The Springs, L 0-4: There were six hits on offense, two each by Jonathan Herrera and Edwin Bellorin. Sean Smith allowed two runs in seven innings and struck out five. Juan Morillo was charged with the other two.

Tulsa, W 6-5: Down by two in the eighth, the Drillers came back to score three that inning to take a 6-5 lead. Tony Blanco had a pinch-hit RBI single, who then scored on a fielding error on a ball put into play by Jeff Kindel. Jeff Dragicevich then singled in Corey Wimberly for the go-ahead run. Daniel Carte hit his ninth homer earlier in the game, Rick Gurano his third in the fourth inning. Corey Wimberly walked twice and stole his 55th base.

Alan Johnson allowed twelve hits and five runs in seven innings (two runs off two homers) and struck out five. Edward Valdez and Ryan Mattheus each struck out two in their innings of wrk. Mattheus now has 13 saves.

Modesto, L 3-4 in 13 innings: Mike McKenry's two-run double in the ninth tied the game at three and sent the game into extra innings, but a double and an RBI single off Tommy Baumgardner in the bottom of the 13th gave San Jose the win. Jay Cox had two doubles, 25 for the season.

Simon Ferrer allowed three runs in six innings, walking four in the process. Andy Graham (1 IP), David Patton (2 IP), and Will Harris (3 IP) kept San Jose scoreless over the next six innings.

Asheville, L 2-9: Brian Lapin hit a two-run homer in the third, which was one of only three hits by the Tourists. Bruce Billings was lit up for nine runs in 5 2/3 innings, four on a grand slam in the seven-run fourth inning. He also walked four. Matthew Reynolds and Craig Baker held the other team to three hits over the last 3 1/3 innings.

Tri-City, L 5-10: The Dust Devils liked issuing free passes last night, walking 10 over the course of the game. Brad McAtee walked six in 3+ innings (he pitched to four batters in the fourth) and allowed three runs. Two of those three scored while Brandon Miller was on the mound, who also allowed three runs of his own and walked one. He pitched to five batters in the fifth without recording an out. Michael Marbry walked one and saw three unearned runs score. Bobby Paschal walked two and gave up a run. Sean Jarrett threw two scoreless, walkless innings and struck out three.

Thomas Field had two solo homers last night, and Johnny Bowden and Scott Robinson each hit a triple and drove in a run.

Casper, L 2-13: Carlos Martinez drove in both runs, one on his second homer of the season. Chad Jacobsen, Tyler Massey, Orlando Sandoval, and Zack Murry each had two hits. Murry stole his sixth base.

Andres Marrero was the only Casper pitcher to not allow a run yesterday, pitching two innings and giving up only a hit. Ethan Hollingsworth allowed seven in five innings, Juan Rodriguez saw three cross home in one inning, and Eric Schaler put three on the board for Orem in the ninth.

Colorado Springs: W 12-2

I'm liking what I've been seeing of Sean Smith. He's keeping the ball down and not giving up a whole lot of damage. He didn't quite make it a full six innings yesterday, giving up the two runs in that frame and showing signs of weakness after shutting out Portland to that point, but he did pick up and deserve the win. The Sky Sox part of the score indicates that runs probably could have been given up a lot more easily with less effective pitching last night. On that offensive side, Ian Stewart hit his fourteenth AAA homerun of the season and Jayson Nix (3 hits) and Christian Colonel (4 hits) each had big nights.

Tulsa: L 0-5

The Drillers were shutout and limited to three hits, one by starter Brandon Hynick, who also happened to meet the quality start threshold with three runs allowed in six innings.

Modesto: L 2-6

Daniel Mayora went two for four and is batting .421 for the month of June after starting the season miserably. He's still showing little power, but the contact skills are looking much better. Esmil Rogers took the loss after going five innings and allowing four runs.

UPDATE: according to the comments Jhoulys Chacin has finally been promoted from Asheville and will join the Nuts this weekend.

