Julio Urias spun five scoreless frames on Friday for Triple-A Oklahoma City, who notched their sixth shutout victory this season with a 1-0 win over the Salt Lake Bees (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim affiliate).
Urias limited the Bees to three hits and had five strikeouts on 64 pitches. He erased one of the hits with a fifth pickoff in the past four games.
Urias’ scoreless streak, which dates back to an April 22 start, now sits at 27 innings. Perhaps the only downside to his eighth game (seven starts) is he didn’t toss six innings in a start since the April 22 outing.
While the Los Angeles Dodgers have been cautious with their handling of the prized left-hander, he’d thrown at least 77 pitches over his past three outings, including surpassing 80 pitches in consecutive outings.
Urias ended his night of work by retiring the last five batters faced. He’s now 4-1 this season, and lowered his ERA to 1.10 and WHIP to 0.78. Urias leads the Pacific Coast League in both statistics.
Aside from an outlier start on April 16 when Urias allowed four runs over five innings, he’s not allowed more than one run in a single outing. Another dominant performance figures to place the Dodgers under more public pressure to call up the 19-year-old lefty for his Major League debut.
Earlier this month manager Dave Roberts said such conversations were being held, under the idea Urias could provide aid out of the bullpen. While Urias for now remains in Triple-A, he’s focused on reaching the Majors this season.
