OKC Dodgers: Julio Urias struggles, learns lesson in Triple-A debut

At just 19 years old, left-hander Julio Urias has plenty to learn in baseball.

Monday night was a big lesson for the Dodgers' top pitching prospect as his Triple-A debut with Oklahoma City went south in a hurry during OKC's lackluster 9-3 loss to Iowa at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark to open a crucial series the final week of the season.

“When things don't go my way, I'm just going to have to go back and keep working,” Urias said following the game through an interpreter.

Urias lasted just one inning and displayed uncharacteristic command issues. He allowed three runs on two hits and four walks. He threw 44 pitches and faced nine batters.

It was a far different outing than what he grew accustom to in Double-A Tulsa, where he struck out 74 batters and walked just 15 in 13 starts. His most recent start on Aug. 25 featured six scoreless innings.

“I think he's always proven that he can command the fastball and keep hitters off balance with breaking ball and changeup,” Dodgers manager Damon Berryhill said. “From everything I've seen and been told it's fastball command and poise. We're really not concerned with it. We're just going to chalk it up as a poor outing and give him the ball and see what happens next time.”

Once Urias left the game, Dodgers outfielder Kyle Jensen tied the game at 3 with a three-run home run in the first inning. From there, it only got worse for the Dodgers as Iowa cut OKC's division lead to three games with four games left in the series and eight games remaining in the regular season.

The Dodgers walked a total of 12 batters to tie a team record and uncorked three wild pitches. Berryhill and pitching coach Scott Radinksy were also ejected in the eighth inning. A minute later, a fan in the stands was tossed for throwing something onto the field during the on-field arguments.

It was an all-around bad outing on a night that was highly anticipated with the organization's left-handed prodigy debuting.

Urias, who is from Mexico, made his professional debut with the Dodgers at 16 and played in the Futures Game last season when he was 17. He's also the youngest player in the Pacific Coast League.

Some comparisons to another Dodgers phenom from Mexico —  Fernando Valenzuela, who debuted out of the bullpen in 1980 at the same age and pitched in 10 of the Dodgers' final 21 games.

But following his poor outing Monday, Urias denied any sense of pressure to live up to that or other standards.

“There's no pressure,” he said. “I just have to keep working. Things didn't go the way I wanted them, but I'm going to keep working, keep my head up and with God's help everything will be fine.”