Colorado Springs, W 13-1 - Christian Colonel went 4-for-5 with three runs scored, a double, a home run, and two RBI. Doug Bernier went 3-for-4 with three runs scored, a home run, and two RBI. Edwin Bellorin had three RBI, two on a home run. Sean Barker had a two-run triple as a pinch-hitter for Mark Redman in the sixth. Jonathan Herrera, Seth Smith, and Joe Koshansky picked up one RBI each.

Mark Redman held Fresno scoreless over six innings and allowed only two hits. Juan Morillo pitched hte final 1 2/3 innings, striking out two, and walking none.

Tulsa - Postponed due to wet grounds. Todd Ritchie is now part of the rotation.

Modesto - All-Star Break.

Asheville, L 3-8 - Darin Holcomb hits his 10th homer, a solo shot, and scored twice. Everth Cabrera and Cory Riordan both committed two errors last night while David Christensen had one to place the team's total at five. Riordan allowed five runs (one earned) over five innings. He walked two and struck out four.

Tri-City, W 3-1 - After Salem-Kaizer's sac fly in the top of the second, Tri-City answered with a Patrick Rose sac fly and a Scott Robinson run scored on a Thomas Field ground out. In the eighth, Patrick Rose started the inning with a triple and scored two batters later when Leonardo Reyes put down a sac bunt. Reyes wound up on first after a missed catch by the second baseman.

Kenny Durst held Salem-Kaizer to three hits and one run (zero earned) in five innings. He walked four and struck out three. Michael Marbry, Ethan Katz, and Austin Chambliss allowed two hits over the next four innings, both by Marbry. Chambliss picked up his second save.

Casper - Postponed due to rain.

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.

The problem we have with looking so intensely at our own little part of the forest is that we sometimes don't understand that the trees we're looking at aren't that much different from trees other people are looking at. So I'm going to bring up Rany on the Royals as a cautionary tale to not get too enamored with a single team's interleague results as a measure of quality.

The Royals are now 33-27 (.550) against the NL over the last four years. In that same timeframe, they’re 182-314 (.367) against AL opponents. Sixty games is a pretty substantial sample size, and in those 60 games the Royals have outscored their opponents by 46 runs, so their record is representative of how well they’ve played. How much would the perception of this franchise be altered if they simply had the good fortune to play in the inferior league?

The Rockies over that same time span have a 31-23 (.574) record against the "superior" league while going 230-272 (.458) against the NL. The Rockies laugh at the Royals measly positive 46 interleague run differential with their +55. The rest of his overall point (that the NL hasn't closed the talent gap this season) might be true, but looking at an individual team's performance to support that claim just doesn't work that well. At any rate, when the Rockies go to KC next week, I hope the outcome is more like our 2005 sweep of the Royals rather than last season's series.

So why do the Rockies look so good against the AL while the rest of their NL mates look like AAA fodder? I mean if the NL looks as bad as it has, imagine how much worse it would look without the Rockies pulling the numbers up these last last few years. It's certainly a mystery to me. I can see how having more AB's for Ryan Spilborghs helps, but it's harder for me to explain how Jorge De La Rosa suddenly turns into the pitcher he was Saturday, or otherwise how the rest of our pitchers cut their runs allowed in half when facing AL opponents.

Aaron Cook is making a strong push to be the franchise's first 20 game winner. Unfortunately, there's just a huge "what might have been" to read into the gap between him and our second best starter, who at this point is probably Ubaldo Jimenez. At any rate, today's a good day to stay positive with the win yesterday, our fourth straight series victory, Troy Tulowitzki and Clint Barmes closing in on returns to the lineup, and a chance to make the league's worst road record even uglier tonight.

While we're waiting for Tulo and Barmes, does Joe Koshansky get called up in the meantime? That would leave Omar Quintanilla as our only legit middle infielder this week, which would be a scarier proposition if it weren't for the decent job Ian Stewart and Jeff Baker have been doing while holding down second. Still, something to think about.

