(Photo Credit: ftw.usatoday.com)

After completing his longest rehab outing since having Tommy John surgery in April of last year, right-hander Brandon McCarthy got one step closer to the Dodgers‘ starting rotation Wednesday night, coming just one out shy of throwing a full four innings for Triple-A Oklahoma City.

McCarthy threw 61 pitches, 41 for strikes. He pitched 3-2/3 innings and surrendered one run on three hits, while walking two and striking out four batters. Two hits came on singles to the outfield, with the third being a single in the infield. He was pulled from the game by manager Bill Haselman with two outs in the fourth inning after issuing a walk to Round Rock left fielder Kyle Kubitza. He did not factor into the decision as OKC ended up victorious, 4-1.

Long man Carlos Frias showed his versatility once again, throwing the final 5-1/3 innings to earn his second win of the season. He held the Express scoreless and struck out two, while surrendering only three hits and a walk.

Trailing 1-0, Oklahoma City scored all four runs in the bottom of the fourth frame, highlighted by center fielder Corey Brown‘s seventh home run of the year. First baseman Zach Walters added a run-scoring triple, and second baseman Micah Johnson contributed a one-run double to help propel OKC to their sixth victory in their last seven games.

Shortstop Chris Taylor, making his first start in the Dodgers’ organization since being acquired from the Mariners for pitcher Zach Lee, went 1-for-4 with a double and a run scored.

After missing all of last season recovering from surgery to repair a torn labrum, southpaw starter Hyun-jin Ryu will make yet another rehab start on Thursday night for OKC in the third game of the four-game series against the Express. He went four innings last Friday for Single-A Rancho Cucamonga, and is expected to throw five innings against the Express, focusing on increasing the velocity of his four-seamer, which has recently been sitting in the 86-88 MPH range.

After his appearance on Thursday, Ryu is expected to make one additional start of five innings or more before joining the Dodgers’ rotation, conceivably a short time after the first of July.

Ryu will be opposed by Round Rock right-hander Kyle Lohse. First pitch is slated for 7:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

In other news, Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reports that the Dodgers will promote OKC righty Nick Tepesch to start against the Pirates in the opener of a four-game series on Friday.

Tepesch pitched eight innings last Friday night against New Orleans, allowing only one run and three hits while striking out eight batters. The 27-year-old also went 2-for-4 at the dish with an RBI, as Oklahoma City downed the Zephyrs, 6-2.

Tepesch is now 3-0 with a 2.00 ERA in three Triple-A starts since signing with the Dodgers earlier this month.