Sky Sox pitching was actually fairly impressive, save for the fifth inning where Nashville scored all six of their runs. Starter Rob Scahill's outing was very bizarre. He went the first four innings without allowing a hit. He even produced a rare four-strikeout inning thanks to a passed ball. But in the doomed fifth inning the lack of hits built up into a volley of them, as Scahill allowed three straight hits to lead off the inning, which would culminate in a three run home run before the frame was finished. By the end of his six inning outing, Scahill had struck out eight and only walked one, allowing only five hits, which would be a perfectly good outing if all of those hits hadn't occurred at once. Scahill allowed six runs, five of them earned, leading to his fourth loss on the season.
Not much to report offensively. Matt McBride stayed hot, becoming the only Sky Sox player to get more than one hit. His double was also the only friendly extra base hit in the game. Hernan Iribarren, DJ LeMahieu and Chad Tracy were responsible for the others. Iribarren and Andrew Brown reached on walks.
Edwar Cabrera's line was also a bit strange. His control was better than his previous two outings, walking only one while striking out six, something much more along the lines of a typical Cabrera line. Like Scahill at AAA, Cabrera only allowed five hits, but the NW Arkansas Naturals sure made him pay; three of those hits were solo home runs, accounting for all three opposing runs. Cabrera lasted seven innings, but was stuck with his third 2012 loss. Reliever Will Harris struck out the side in the eighth.
Kent Matthes had one of his better games in a while, knocking two doubles for the only two extra base hits the Drillers would manage. Kiel Roling had two hits and also batted in Tim Torres for the only Drillers run.
Nuts and Tourists after the jump.
The Nuts put up a better fight than most of the other Rockies affiliates, but it was still all for naught. Corey Dickerson continues to be arguably the most success player in the Rockies system so far this year, going 2 for 3 with a home run (his seventh) and a walk while scoring two of the three Modesto runs. Helder Velazquez also homered, his second of the year. Both were solo shots.
Josh Slaats was returned to Modesto after not missing any time in his brief reassignment to Extended Spring Training. Though he only allowed two earned runs in his three innings on the mound, he walked seven batters. He allowed three hits and struck out five. Reliever Craig Bennigson threw two and a third innings and allowed the winning run to the San Jose Giants. The loss is his first decision on the 2012 season.
Ben Alsup had his worst starting performance since his 2012 debut, allowing eleven hits over five innings. Seven of the Greenville runs were attributed to him. He only struck out one opposing batter, and walked three. This was his first loss of the year.
Will Swanner and Rosell Herrera each doubled, but nobody on the team had two hits. Delta Cleary Jr. had a busy day: he walked twice and batted in a run, and was also picked off and caught stealing. Trevor Story and Taylor Featherston also reached had a walk in addition to a single. Harold Riggins struck out three times.