Asheville: L 3-9

Connor Graham had one of his least effective outings of late, allowing five runs in as many innings including two off of a homerun in a three inning third. Everth Cabrera had a pair of hits and a pair of stolen bases (49 out of 56 on the season now) as well as his twentieth error of the year in the loss.

Tri-City: W 2-1

There was no scoring in this contest until Bo Bowman and Johnny Bowden broke through in the top of the ninth, and then Austin Chambliss bended a little, but didn't break in the bottom half for the save in the Dust Devils win. Juan Nicasio pitched five scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and a walk and struck out nine with five of the six outs he got off of contact coming on groundballs.

Casper: W 3-2

Kane Simmons went four for four with two doubles and a homerun, while Dan Houston, Chad Rose, Brandon Walker and Kurt Yacko put in a sparkling effort on the mound in this Ghosts victory. With four more strikeouts in an inning and a third yesterday (notching his fourth save of the season already), Yacko has been perfect in four and two thirds innings this season, striking out nine of the fourteen batters he's faced. Rose also has nine K's in four and two thirds innings this season, albeit a few more baserunners, and Houston also looked sharp in five innings, allowing the two Idaho Falls runs, but only on three hits and he struck out seven.

Colorado Springs, W 9-5 - A six-run third inning helped secure the victory for the Sky Sox last night. Cory Sullivan doubled in Clint Barmes (who started the inning with  single), Joe Koshansky hit a two-run homer (17), pitcher Sean Smith drove in two on a single, and Barmes drove in the first of his two RBI on a single. Barmes and Rick Guarno each had three hits. 

Sean Smith picked up his first win after allowing four runs in the sixth inning. He pitched 5 2/3 innings. Alberto Arias did not allow the two inherited runners to score.

Tulsa, W 8-1 - The  Drillers had a big fifth inning. The scoring started when Xavier Cedeno drew a bases-loaded walk. EY Jr. followed with an RBI single before Dexter Fowler drove in two on a double. Matt Miller then singled in EY and Fowler. Tony Blanco drove in EY and Fowler in the previous inning.

Xavier Cedeno threw eight strong innings. He allowed one run on five hits.

Modesto, W 8-5 - The Nuts scored four in the fourth and three in the fifth on their way to the victory. Mike Paulk went 2-for-4 with two RBI and Mike McKenry went 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI. Anthony Jackson went 3-for-5 and scored twice.

Aneury Rodriguez allowed two runs over five innings and struck out four. Andrew Johnston loaded the bases in the ninth, allowed one run to score, and then recorded the final out of the game.

Asheville, L 0-5 - The Tourists had five hits (Holcomb had two), but combined to strike out 14 times. Augusta starter Madison Bumgarner struck out 10.

Bruce Billings went five innings and allowed five runs, only two earned. Three errors (Warren Schaeffer, Helder Velazquez, and Lars Davis) contributed to that. Robinson Fabian, Edgmer Escalona, and Joey Williamson combined for three innings of one-hit relief.

Tri-City, W 7-1 - We have a Josh Sullivan sighting. He went three innings, allowed two hits, walked one, and struck out two. He also had a wild pitch and hit a batter. Sullivan is making his way back from tendinitis in his right elbow. Brad McAtee went four innings, allowed his opponent's one run, and struck out four in picking up the win.

In the fourth inning, Josh Banda drove in Bo Bowman who reached on a triple. In the fifth, Chad Lembeck scored on a throwing error on a force attempt and Austin Rauch scored on a sac fly. In the ninth, Austin Rauch drove in two, Leonardo Reyes singled in one, and Radames Nazario hit a sac fly.

Casper, W 9-4 - The balls were flying out of the yard last night. Outfielder Eliezer Mesa went 3-for-4 with two homers (solo and two-run) and four RBI. Wilin Rosario, last night's designated hitter, stroked two homers (two-run and solo). James Sims didn't hit his first two homers of the season as Mesa and Rosario did, but he did have his first, a two-run shot. Carlos Martinez added two hits and stolen base.

