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 11-4  - With Ian Stewart and Seth Smith gone, the Springs' offense didn't slow down last night. Joe Koshansky hit for the cycle last night, and he hit the triple he needed in the eighth inning. He drove in four runs. Christian Colonel also had a big night, having all three of his hits go for doubles. Sean Barker hit a triple also and drove in three. Edwin Bellorin had three hits and three RBI.

John Koronka picked up his fifth win after going six innings. He allowed four runs on eight hits and three walks. Juan Morillo pitched the ninth and struck out three.

Tulsa, W 7-3 - Ching Lung Lo went six innings and allowed three runs (two on a first inning homer and the other on a solo shot in the third). He limited Midland to five hits and struck out three. Edward Valdez picked up a "save" by pitching a scoreless two innings. He allowed only two hits and struck out two.

Six of seven runs came via the home run. As part of his 3-for-4 night, Matt Miller hit his fifth homer. In the fourth inning, Jeff Kindel hit a two-run shot for his third, and Justin Nelson hit his sixth. In the sixth, Tony Blanco hit a two-run homer for his seventh. Dexter Fowler had a double (8) and an RBI.

Modesto, W 4-1 - Keith Weiser was one out away from throwing a shutout, but it was not to be. Weiser wound up with this line: 8 2/3 IP, 7 H, 1 R/ER, 4 K. Andrew Johnston recorded the last out for his 11th save.

The Nuts scored all four runs in the bottom of the third. Geoff Strickland doubled in Jay Cox and Matt Repec to start the scoring. Mike Paulk's sixth double scored Strickland, and Mike McKenry's single scored Paulk.

Brian VanderBeek sat down with Nick Haley recently, discussing Haley's Crohn's disease.

Asheville, W 4-2 - Entering the bottom of the eighth, the Tourists were tied 1-1 with the Catfish. In the bottom of the second, Brian Rike (batting sixth now) singled in Darin Holcomb (who reached base on the first of two doubles last night). So, Helder Velazquez stepped to the plate to start the eighth. He unloaded his fourth homer to break the tie. After Beau Seabury reached on a missed catch error and Everth Cabrera singled, Mike Mitchell sac bunted the two over to second and third. Kevin Clark struck out for the second inning, which gave way to Darin Holcomb. Holcomb then singled in Seabury and Cabrera to give Asheville a 4-1 lead. Cabrera also stole his 30th base.

Bruce Billings allowed one hit in seven inning on six hits and two walks. He struck out five. He did not, however factor into the decision. Craig Baker picked up the win after pitching a scoreless eighth. Randall Taylor allowed a run on two hits and a sac fly, but picked up his 14th save.

Colorado Springs, L 2-3 - Ian Stewart had an RBI triple in the sixth to bring the game to a 2-2 tie. Seth Smith and Sean Barker each had two-hit night. Smith also had an outfield assist to get the out at second in the second.

John Koronka went six innings and allowed the third run in the bottom of the sixth, giving Sacramento the eventual win. He gave up nine hits and walked four. Chris George pitched the last two innings and struck out two.

Tulsa, L 4-6 - Xavier Cedeno went 3 1/3 IP last night, allowed five runs (four earned) on eight hits and two walks. Jarrett Grube closed out the fourth inning before giving way to Edward Valdez. He pitched the next two innings and struck out three. Casey Weathers pitched an inning and struck out one. Ryan Mattheus allowed an unearned run in the eighth inning.

Dexter Fowler had two hits and an RBI. Justin Nelson and Jeff Kindel each had three hits, though Nelson wound up with his fifth homer for one of those hits. Tony Blanco and Xavier Cedeno each drove in a run (and committed errors). Corey Wimberly had the other error for the Drillers and stole his 18th base.

Modesto, W 11-9 - Cole Garner left the game during the top of the second inning after being hit by a pitch. Starting that inning, the Nuts scored in four consecutive innings. Matt  Repec double in two in the second, a Mike Paulk force out and a Mike McKenry single added two more runs in the third, Nelson Robledo's first homer and Daniel Mayora's double in the fourth saw two more added to the scoreboard, and Mike McKenry's singled in Geoff Strickland (who reached on a triple) in the fifth.

The eighth inning saw four more runs scored to give the Nuts the lead after being down 9-7 entering the inning. A Victor Ferrante RBI single, a Mike McKenry bases loaded walk, and a Matt Repec two-run single put the Nuts ahead 11-9.