Colorado Springs, W 4-2 - Seth Smith's two-run home run (7) in the first and Joe Koshansky's two-run home run (15) in the third were all the runs the Sky Sox needed last night  for the victory. Cory Sullivan was in the lineup, in case anyone missed malakian's mention of it in yesterday's Pebble Report.

Franklin Morales went seven innings and allowed both runs on a first-inning homer. He walked three and struck out three.

Tulsa, L 3-4 in 10 innings  - Chaz Roe threw eight strong innings last night. He allowed three runs on eight hits and two walks, and struck out five. Two of the runs came in the first inning, with the final run scored in the sixth.

Dexter Fowler, Jeff Kindel, and Daniel Carte each had three hits last night, but it was Kindel's single in the third that scored two of Tulsa's runs. Eric Young Jr. stole his 15th base.

Modesto, L 1-8 - Troy Tulowitzki committed two fielding errors and did not have a hit in three at-bats. The Nuts had only four hits.

Chris Malone went three innings and allowed five runs on eight hits. He struck out five. Tommy Baumgardner pitched three scoreless innings before Bandon Durden came in to pitch the eighth and allowed three runs.

Asheville, L 3-4 - Jhoulys Chacin went 6 2/3 innings, allowed three runs on seven hits and three walks, and struck out four. Craig Rodriguez went the next 1 1/3 innings, but gave up the winning run in the eighth by walking two and allowing a single. Edgmer Escalona struck out two in the ninth.

Everth Cabrera and Brian Lapin were the only two starters to not record a hit last night, but no starter had more than one hit. Kevin Clark made the most of his with his sixth homer, a two-run shot in the second inning. Darin Holcomb drove in his 51st RBI.

Colorado Springs, W 5-4 - Jason Hirsh made another rehab start. He allowed four runs, three coming of a solo shot and a two-run homer. In 4 1/3 IP, Hirsh allowed six hits, walked two, and struck out six. Luis Vizcaino struck out two in one inning of work. VIzcaino, Chris George, Valerio De Los Santos, Matt Daley, and Steven Register (who recorded his seventh save) combined to allow only three hits over the last 4 2/3 innings.

Trailing by one, Joe Koshansky hit a two-run double in the bottom of the eight to put the Sky Sox ahead 5-4. Brad Hawpe scored on the play, having singled to lead off the inning. Dustan Mohr had a double and an RBI. Newly arrived Kenny Perez had a hit.

Tulsa, L 2-3 - Ching Lung Lo limited Springfield to five hits and two runs in seven innings. He struck out seven and walked none. Aaron Fultz pitched in between Darren Clarke's and Jon George's clean outings. See, lefty Fultz entered the game to face a lefty at the start of the ninth inning with the game tied at two and promptly allowed a homer on his first pitch. Jon George immediately relieved him, ending the inning with no more damage done. But the Drillers could not come back.

Eric Young Jr. collected two hits (one was a double) and stole his 12th base. Corey Wimberly stole his 26th base. Jeff Dragicevich pinch hit for Lo and struck out.

Modesto - No game scheduled.

Asheville, W 5-4 - Sheng-An Kuo allowed all four runs on two two-run homers in the top of the first. He went five innings, gave up eight hits (five came in the first inning), and walked four. Joey Williamson, Craig Baker, and Randall Taylor combined for four innings of two-hit relief (both allowed by Baker). Taylor struck out two in the process of recording his 21st save.

The Tourist offense answered over the next two innings to tie the game. Everth Cabrera had a double and stole his 41st base before scoring on a Mike Mitchell double in the first. Mitchell scored that inning on a Darin Holcomb sac fly. In the second inning, Helder Velazquez hit his fifth homer after Kevin Clark started the inning with a walk. Not to be outdone, Clark hit his fifth homer of the season in the fourth inning to put the Tourists ahead. David Christensen had two hits, one a double, and did not strike out. Jeff Cunningham stole his first two bases of the season.

Colorado Springs, W 12-1 - Mark Redman, Josh Newman, and Victor Zambrano combined for a four-hitter. Redman allowed three of the hits and the lone Sacramento run. He struck out seven.

