Monday Pebble Report: Blackmon Shines as Sky Sox Sweep Doubleheader

AAA Colorado Springs: W 9-6, W 3-2 (53-48, 2nd, 6.5 GB)
Despite allowing six runs in his six innings of work in Game 1, Guillermo Moscoso took advantage of some nice run support to earn the victory, pushing his record to 6-5. He surrendered a ton of baserunners (on nine hits and three walks), but he balanced things out a bit by striking out eight Rainiers. Will Harris slammed the door in the seventh, pitching around a single while striking out a batter. On the offensive side of things, four Sky Sox batters had two hits apiece, including Charlie Blackmon, whose average rose to over .300. Matt McBride and Chad Tracy were part of the multi-hit club, and both players homered in the contest as well.

Game 2 saw the Sky Sox walk off in the bottom of the eighth, as Brendan Harris singled in Charlie Blackmon, who had another two-hit ballgame. Harris led the club with three hits, while Tommy Field also had two. Cory Riordan worked five strong innings, allowing just two runs (both in the first inning) on five hits while striking out four and not walking anybody. Zach Putnam and Jason Bergmann kept Tacoma off the board, allowing the Sky Sox to pick up the extra-innings victory.

AA Tulsa: L 4-1 (52-47, 2nd, 3.5 GB)
The Drillers continue to struggle mightily with the bats, although their top two players in terms of prospect value weren't part of the problem yesterday. Nolan Arenado and Corey Dickerson each had two hits, with Dickerson accounting for Tulsa's only run on a first-inning homer, his seventh since joining the Drillers. Lars Davis had the only other hit for Tulsa, and also reached on a walk.

Josh Outman was saddled with the loss after allowing four runs on eight hits in 5.2 innings and 99 pitches. He struck out six and walked only two, so at least that's fairly encouraging. Zach Simons and Josh Sullivan combined for 2.1 innings of scoreless ball, which is something that they do more often than not.

Click through the jump to read the A-ball and Rookie recaps.

A+ Modesto: W 7-6 in 12 innings (53-48, 2nd, 2 GB)
Up 6-2 in the eighth, the wheels fell off for the Nuts and Chad Rose, who allowed Lake Elsinore to Storm (CWIDT?) back and tied the game on a grand slam off the bat of Connor Powers. That washed away what would have been a W for Leuris Gomez, who tiptoed around four hits and five walks in five innings to allow just two runs. However, Isaiah Froneberger would come through with three scoreless innings in which he struck out three batters, allowing his club to recover and win the game.

Despite how I began this recap, the offense was obviously the bright spot for Modesto in this game. Kyle Parker hit a two-run homer in the first inning as part of his three-hit day, while Juan Crousset contributed three knocks of his own. Rafael Ortega and Cristhian Adames went hitless at the top of the lineup, but both guys walked twice and scored a run.

A Asheville: L 3-2 (63-37, 1st)
Tyler Anderson had another good-but-not-great outing, allowing just two runs in five innings. He gave up five hits and three walks, but did strike out four batters and induced eight groundball outs compared to just one flyout. He also allowed a home run to Matt Smith, who is a bit old for the league. Rafael Suarez was pinned with the L after allowing the go-ahead run to score in the sixth inning.

Taylor Featherston had three hits, while Tyler Massey had two. Jordan Ribera drove in both runs on a fourth-inning double that plated Featherston and Samuel Mende.

A- (SS) Tri-City: W 6-2 (18-19, 2nd, 3 GB)
The Dust Devils were outhit 11-6, but obviously did a better job of plating runners, as Kyle Van Tungeln and Rosell Herrera each drove in two to lead Tri-City to victory. Both of Herrera's RBIs came via groundouts, while Van Tungeln brought in runners via doubles.

Tyler Gagnon worked around nine hits and a walk in allowing just two runs in five innings. Andrew Brown, Adam Paulencu, and Matt Flemer combined for four scoreless innings of relief.

RK Grand Junction: L 17-7 (17-16, 2nd, 1 GB)
It seems like every time I write a recap for the GJ Rockies, they're on the wrong end of a lopsided affair. This time is no different, as Johendi Jiminian was blasted for seven runs on six hits and five walks in three innings. Zachary Jemiola and Michael Mason fared no better, each allowing four earned runs in two innings of work.

On the bright side, David Dahl hit his third homer of the season while throwing out two more hits, raising his average to .342. Juan Ciriaco and Matt Wessinger had two hits apiece as well, while Ryan Garvey hit his fourth homer of the year. Everyone in the Rockies' lineup sans Max White had at least one hit. White did walk once, but also struck out as part of his 0-for-3 day. He's hitting just .136.

DSL Rockies: Off