To make things a bit clearer, McKenry drove in three runs and Repec four.

Shane Lindsay went only three innings last night. He allowed eight runs, but only three earned. Five runs came in the second inning: one on a double, two on two singles, two on a triple, and a steal of home. He allowed a three-run homer the next inning. David Patton, Andy Graham, and Andrew Johnston each threw two innings. Johnston picked up his ninth saved and still has not allowed an earned run this season in 18 IP.

Asheville, W 9-3 - The Tourists felt like scoring late in order come out with the win. The seventh inning saw Helder Velazquez hit a triple to score David Christensen, which was immediately followed by a Beau Seabury RBI double. Mike Mitchell drove in Seabury after Everth Cabrera walked. Cabrera (26) and Mitchell (15) pulled off the double steal, but neither scored.

The Tourists were up 3-2 at this point and things went wild in the top of the ninth. After Velazquez led off the inning with a single, Beau Seabury put down a sac bunt, but wound up reaching base on a fielding error by the pitcher. Cabrera put down a sac bunt and moved the runners over to second and third. Mike Mitchell was intentionally walked to load the bases. Jeff Cunningham then walked, scoring Velazquez. With Darin Holcomb at the plate, the opposing pitcher balked in Seabury, which, I assume, led to the opposing manager being thrown out of the game for arguing the call. Holcomb got out, but Kevin Clark singled in Mitchell. A pitching change was made before David Christensen batted. Christensen then hit a three-run homer, his third on the season.

Bruce Billings went seven innings and allowed two runs on five hits and two walks. He struck out four. Craig Baker pitched a clean eighth inning.

I did a review of the Rockies past five drafts yesterday at the RMN's Farm Report blog.

Colorado Springs (18-20, 12 GB): W 9-6

Jayson Nix, Seth Smith, Christian Colonel and Eduardo Cornejo all had multi-hit games for the victors last night. One of Smith's two hits was his fourth homerun of the season off of former Rockie Marcos Carvajal. John Koronka pitched with some traffic, but got the job done with four runs allowed over eight innings. Colonel has an amazing pinch hitting streak going (six straight, tying the PCL record, as TulsaDriller pointed out Monday) but he's just been swinging the bat well in general with three more hits yesterday to bring his average up to .375 on the season, which is tops on the team of those over 50 PA's. Of course, we're not the only ones to notice, his manager had this to say to the Colorado Springs Gazette:

"Anybody that hits .375 is a bit of a surprise," Runnells said. "What I'm most impressed with is his pinch-hitting."

You could ask Jeff Baker how difficult, and how much of a skill pinch hitting can be as you rarely have the luxury of getting a second look at a pitcher. The one drawback for Colonel, and it could be important outside the PCL, is that only five of his 21 hits have gone for extra bases -all doubles- so his value is almost entirely in that average.

Tulsa (14-24, 6 GB):  L 4-7

Ching-lung Lo followed his best outing of the season with a fairly disappointing one, giving up nine hits -including two HR's- and six runs in 5 2/3 innings. Much of the Drillers offense has been slumping lately, including Dexter Fowler until two days ago, but he at least seems to have broken out of the doldrums following Monday's two hit performance with a four for four night last night. He's back in the top ten in the Texas League in OPS, barely, but he's rising. I'm going to have a little more on him later today. Matt Miller had two hits, including his eighth double of the season in the loss.

Modesto (18-21, 8 GB): L 1-2

Keith Weiser was the hard luck loser for the Nuts, pitching a strong seven innings and allowing just a pair of runs to cross the plate, but the offensive woes that plagued the team early in the year have returned to the Nuts in San Jose, with just one run in eighteen innings thus far. Cole Garner has been a bit of an exception with two hits yesterday. He's batting .359 over his last ten games to bring his average to just below the .300 threshold for the season. Michael Paulk and Geoff Strickland both also knocked out a pair of hits, but there wasn't enough punch to overcome the Giants.

Asheville (27-12 1st Place): L 6-2

Craig Baker doesn't figure to stay on top of Jason McGill's Tourist Power Rankings in week nine after giving up four runs in the eighth inning last night. Baker and Matt Reynolds let another strong start by Connor Graham result in a no decision. Graham pitched six innings, giving up one unearned run on three singles and four walks. He struck out six. Darin Holcomb had three hits in three attempts and Jeff Cunningham had a pair of singles in the loss.