Dan Houston allowed his two runs on a two-run homer in the third inning. He went three inning and struck out three. Alan Deratt allowed two hits over the next four innings and struck out four. Andres Marrero surrendered a two-run homer in the top of the ninth.

Colorado Springs, L 5-6 - Seth Smith had his ninth home run, a two-run shot in the first, and Cory Sullivan had his fourth, a three-run homer in the fifth. Sean Smith threw seven innings of four-hit, two-run ball. Both runs were off solo shots. Juan Morillo allowed a run in the eighth, but it was Matt Daley who blew the game in the ninth. He allowed three runs on four singles and two walks.

Tulsa, W 6-3 - As mentioned during the game thread, Dexter Fowler had two doubles last night to increase his total to 20 on the season. His two RBI scored on the second one. Matt Miller went 3-for-5 with two RBI. Eric Young Jr. had two hits, and Daniel Carte stole his fourth base.

Xavier Cedeno turned in a solid 7 2/3 innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits and three walks. Ryan Mattheus struck out two on his way to his 10th save. The Drillers turned four double plays (five if you include a play in the eighth, according to the Tulsa World).

Modesto, L 2-6 - Jason Van Kooten collected three of Modesto seven hits last night. All seven were singles. Van Kooten had two errors on the same play in the first inning. Aneury Rodriguez allowed two runs (one earned) in that inning on two hits. He allowed two more hits and walked over the next five innings. At the end of six innings, Rodriguez had struck out five and allowed only those two runs at the start of the game. Chris Malone allowed four runs on six hits in the seventh, but Andy Graham and Andrew Johnston combined to pitch a scoreless final two innings.

Jay Cox should be back with the team today after returning home to deal with a family emergency.

Asheville - All-Star Break.

Colorado Springs, W 5-1 - Cory Sullivan led the offense last night by hitting his second homer of the season, a three-run shot in the third inning. Seth Smith had a double and an RBI. Jayson Nix had a hit, scored twice, and walked twice.

Sean Smith allowed one run on two hits and two walks in four innings. He struck out five. Cedrick Bowers picked up the win after striking out two in the fifth inning. Chris George, Matt Daley, and Steven Register pitched in relief. Register allowed the other two Nashville hits.

Tulsa, L 1-2 - Matt Miller's ground out RBI in the third inning was all the offense last night for the Drillers. All six hits the Drillers had were singles. Corey Wimberly stole two bases and has 10 for the season.

Brandon Hynick allowed two runs (both in the first inning) on seven hits and one walk in six innings. He also struck out six. Casey Weathers returned to action and had a clean sheet in the seventh inning.

Modesto, W 9-7 - Simon Ferrer picked up his first win of the season in one of his better starts this season. In seven innings, Ferrer limited Bakersfield to two runs on three hits and three walks. Brandon Durden did not fare as well as he allowed three runs on two walks and a double. Andrew Johnston allowed one run in the ninth, but picked up his seventh save.

Jay Cox hit his  first home run of the season, a three-run shot, in the second inning. Mike McKenry hit his third, a two-run blast, in the ninth. Cole Garner went 3-for-5 with two doubles and two runs scored.

Asheville, L 0-4 - Brian Lapin and Lars Davis had two hits each, but Lapin's triple was the only extra-base hit for the Tourists. Helder Velazquez had the other hit. Darin Holcomb stole his third base, but Velazquez was caught for the fourth time. Brian Rike had two fielding errors.

Cory Riordan pitched 5 1/3 innings, allowed four runs (three earned) on eight hits and two walks. He struck out five. Matthew Reynolds pitched to three batters in the sixth inning and allowed two hits and walked the other batter before leaving without recording an out. Edgmer Escalona finished the last 2 2/3 innings of the game, struck out two, and allowed one hit.

