Colorado Springs Sky Sox 5, Tacoma Rainiers 6
The Sky Sox offense was productive early in the game on Friday, and through 5 innings had jumped out to a 5-2 lead. However, pitching struggles as well as an offense that was ineffective in the last four innings, allowed Tacoma to win the game. Notable offensive performances were Josh Rutledge's 3-hit night, triples from Ben Paulsen and Corey Dickerson (his 11th of the year), and a two-run home run from Tyler Colvin in the 2nd to put the Sky Sox on the board.
Drew Pomeranz has struggled in his last three starts, allowing a total of 13 runs on 23 hits, and has not survived 6 innings since his May 10th gem. Last night, he pitched 5 innings of 2-run ball before he surrendered back-to-back home runs in the top of the 6th inning. He breezed through the second and fourth innings, facing the minimum and using up only 21 pitches.
Pomeranz faced some traffic in the first, third, and fifth innings, but aside from a double in the fifth it came in form of singles and walks. In the 6th inning, Drew gave up a homer to Mike Zunino, who had flied out and grounded out in his first two trips to the plate. Brad Miller, who had struck out swinging in his first two appearances, then pounced on the very next pitch Pomeranz threw for another home run.
Manny Corpas allowed another run to score in the seventh inning to tie the game. In the ninth inning, Logan Kensing surrendered another home run to Mike Zunino, allowing Tacoma to take the lead for the first time. Despite having a runner on first and third, the team was not able to come back in the bottom of the ninth. After a 5 game winning streak, the Sky Sox has lost 4 of their last 5 games.
Tulsa Drillers 4, Frisco RoughRiders 7
The Tulsa Drillers offense was stymied by the opposing pitcher Alexi Ogando, who made his Texas League debut last night. Rafael Ortega led off the game with a double, but ran into an out at home plate trying to score. Ogando allowed only two batters over the minimum in the first five innings, and only faced traffic in the 6th due to a fielding error which allowed Delta Cleary to get on base.
Kiel Roling capitalized on this error, hitting his 14th home run on the year for Tulsa's first two runs of the game. one-third of Roling's hits this year have been home runs, compared to only seven doubles. He has already hit more homers this year than he did in nearly twice the amount of games last year in Tulsa. Despite a .268 batting average, he owns a .356 OBP and .580 SLG.
Christian Bergman gave up 5 solo home runs, including back-to-back-to-back home runs with two outs in the fourth. In the bottom of the 8th, Steven Hensley gave up a double and another home run. The Tulsa Drillers pitching staff has allowed more home runs and hits than any other team in the Texas league this year.
Modesto Nuts 3, High Desert Mavericks 1
The only blemish on Daniel Winkler's outing last night was a two out, inside-the-park home run given up to RF Kevin Rivers in the fourth inning. Winkler pitched six innings and struck out 9 batters against what is a pretty strong offensive team. He allowed only the solo home run, two walks, and two HBPs on the way to his seventh win of the year. Nelson Gonzalez followed with two perfect innings, striking out three. Scott Oberg allowed one single in the night, but induced a double play groundball to end the game.
The Modesto offense was quiet, but effective enough in the light of the pitching performance. Will Swanner had a two hit night, including a solo home run in the third for the first run of the game. Ryan Casteel, who has been on a hot streak- including 8 hits in his previous three games- had a quiet night, going 0-for-3 and striking out each time he went up to the plate.
Asheville Tourists 3, Greenville Drive 2 (12 innings)
Matt Wessinger hit the go-ahead home run in the top of the 12th to win the game for Asheville last night. It was the perfect cap for an excellent night at the plate, where he went 3-for-6 and was a double shy of the cycle. He was responsible for one-third of the team's hits, runs, and RBIs. Rosell Herrera went 2-for-5 with a double, though he also struck out swinging three times. The remainder of the Tourists offense stayed quiet, with a combined four hits and five strikeouts, and the team went 8 innings without scoring a run.
Matt Flemer started for Asheville, allowing seven hits, no walks, one homer, and two runs in six great innings of work. Roberto Padilla, Brook Hart, Michael Mason, and Rayan Gonzalez followed, allowing only four more hits, two walks, and striking out 8 more as they cruised through the last half of the game. The Greenville team chose to utilize only two pitchers in last night's game; Francisco Taveras game into the game in the sixth, and was credited with the loss despite pitching 7 innings of 4 hit, one run ball.