Colorado Springs Sky Sox 6, Las Vegas 51s 1
Record: 5-3, 2nd place
Tyler Chatwood's second outing of the year was a significant improvement from last week's shaky but somehow effective outing. Last night, he struck out 7, gave up a single run, and didn't walk any batters in his 6 innings on the mound. Rob Scahill (#21 PuRP) and Josh Sullivan were able to hold Las Vegas scoreless the remainder of the game for a 6-1 victory over the Mets' AAA affiliate.
The offense struck early and often. The eventful first inning included DJ LeMahieu reaching on a fielding error by former Rockie Omar Quintanilla, and being thrown out at the plate the very next play after trying to reach home on a Charlie Blackmon double. Corey Dickerson (#7 PuRP), Blackmon, Nolan Arenado (#2 PuRP), and Ben Paulsen all got hits in that first inning. Over the course of the game, every player except the three pitchers got at least one hit, including home runs from Charlie Culberson (#24 PuRP) and Tyler Colvin.
Tulsa Drillers 2, San Antonio Mission 1
Record: 3-5, 3rd Place
Tulsa has suffered from a weak offense all season, but Delta Cleary and Kyle Parker (#4 PuRP) were able to provide the offense needed for victory against San Diego's AA affiliate. Chad Bettis (#6 PuRP) gave up a home run to Reymond Fuentes in the first at-bat of the game. This was the only run given up by the Drillers' pitching staff the entire game, and the only run given up until Delta Cleary scored in the bottom of the 8th. Kyle Parker hit the walk-off double with one out in the 9th.
The Tulsa offense combined for 12 strikeouts, 10 groundouts, and zero walks in 8 1/3 innings. Parker, 2-4 on the night, provided one third of the hits in the game for the Drillers. Cristhian Adames (#18 PuRP), Kiel Roling, Delta Cleary, and Jose Gonzalez provided the only other hits for Tulsa.
Modesto Nuts 4, Lancaster Jethawks 1
Record: 4-5, 4th place
Houston's Single-A affiliate managed to strike out 13, were not able to provide enough offense of their own to win against Modesto. After Lancaster scored the first run of the game in the 4th, Modesto was able to respond with a run of their own in the 5th, get the go-ahead run in the 7th, and tack on two more in the 8th for a 4-1 victory.
Daniel Winkler (PuRP honorable mention) gave up one run, struck out 5, and walked one in his 6 innings pitched. More impressive than this line is the fact that he gave up 8 ground outs to only 2 fly outs. He faced a tight situation in the 4th inning, with the bases loaded and no outs, but yielded only one run on a sacrifice fly. David Kandilas (PuRP honorable mention) hit a single to lead off the 8th, Will Swanner (#5 PurP) and Trevor Story (#3 PuRP) had back to back hits in the 8th inning.
Asheville Tourists 4, West Virginia Power 11
Asheville 9, West Virginia 7
Record: 6-3, First Place
When the Thursday night game versus West Virginia was suspended due to rain, the Tourists were down 5-0 against the Pirates' affiliate. The Power returned to finish the job Friday, tacking on 6 more runs and allowing 4 runs, including a 2-run home run off the bat of catcher Tom Murphy (#15 PuRP).
The Tourists came back to win the next game 9-7 in 7 innings of play. The team scored in every frame that they played. Of their 9 hits, 6 of those were for extra bases, including 1 home run and 2 triples. Rosell Herrera (#16 PuRP) was 3-for-3 with a walk. He hit two double and a home-run, and now owns a 1.104 OPS on the year.