ERA) vs. RHP Kevin Hilton (2-4, 3.67 ERA)

 

LISTEN: bit.ly/chidogsradio – The Chicago Dogs Radio Network

SERIES NOTES: Series Notes July 5-7 TEX

 

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas — Earlier this week, the Chicago Dogs ran into the red-hot Cleburne Railroaders and took one of three games against their dominant offense. 

Chicago (21-21, 4th North) got excellent offensive production from David Olmedo-Barrera, who went 4-for-5 in game one and 7-for-15 in the series. Despite scoring 17 runs against the Railroaders, the only Dogs home run came from Jordan Dean, his fifth of the season. They now wrap up a Texas road trip with four game in three days against the Texas AirHogs at Airhogs Stadium. Friday’s doubleheader will start at 4:00 PM, with game two starting 30 minutes after the end of game one. Saturday’s game will begin at 7:05 PM, and the series finale is scheduled for a 6:05 PM first pitch.

LHP Jake Dahlberg will get the ball in game one on Friday afternoon. He turned in his best start of the year last week against Winnipeg, working six strong innings of one-run ball while striking out eight and walking one, surrendering just three hits, keying a series win over the North division rival Goldeyes.

RHP Trevor Simms will follow as the game two starter on Friday night. Back in the rotation for the Dogs, Simms has looked very good in his two most recent relief appearances, striking out nine and walking just one batter over his previous five innings of work against Kansas City and Cleburne, two offenses that were riding high when they ran into the Dogs.

LHP Austin Wright gets the call for game three. Wright has looked solid as of late, working on prioritizing location over speed with his fastball-slider combo. The fireballer pitched the other win in the Goldeyes series, but only went 2.1 innings, giving up no earned runs and just one hit. His strikeout-to-walk ratio on the year remains elite, at 45/16.

The series finale on Sunday night will be started by LHP D.J. Snelten. The tall lefty suffered a tough loss in game one against Cleburne, logging the first game of 2019 in which he struck out zero batters. He only let up two walks to go with four earned runs in just over four innings, and opponents are still only batting .224 against D.J.

 

SCOUTING THE AIRHOGS

It has been another tough season for the AirHogs. Their .221 team batting average and 6.11 staff ERA both rank dead last in the American Association, and they are the only team that have single-digit wins on the year. That being said, both games that they’ve played against the Dogs, they’ve won. 

Steward Ijames, who played the villain in the second AirHogs win over Chicago, continues to pace the Texas offense, batting .256 and leading the team with seven home runs and 28 RBIs. Outfielder Jonathan Moroney has been on an offensive tear, logging three straight multi-hit games in the AirHogs’ latest series against Gary (8-for-14, four runs, three RBI). And infielder Josh Prince continues to be a menace on the basepaths — he has stolen 18 of the Airhogs’ Association-leading 60 stolen bases this year.

Fans can tune in to The Chicago Dogs Radio Network for a radio feed of all Dogs road games. For more updates, follow @TheChicagoDogs on social media and use the hashtag #TakeABite.