Colorad Springs, W 8-4 - Joe Koshansky drove in five runs last night, and only one came by the way of a home run. In the first inning, he drove in Juan Castro and Ian Stewart (both reached on walks) on a single. He doubled in Stewart and Sean Barker in the third, and then homered in the sixth. Barker went 2-for-3 with an RBI.

John Koronka went 5 2/3 innings and allowed four runs (two earned) on seven hits. Matt Daley allowed two hits in 2 1/3 IP. Steven Register had a clean ninth inning.

Tulsa, W 7-0, L 3-9 - The first game saw Dexter Fowler hit his fourth homer, a a three-run shot. Matt Miller added two RBI, and Corey Wimberly and Tony Blanco had one each. Blanco and Chris Nelson had the other extra-base hits for the Drillers, both doubles. Nelson stole his fourth base.

Ching-Lung Lo beat Arkansas in a seven-inning, two-hit, complete game shutout. He walked two and struck out two.

The second game wasn't as nice for Tulsa pitching. Five errors contributed to the score. Jon George and Luis Gonzalez combined to allow eight runs, but only three were earned. George had a throwing error, and Duke Sardinha, Jeff Dragicevich, Tony Blanco, and Luis Gonzalez committed fielding errors. Casey Weathers pitched a clean ninth.

Jeff Dragicevich had a two-run homer and Dexter Fowler followed his fourth homer in the first game with his fifth in the second game. Jeff Kindel had two hits.

Modesto, L 3-7 - Keith Weiser went only 4 2/3 innings, giving up five runs (three earned) on nine hits and a walk. He struck out five. According to his manager, the defense led to some of Weiser's troubles:

"Weiser was outstanding," Weinstein said. "In the first inning, we have to make some plays behind him, and in the second inning, we have to make a play. It could have been 3-0 in our favor into the fifth. He had to throw a lot of pitches because we didn't do a very good job defensively."

Daniel Mayora had an error in the third and fifth innings while Geoff Strickland had the other in the fifth inning. In his blog entry for the game, Brian VanderBeek writes that there were a few other plays on defense that should have been made (we also find out that Hector Gomez is progressing in Tucson). In the seventh inning, Will Harris allowed  four straight singles with two runs scoring on the fourth one. Andy Graham, James Burok, and Brandon Durden combined to allow two hits in 3 1/3 IP.

Cole Garner singled in Nick Haley in the first, which tied the game. Entering the bottom of the fourth, the Nuts were down by two, but a Victor Ferrante (who tripled to start the inning) scored when Matt Repec reached second base on a fielder's choice and an error. Anthony Jackson then scored Repec a little while later. The game was tied at three, but it wouldn't last for long.

Asheville, L 6-7 in 13 innings - Down four to nothing in the bottom of the sixth, Darin Holcomb hit his seventh homer to bring the score within one run. In the bottom of the ninth, Jeff Cunningham hit his sixth homer to send the game into extra innings. Fast forward to the bottom of the 12th, the Tourists are down two runs. Mike Mitchell doubled before Brian Rike came to bat. Rike hit his eighth homer, tying the game at six. Randall Taylor came in to start the 13th and promptly allowed a homer to the first batter he faced. There were no heroics in the bottom of that inning.

Mike Mitchell had four hits in the game, Helder Velazquez stole his second base of the season, and Kevin Clark stole second and third in the sixth (but did not score).

Bruce Billings went five innings, allowed four runs on nine hits, and struck out seven. Joey Williamson, Matt Reynolds, and Craig Baker held Charleston to one hit, two walks, and no runs over 4 2/3 IP.  Craig Rodriguez allowed two runs on three hits and three walks in 2 1/3 IP.

Colorado Springs, L 5-6 - Four of the Sky Sox's runs came in the third inning. And it all started with a John Koronka walk at the beginning of the inning. Jayson Nix had a double, which was followed by a Cory Sullivan driving in Koronka on a single. Seth Smith then drove in Nix on an single. Edwin Bellorin then doubled in Sully and Smith. Sully scored the other run in the first on a Sean Barker ground out. Smith went 4-for-5.

Koronka allowed four runs in six innings. Alberto Arias blew the save in the seventh after a Nick Stavinoha pop up double to Nix tied the game.

Tulsa, L 5-7 - Tony Blanco added two more RBI to his Tulsa total, having seven now in his short stint with the team. He went 3-for-4 with a double. Duke Sardinha hit his first homer, and Jeff Dragicevich drove in two runs.

