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Colorado's minor league affiliates were all losers last night.
Sacramento 6, Colorado Springs 1
The Sky Sox (14-14, 1 GB) lost their 3rd straight game last night. To be fair, they've played 8 games at home and 20 on the road, so I foresee success in their future. Colorado Springs was outscored by 5 despite getting the same amount of hits (9) as their opponents.
Matt McBride went 2-4 with a double and scored the lone run, while Brandon Hynick (remember him?) got the loss in his return to the Sky Sox. He allowed 4 runs on 6 hits in 4.1 IP, with 5 strikeouts. Meanwhile, ex-PuRP Bruce Billings (traded to Oakland for Mark Ellis last year) got the win against his former club with 7 shutout innings.
Both PuRP 26 Ben Paulsen and PuRP 9 Josh Rutledge hit homers in this game (4 for Paulsen, 5 for Rutledge), but that wasn't enough to get Tulsa (19-8, 6 game lead) the victory. PuRP 13 Edwar Cabrera failed to deliver a quality start for the first time this year, lasting only 4.2 innings and allowing 6 runs on 9 hits, striking out 2 and walking 2.
Visalia 5, Modesto 2The Nuts (13-15, 4 GB) only generated 6 hits and 2 runs on the night with nobody having a multi-hit game. That wasn't enough as PuRP 5 Tyler Matzek was his wild self. Matzek lasted only 3 innings, allowing 2 runs without allowing a hit. How is this possible? Maybe because he walked 8 in 3 innings!
In the 3rd inning Matzek walked 4 in a row to let in a run, then threw a wild pitch to allow another to score. Once again, he was unhittable (he got 4 strikeouts), but Matzek needs to find the plate with any consistency to be considered for a promotion. So far he's struck out 36 in 27.2 IP (11.7 K/9), which is good, but he's also walked 24 in those innings (7.8 BB/9).
Harold Riggins and Jordan Ribera each had 2 hits for the Tourists (17-10, 2 GB), but Asheville was outhit 13-7. Strangely, the Tourists are 10-3 on the road but only 7-7 at home. Riggins (who is batting .318/.417/.588 this year) hit a homer (5) and had 3 RBI. Alex Gillingham took the loss, allowing 10 hits and 6 runs in 5 innings.