Asheville radio announcer Jay Burnham has a blog about the team as they travel around the Sally League throughout the season.

Spence Nagy retired from baseball. I believe we missed that yesterday.

Colorado Springs, L 8- 16 - Multi-hit nights for a number of players. Jonathan Herrera, Edwin Bellorin, and Chris Frey each had three hits, and Bellorin also drive in three runs. Sean Barker and Joe Koshansky both had two hits, and drove in two and one RBI each. Herrera also had an RBI.

Valerio De Los Santos allowed seven runs on ten hits over four innings. He allowed at least a run in every inning and allowed a two-run homer in the third and fourth innings. Sean Smith did not have a memorable debut, or at least not a good debut. He went three innings, allowed five runs, walked five, and struck out five. Three of those runs scored after he left the game and Matt Daley replaced him. Daley prompted served up a grand slam to Landon Powell. Daley would allow three more runs to score after that.

Tulsa, L 3-7 - Chris Nelson, Daniel Carte, and Jeff Dragicevich drove in the runs for Drillers while Nelson and Fowler had the only extra-base hits for the team, both doubles.  Fowler also stole his seventh base.

Brandon Hynick went six innings, allowed two runs on eight hits, and struck out six batters. Adam Bright allowed two runs to blow the lead. Jarrett Grube allowed one of the inherited runners to score and gave up three runs himself without recording an out. He walked three, which scored one of the runners Grube put on, and then the one hit Grube allowed turned out to be a bases-clearing double to give Springfield the lead. Ryan Mattheus struck out one batter, his only out in the game, after relieving Grube.

Modesto, L 1-3 - Despite collecting eleven hits (to Visalia's seven), the Nuts lost this one. Simon Ferrer had his best outing of the season so far after allowing three runs (two earned) on six hits and two walks over seven innings. He struck out five. Zach Simons walked three and struck out five in two innings of relief.

Tony Blanco had an RBI triple in the fifth. Daniel Mayora and Victor Ferrante had two hits each. Cole Garner had a double, and he recently sat down with Brian VanderBeek for an interview.

Asheville, W 5-1 in 12 innings - The Tourists scored the first run of the game in the fifth. Kevin Clark led off the inning with a double, who then moved over to third after Nick Noonan missed catching the ball on a pickoff attempt. Clark then scored on an error by the third baseman which allowed Helder Velazquez to reach base. In the 12th inning, Warren Schaeffer's two-run double and Everth Cabrera's two-run single gave the Tourists the victory. Cabrera stole his 13th base. Darin Holcomb hit his ninth double. Brian Rike and Jeff Cunningham struck out three times each, but Lars Davis accounted for five strikes out (16 between the entire team).

Cory Riordan went seven innings, allowed no runs on fours hits. He struck out seven. After Craig Baker allowed an unearned run to score in the eighth, Craig Rodriguez walked three over his two innings of work to pick up the win. Matthew Reynolds struck out two to finish the game.

Okay, so I lied and apparently the fix wasn't as smooth as they made it out to be. Teaches me for being a corporate stooge and just rehashing the company line. At any rate, the good news is that the Rockies actually won the game this afternoon, Aaron Cook assessed our problem and then  took things into his own hands with eight solid to keep the bullpen off the field and two hits of his own to keep the offense rolling. What a guy.

Anyway, Scott Podsednik also looked sharp in relief of Willy Taveras with three hits, and Chris Iannetta hit his first homerun of the season. Matt Holliday doubled to start our two run eighth inning rally, and Ryan Spilborghs finished it with a run scoring single to give the Rockies their final margin.

In separate news, the Jamey Carroll trade was finally finalized, and the player to be named later turns out to be the player to be named right from the get go. Sean Smith comes full circle from being the reported player by Ringolsby to being pulled from the table, to being back on the table and shipped to Colorado.