Xavier Cedeno failed to complete five inning, leaving after 4 2/3 IP. He allowed four runs on eight hits and four walks. Jarrett Grube allowed the other three.

Modesto, L 3-9 - Mike Paulk went 2-for-2 with an RBI double, a sac fly, and a walk.  Anthony Jackson had a sac fly in the ninth to score Mike McKenry. He started the ninth inning with his sixth double.

Shane Lindsay also failed to complete five innings, allowing three runs on six hits and six walks. He struck out five. Brandon Durden allowed two runs in 1 2/3 IP, and Tommy Baumgardner allowed four runs in two inning.

Brian VanderBeek sat down with Will Harris recently.

Asheville, L 4-8 - Brian Rike led the offense with two hits (both doubles) and an RBI.  Everth Cabrera, Darin Holcomb, Jeff Cunningham, and Beau Seabury also had two hits. Seabury drove in two and Holcomb one. Cabrera stole his 16th base, was caught for the third time, and committed his eighth error.

Bruce Billings was knocked around eight runs (seven earned) in 3 1/3 IP. He allowed one run in the first, four in the third (three by way of one home run), and three in the fourth. The last run scored when Joey Williamson was on the mound. Williamson went 4 2/3 IP and struck out four (1.29 ERA on the season). Andy Groves pitched the last inning ans struck out two.

Colorado Springs, W 9-0 - Seth Smith and Omar Quintanilla had their first homers of the season in this rout of Nashville last night. Smith, who had four RBI, hit a three-run homer in the first, and Quintanilla, who had three RBI, had a two-run shot in the sixth. Cory Sullivan and Joe Koshansky drove in the other two runs.

John Koronka held Nashville to three hits over seven innings. Matt Daley allowed the only other hit before Steven Register struck out two batters in the ninth.

Tulsa, L 5-6 - The Drillers scored four runs in the first inning off a Dexter Fowler RBI double, a Daniel Carte RBI single, and a Jeff Dragicevich two-run home run. In the fourth, Daniel Carte doubled in Chris Nelson to tie the game at five. Unfortunately that was all the scoring for the Drillers last night. To open the fifth inning, Springfield's Luke Gossett hit a homer to left field to gain the lead.

Xavier Cedeno pitched for five innings, allowed six runs on nine hits and four walks, and struck out four. Jarrett Grube, Adam Bright, and Jon George combined to allow three baserunners over the next four innings, but did not give up any hits.

With Eric Young Jr. out with a broken bone in his wrist, Corey Wimberly now plays second. Find out the call up to Tulsa in the Modesto section.

Modesto, W 11-7 - Mike McKenry and Mike Paulk hit their second home runs of the season (three-run variety) and had four RBI each. Tony Blanco hit a mammoth home run to cap a short run with the Nuts. He will play for Tulsa as a result of EY Jr.'s injury. In the seventh, Cole Garner had an RBI double and Matt Repec singled in Garner. Garner also stole two bases last night.

Shane Lindsay threw four innings of four-run, six-hit ball. He walked three and struck out seven. Brandon Durden picked up the win after pitching the fifth and sixth innings. He allowed a run. Andy Graham surrendered two more runs and collected only one out before leaving the game. Will Harris struck out three in 1 2/3 IP. Tommy Baumgardner walked and struck out one in the ninth inning.

Asheville W 6-3 - Helder Velazquez's bat beat Augusta last night as he hit a grand slam in the seventh inning and had an RBI single earlier the game. Brian Rike drove in the other run and walked twice. Everth Cabrera had two hits and stole his 14th base. Mike Mitchell went 3-for-5 with a double, and Darin Holcomb's two hits went for doubles.

Bruce Billings went seven innings, allowed two runs on six hits and two walks, and struck out struck out seven. Randall Taylor picked up his sixth save.

Colorado Springs, L 4-9 - John Koronka yielded four runs on nine hits over five innings. An RBI double by Brian LaHair and a two-run single by Matt Tuiasosopo in the fifth inning scored the majority of runs Koronka allowed. Chris George allowed five runs in one-plus inning. Two doubles and a triple in the seventh led to three runs off George in the seventh, and three singles and a walk in the eighth brought in the other two runs. Matt Daley came in and recorded three consecutive outs to end the inning. Juan Morillo still had trouble finding the strike zone as he walked three in the ninth, but didn't give up a run.