Eight of the runs scored via the home run: Dustan Mohr's solo shot in the fourth, Joe Koshansky's grand slam in the sixth (13), and Doug Bernier's two-run shot in the second and solo shot in the eighth (4). Koshansky added two doubles (22) and another RBI for five on the night.

The Rockies signed independent league York Revolution infielder Kenny Perez, previously of the Red Sox, D'Backs, and White Sox. When the Rockies called yesterday morning, Perez failed to answer the team twice.

Tulsa, W 7-1 - Wow. Alan Johnson struck out 12 batters last night. He also threw seven shutout innings and surrendered only five hits. Tony Blanco went 3-for-5 with a double and two RBI, and Matt Miller went 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI. Justin Nelson had a triple and an RBI. Corey Wimberly stole his 25th base.

Modesto, W 1-0 - In the top of the first, Daniel Mayora singled. He moved to second after Mike Paulk singled. Victor Ferrante followed those two singles with an RBI single. That was all the runs scored last night.

It was enough as Aneury Rodriguez threw his second nine-inning complete game shutout of the season. It was two-hitter (two singles) and he struck out 10 batters. He faced only 28 batters and used 103 pitches to do it.

Asheville, W 5-2 - Darin Holcomb went 3-for-5 with two double (23) and three RBI. Mike Mitchell also had three hits and an RBI. Lars Davis hit his first triple, and Everth Cabrera stole two bases (40). Cory Riordan allowed ten hits in six inning but surrendered only two runs. He struck out seven. Craig Baker recorded his second save by striking out three in the ninth.

Seven Tourists were named SAL Southern Division all-stars yesterday: starters Jhoulys Chacin, Everth Cabrera, Darin Holcomb, Brian Rike, Mike Mitchell, and reserves Joey Williamson and Randall Taylor.

Colorado Springs, L 5-13 - After the end of the sixth, the Sky Sox held a 5-4 lead. Josh Towers pitched the first five innings and allowed all four runs. Luis Vizcaino came in for the sixth and things went smoothly for him (after the leadoff triple). Then Chris George came in. He allowed two doubles and two singles to score three runs. Juan Morillo came in the next inning, issued three straight walks, and then recorded his first out. A single scored the first run in the eighth. Landon Powell had a two-run groundout as Doug Bernier committed a throwing error. In the ninth, we saw more of the same as Steven Register allowed three runs, all unearned. On back-to-back plays, Eduardo Cornejo and Joe Koshansky committed errors. The first run scored on Koshansky's error, and the other two scored on a ground out and a single.

Joe Koshansky went 3-for-5 with two doubles and a two-run homer (12). Christian Colonel had two hits, one for a double.

Tulsa, L 8-9 - Losing 4-7 entering the top of the sixth, the Drillers scored a run in each inning. Unfortunately, two runs in the bottom of the sixth gave the Rockhounds enough room to win the game. Matt Miller and Jeff Kindel both had two hits and two RBI, and Jeff Dragicevich had a solo home run for his eighth of the season (and three fielding errors). Corey Wimberly and Dexter Fowler each had two hits as well. Wimberly also added two stolen bases for 23 on the season.

Xavier Cedeno allowed nine runs (five earned) on eight hits and four walks. He struck out six. Jon George and Darren Clarke held opposing batters to three hits and no runs over the final 2 2/3 innings.

Modesto, L 1-5 - Anthony Jackson had a double to leadoff the game and eventually scored on a Mike Paulk sac fly. Nick Haley had two hits and Jay Cox had one. Modesto had only those four hits. Jackson (15), Cox (1), and Haley (6) each stole a base.

Esmil Rogers pitched valiantly for seven inning, allowing only one run on four hits. He walked two and struck out seven. Will Harris came in for the eighth and allowed a two-run homer, an RBI single, and a RBI double to lose the game.

Asheville, W 6-4 - Helder Velazquez went 3-for-5 with a double, two RBI, and two stolen bases (6). The game also saw Everth Cabrera hit a triple, score on a Mike Mitchell sac fly, and steal a base (36). Mike Mitchell also stole two bases (21). Brian Rike played and went 1-for-4 with two runs scored and three strikeouts.

