Urias twirls another gem for Oklahoma City

If it seems like it's been a month since Julio Urias allowed a run, that's because it has been.

MLB.com's second overall prospect extended his scoreless streak to 27 innings on Friday as Triple-A Oklahoma City blanked visiting Salt Lake, 1-0. It was the fifth straight scoreless outing for Urias (4-1), who's allowed five runs all season, four in his second appearance on April 16. 

The 19-year-old left-hander allowed three hits, didn't walk a batter and struck out five against the Bees to lower his Pacific Coast League-leading ERA to 1.10. He also picked off a runner for the fifth time in his last four starts.

Oklahoma City pitching coach Matt Herges recently spoke about Urias' readiness to pitch in the big leagues, believing the southpaw from Mexico is prepared for the next step.

"Coming into the season, I had a checklist of things I had for him to work on and he's been able to cross those things off," Herges said. "How he handles himself in-game has gotten so much better. The frustration he used to show hindered his performance and it hurt the next pitch. That's gone. How he holds runners was another box that needed to be checked off, and that's done. Tipping his pitches, that's checked. There's always something to work on, but the things I was most concerned about in terms of his big league readiness, those boxes have been checked."

The Dodgers' top prospect made sure those boxes stayed checked on Friday. While he retired the side in order only twice, he was hardly threatened. After retiring the side quickly in the first, he allowed a leadoff double to Nick Buss in the second, but he worked out of trouble by retiring the next three batters, fanning a pair. Urias yielded singles in the third and fourth innings but kept Salt Lake off the scoreboard before he was lifted after throwing 64 pitches.

Video: Oklahoma City's Urias picks off another

Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman acknowledged earlier this week that Urias' poise and stature at such a young age present the challenge of how to handle him when he finally gets promoted to Los Angeles.

"In Julio's case, in particular, it's a little more unique because of how advanced he is at such a young age," Friedman told the Los Angeles Times. "I think as an industry we know more about how to limit starting pitcher injuries than we did 10 years ago, but there's no question in my mind we'll know significantly more five years from now.

Matt West and Casey Fien tossed two innings apiece to finish off Oklahoma City's PCL-leading sixth shutout.

Rob Segedin went 3-for-4 with a triple and scored the game's lone run on Jose Tabata's single in the bottom of the fourth. 

Bees starter Chris Jones (3-3) allowed one run on five hits and two walks while striking out six in six innings.