Cory Sullivan had a two-run double in the fifth, Sean Barker's doubled on a pop up in the sixth to score the third run, and Ian Stewart then scored on a wild pitch during the next at bat. Seth Smith walked three times.

This game was delayed as a result of the Monforts arriving late for the ceremony to hand out National League Championship rings.

Tulsa, L 2-4 - Alan Johnson went five inning and allowed four runs on five hits. He walked four and struck out five (three in the first inning). He allowed only one baserunner over the first three innings (a walk), but Drew Macias' RBI triple in the fifth off Johnson proved to be the winning run as San Antonio took a 3-2 lead at that point. Adam Bright struck out two in his inning of relief work. Casey Weathers followed and struck out four over two innings. The other two outs came by way of the ground, and of his 29 pitches, 22 went for strikes. Ryan Mattheus struck out two in the ninth.

Justin Nelson led off the second inning with a homer (and also walked twice). Jeff Kindel had a 3-for-4 night, his double in the second put Daniel Carte (who reached base on a walk) on third. He would score on a Neil Wilson ground out. Dexter Fowler swiped second base twice, and EY Jr. struck out four times.

Modesto, W 9-5 - Huge night for Mike McKenry. He went 4-for-5 with two doubles, a two-run homer, six RBI, and two runs scored. Cole Garner hit his first homer of the season and had his first stolen base.

Aneury Rodriguez went five innings and allowed four runs on nine hits. Will Harris threw two innings in relief and struck out three.

Manager Jerry Weinstein was correct when he predicted a road trip would help the Modesto offense come alive.

Asheville, L 2-3 - The Tourists had only five hits last night, singles by Everth Cabrera, Helder Velazquez, Brian Rike, Beau Seabury, and Mike Mitchell. Rike stole his fourth base of the season.

Jhoulys Chacin wasn't nearly as effective as he was in his last two starts: 4 2/3 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 4 K, 1 HR. In the first inning, Chacin issued a bases-loaded walk with two outs. He also had a wild pitch and hit Ryan Anetsberger twice. Craig Rodriguez struck out three in 2 1/3 IP.

Colorado Springs: W 7-6

Ian Stewart's was the only slot in the Colorado Springs lineup to not get a hit last night, as even John Koronka made payback for Randy Johnson's two hits the night before with a single, double and two RBI. Humberto Cota had four hits and drove in three, and Omar Quintanilla a pair of doubles in the win.

Tulsa: L 15-5

If any ten run blow out could be considered not as bad as it looks on paper, this one probably qualifies. Brandon Hynick had a bad outing true and his fabled command was off, but the contact against him was weak for the most part, with a lot of bloop singles and soft liners falling in front of the outfield contributing the biggest chunk of the damage off of him last night. Offensively, Dexter Fowler was impressive, with three singles, a stolen base and a long out to left center that would likely have been a homerun in Whataburger Stadium the night before when the wind was blowing out instead of in. Chris Nelson also had a pair of hits, and Neil Wilson three, including a double. Eric Young Jr. broke up his zero for 2008 with a one for five performance. EY also stole a base for the 200th time in his professional career. Daniel Carte followed his two HR performance the night before with a three strikeout performance last night, as Corpus Christi pitchers fed him a steady diet of high heat (often too high) that he couldn't lay off of.

Modesto: L 9-1

The Stockton Ports rotation was dubbed the best in the minors by BA's Ben Badler in a chat yesterday, the performance Henry Rodriguez came up with last night against our beloved Nuts gives an indication why, as he pitched five innings, striking out eight while allowing just three hits and three walks. Our own Rodriguez, Aneury, couldn't match him -unless this was a poker game- lasting only three innings with a pair of sixes (hits and runs allowed) and a pair of jacks. Anthony Jackson continues to impress playing with the home team, walking three times, stealing two bases, and getting a single in five AB's. Mike McKenry and Jay Cox each had their first two hits of the season for Modesto. One of McKenry's was a double off Rodriguez.

Daniel Mayora played shortstop and Nick Haley second for the Nuts, as Hector Gomez was held out as a matter of precaution after x-rays on his shin came back negative according to Brian VanDerBeek at the ModBee's Nuts blog. Gomez is expected to miss a couple of games, but the good news is that it's nothing serious.

Asheville: Postponed

Rain across the Atlantic seaboard forced many games into postponement last night, the game will be made up tonight as part of a shortened double-header. Jason McGill predicts Darin Holcomb will go for the cycle.