Sheng-An Kuo liked the number six tonight. He picked up his sixth winning after pitching six innings. He allowed two runs on six hits, and walked two and struck out six. Craig Baker struck out three in the eighth before Randall Taylor struck out three to pick up his 18th save.

Colorado Springs: L 5-8

Jason Hirsh had his first rehab start, and the three hits in three innings with one run allowed was good. The five walks in three innings was certainly not. Joe Koshansky hit his eleventh AAA homerun, Jayson Nix his fifth.

Tulsa: W 6-4

The three players in the Drillers lineup last night that are hitting over .300 for the season, Corey Wimberly, Matt Miller and Jeff Kindel, probably don't get as much attention from my write ups as they deserve, but all three are having solid 2008 campaigns to date. Wimberly got aboard three times and scored in each case, which is exactly the kind of result you want to see from your lead-off hitter. Miller had three hits, he just keeps smacking liners all over the field and occasionally out of it. All three are older for prospects and have other liabilities that lead me to not tout them as much, but all three seem to have bats that are ready for the jump to AAA.

Modesto: L 1-4

Modesto didn't have a really good game last night against Kevin Correia.

Asheville: W 6-3

Braves fans that follow their minor league system closely were excited about this Rome team, and pitcher Cole Rohrbaugh was supposed to be one of the reasons. A few minor league observers, Baseball America's John Manuel, for instance, had Rohrbaugh in their top 100 prospect lists heading into this season. So it gives me too much satisfaction that our prospects drove him out with six runs in three innings. Much of the damage came from the top of the order, speedsters Michael Mitchell and Everth Cabrera had two hits apiece and a couple of stolen bases. Bruce Billings did a fine job of limiting Rome's potent offense as well. John Smoltz pitches again tonight for Rome, hopefully the T's can continue their dominance of the SAL (they've got the best record in professional baseball right now) with another win.

I haven't read any reports of an injury, but Brian Rike was held out of the lineup the last couple of days. I'll try and get some info, but if anybody else knows if he's injured feel free to chime in.

Colorado Springs, L 4-7 - Jayson Nix went 2-for-5 with a homer and three RBI, and Christian Colonel also had two hits and drove in a run on a double.

John Koronka allowed allowed six runs (three earned) in 5 1/3 IP. The sixth inning was particularly harsh when he allowed a homer to the second batter of the inning, followed by consecutive doubles. Joe Koshansky committed a fielding error on a play that scored a run. Matt Daley replaced Koronka and allowed a triple, scoring the two inherited runners. A wild pitch scored the guy from third. Cedrick Bowers pitched two hitless innings and allowed only a walk.

Tulsa, W 6-3 - Brandon Hynick performed quite well last night. He pitched seven innings, allowed three runs on four hits and a walk, and struck out seven. Seventy-one of his 101 pitches went for strikes. Hynick actually pitched into the eighth, but allowed a leadoff triple and then an RBI double. Darren Clarke relieved and eventually saw the inherited runner score. Ryan Mattheus struck out two in the ninth to record his fifth save.

The RBI were spread out among several players. Matt Miller had two, and Tony Blanco, Jeff Kindel, Daniel Carte, and Corey Wimberly each had one. Miller, Blanco, and Wimberly used the sac fly to drive in half the runs. Tulsa had only two extra-base hits last night: Dexter Fowler's double and Jeff Dragicevich's triple. They both had 2-for-4 nights.

Modesto, L 2-4 - Keith Weiser fell to 3-7 last night after pitching 6 2/3 innings and allowing four runs (two earned) on six hits and two walks. Will Harris had a clean inning in the eighth.

Daniel Mayora grounded into a force out in the third, scoring Geoff Strickland. The Nuts led 1-0 at that point, but it would be short-lived as Weiser allowed two runs in the bottom of the inning. Mayora hit his 15th double in the eighth inning and later scored on Matt Repec's single. With San Jose scoring two runs the inning before, Repec's RBI brought the game to its final score. Mayora committed two errors (16), a fielding one and a missed catch.

