Pepiot completes 7 perfect frames
The greatest spectacle at ONEOK Field on Sunday night was provided on the mound by Ryan Pepiot.
The seventh-ranked Dodgers prospect built on an already dominant season with his best outing of the year. Pepiot completed seven perfect frames -- yielding a leadoff walk in the eighth as his only baserunner -- while fanning a career-high 11 to pace Double-A Tulsa's 3-0 blanking of Arkansas.
It was the fifth scoreless outing for the right-hander and second start without allowing a hit. Over 10 starts this season, Pepiot yielded one hit or fewer six times. He is currently sporting a 1.72 ERA and .128 average against.
Against the Travelers, the 23-year-old needed 11 pitches or fewer to get through five of his seven innings. His longest frame was the seventh when he tossed 15 pitches, and he needed 14 pitches to navigate through the fifth after winning a nine-pitch battle with Jake Scheiner by whiffing the second baseman.
Pepiot recorded a pair of strikeouts in the second, third, fourth and fifth innings, and four of his 11 K's came on three pitches. MLB Pipeline's No. 5 overall prospect Julio Rodríguez faced Pepiot three times and went 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts and a groundout to third in the seventh.
In the eighth, the Butler product jumped ahead of Brian O'Keefe 0-2 to start the inning, but the designated hitter fouled off four pitches in the at-bat to work an eight-pitch walk. It was the first baserunner of the game for Arkansas, and Pepiot was promptly pulled after throwing 77 pitches -- 56 were strikes.
Justin Hagenman entered the game in relief and loaded the bases with one out, but left O'Keefe stranded at third after escaping the jam with back-to-back strikeouts -- preserving Pepiot's line.
The 2019 third-round Draft selection is sporting a 0.84 WHIP with 57 strikeouts over 41 2/3 frames this season.