Sunday Pebble Report: Big names perform well for Rockies' affiliates

Colorado Springs: L 16-5 (16-13)
The Sky Sox jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning via a Chris Iannetta grand slam. After that, Sacramento proceeded to outscore them 16-1. The first three Sky Sox pitchers to appear in the game - Kurt Birkins, Matt Wilhite, and Damian Moss - combined to allow 14 earned runs in 4.2 innings. Six walks and 16 hits certainly didn't help the cause, as Birkins saw his ERA balloon to 24.92 while Wilhite now sports a 13.50 ERA. On a positive note, Edgmer Escalona continues to improve upon his disastrous start to the season, as he struck out four batters in 2.1 innings. The best pitching performance of the day by a Sky Sox hurler came from none other than Warren Schaeffer, who pitched a scoreless bottom of the eighth inning. He walked Corey Wimberly and plunked Steven Tolleson to start the inning, but proceeded to strike out Corey Brown, induce a pop out by Chris Carter, and ended the inning by getting Michael Taylor to fly out to center. Offensively, Iannetta finished 2-for-5, and Chris Nelson, who is fresh off the DL, went 2-for-3 with a double and a walk. Also, in what is perceived to be his last rehab game, Brad Hawpe singled and scored on CDI's slam.

Tulsa: L 8-1 (11-17)
Jeff Kindel provided the only offense for the Drillers in this one, as his sixth inning solo home run made it a 5-1 game at the time. This was after Brandon Durden finished up six ineffective innings, allowing five runs on eight hits (two of which were home runs). Andrew Graham had a rough eighth inning after a solid seventh, allowing a two-run homer. Sean Jarrett was hit around a bit in the ninth as well, allowing three knocks and a run to come across the plate.

Modesto: W 2-1 (17-10)
It was a very good day for big-named pitchers (inside of the Rockies organization, anyway) in Modesto. Greg Reynolds started the game and had a nice outing, all things considered. He pitched five effective innings, allowing just an unearned run on three hits, while striking out two and walking one. Taylor Buchholz earned the win after pitching a perfect seventh inning that included a punch out. And, Rex Brothers set things up nicely for closer Adam Jorgenson, as he replicated Bucky's performance by pitching a scoreless eighth and notching a K in the process. Jorgenson's scoreless ninth resulted in his 10th save of the season. The Nuts didn't do a whole lot offensively as they only had five hits, but Brian Rike's two doubles had a hand in both runs scored (he drove in a run with one and came around to score after the other).

Asheville: W 9-1 (12-17)
The Tourists had a big day offensively, amassing 16 hits to go along with nine runs. Angelys Nina had the best of many good individual performances at the plate, going 5-for-5 with a double, two RBIs, and three runs scored. In addition to Nina, Avery Barnes, Joseph Sanders, Tyler Massey, and Orlando Sandoval (who also had three RBIs) pitched in multi-hit games. Nicholas Schnaitmann picked up his third win of the season, as he went seven innings and allowed just a run on four hits while striking out five. Leuris Gomez pitched a scoreless eighth with a strikeout, and Chad Rose was perfect in the ninth to close things out.