Asheville, W 3-2 - A Darin Holcomb RBI groundout and a Kevin Clark RBI single gave Asheville a 2-0 lead in the fourth, but at the end of the seventh the game was tied at two. In the top of the eighth, Lars Davis led off with a single before Everth Cabrera struck out swinging. Davis was then caught stealing second while Mike Mitchell was at the plate. Mitchell singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Jeff Cuningham plated Mitchell on his 13th double. Both Cunningham and Mitchell had three hits last night. Cabrera (34) and Helder Velazquez (4) each stole a base.

John Smoltz made a rehab start for Rome, striking out three and allowing one hit in two innings. Mike Mitchell had the lone hit.

Connor Graham had an odd night. He allowed five hits and walked five batters in six innings, but he saw no runs scored. He struck out four. Ryan Speier came in for the seventh inning and blew the save on an RBI double and a sac fly. He walked two. Craig Baker picked up the win after pitching 1 1/3 innings. Randall Taylor now has 17 saves.

Colorado Springs, W 10-9 - The Sky Sox won this game after Roy Corcoran hit Sean Barker with the bases loaded. Jayson Nix scored the winning run. The Sky Sox were actually entered the inning with eight runs, but a Chris Frey triple and a Christian Colonel RBI single to score Frey tied the game. In the third inning, Doug Bernier had an RBI triple, Frey had an RBI single, and Jayson Nix followed those two with an RBI double. In the eighth, Colonel doubled in Frey and Nix, Edwin Bellorin singled in Colonel and Joe Koshansky, and Rick Guarno had a sac fly.

Josh Towers went six innings, allowed six runs on 13 hits, and struck out five. Steven Register picked up his third win after allowing the go-ahead run at the time in the top of the ninth.

Tulsa, L 6-17 - Matt Miller (6) and Jeff Dragicevich (7) each had a homer, and Daniel Carte and Justin Nelson drove in two runs each.

Tomas Santiago allowed five runs in 3 1/3 IP; Jonathan George saw five runs cross the plate in 1 2/3 IP; and Luis Gonazlez witnessed six men cross the plate in 1 1/3 IP (he also walked four). Two of Gonzalez's runs crossed home when Casey Weathers came in. Weathers allowed those two runs to score and was charged with one run for himself in 2/3 IP. He struck out two. Duke Sardinha, a first baseman, pitched the last inning, allowing only a hit. Of the 17 runs scored, 10 of them were driven in by Midland's Tommy Everidge on two three-run homers and a grand slam. "Power of the mustache," former Rockies' farmhand Joe Gaetti says.

Santiago and manager Stu Cole were ejected in the fourth inning. Santiago hit a batter and then threw a pitch over the head of the next batter, being ejected for that. Cole was tossed right after that.

Modesto, L 0-4 - Victor Ferrante hit his eighth double and Geoff Strickland stole his 14th base. The Nuts managed only six hits.

After a two singles and a sac fly in the first, Esmil Rogers shutdown the Visalia Oaks between the second and seventh innings. He didn't allow a hit or any base runners. In the eighth he allowed a leadoff double, that runner scoring on a homer two batters later. A second double scored the third run of the inning. Rogers went 7 2/3 innings, allowed four runs on six hits, and struck out four.

Asheville, W 9-5 - Jhoulys Chacin put in another great performance: 8 IP, 7 H, 2/1 R/ER, 1 BB, 9 K. Andy Groves started the ninth, allowed three hits and three walks, and saw three men cross home plate. Randall Taylor came in with two outs and the bases loaded to record his 15th save.

Jeff Cunningham led the offense last night with two homers (10), a three-run and a two-run. That accounted for five of his six RBI. The other one came in a bases-loaded walk in the fifth. Darin Holcomb had an RBI single and an RBI walk, which came in the fifth after Holcomb's. Brian Rike had an RBI sacrifice double play. Mike Mitchell scored, but Jeff Cunningham also attempted to tag up and was thrown out at third. Everth Cabrera stole his 32nd base.