Redbirds Squeak By Dodgers, 2-1

Memphis, Tenn. - Memphis Redbirds starting pitcher Austin Gomber kept the Oklahoma City Dodgers scoreless through eight innings, and an OKC rally in the ninth inning fell 90 feet short in a 2-1 loss Monday night at AutoZone Park.
Through the first eight innings of the game, Gomber (3-3) held the Dodgers to no runs and four hits, with only one runner reaching scoring position. At one point between the first and sixth innings, he retired 16 of 18 batters with no hits allowed. 
Gomber headed to the mound to start the ninth inning with a 2-0 lead, but he gave up a double to Donovan Solano and a single to Alex Verdugo to put the tying runs on base.
Memphis (27-18) made a pitching change and brought in closer Preston Guilmet. Kyle Farmer was the first to face Guilmet and hit a sacrifice fly to center field to get the Dodgers on the board and keep the tying run at first base.
A single by Travis Taijeron put runners at the corners, placing the tying run at third base and go-ahead run at first base. But Guilmet prevented the Dodgers from evening the score, as he struck out Danny Espinosa and got Rocky Gale to ground out to end the game, giving Guilmet his eighth save.  
 
The Redbirds led the entire game after striking first in their first at-bat. With two outs and the count at 0-2, Patrick Wisdom homered to left-center field to give Memphis the early lead.
Memphis made it 2-0 in the fourth inning. After the first two batters reached base, Manny Bañuelos retired the next two. Max Schrock came up next and got jammed, but was able to send a soft liner to shallow right field to plate a run. 
That was the final run surrendered by Bañuelos (4-3), who lasted a season-high seven innings but took his third loss in as many starts. He allowed two runs and six hits, with three walks and eight strikeouts. The lefty limited the Redbirds 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position.
Following a pair of singles in the first inning, Gomber did not surrender another hit until Verdugo led off the seventh inning with a single. Farmer came up next and nearly hit a game-tying home run, sending a ball of the top of the left-center field fence. Verdugo was only able to advance to second base on the play, resulting in a long single for Farmer.
Gomber not only retired the next three hitters of the seventh inning to keep his shutout bid intact, but he also retired the side in order in the eighth before running into trouble in the ninth. The southpaw ended up being charged with one run and six hits, with two walks and nine strikeouts.
Monday's defeat marked the fourth straight road loss for the Dodgers (27-14), who have also lost six of their last seven road games as well as eight of the last 10. The culprit again was the lack of offense, as the Dodgers were held to two or fewer runs for the fifth time in the last 10 road games. The team's last eight road losses have been by a combined 11 runs.
The Dodgers and Redbirds turn around to play next at 11:05 a.m. Tuesday at AutoZone Park. Live coverage begins 15 minutes before first pitch on AM 1340 "The Game," 1340thegame.com, or through the free iHeartRadio mobile app.