Saturday Pebble Report: Kyle Parker's offensive charge snaps losing streak

Colorado Springs Sky Sox 5, Salt Lake Bees 7

Despite amassing 15 hits, including four doubles and a home run, the Sky Sox fell to the Salt Lake Bees. After jumping ahead 4-1 through the first four innings, it looked like the Sky Sox were cruising toward a win, but ended up on the other end after allowing three runs in the eighth and ninth innings.

The Sky Sox offense took advantage of Salt Lake's pitching struggles, with no Bees pitcher completing three full innings last night. Corey Dickerson was 2-for-5 with a solo home run, Six other hitters also compiled two hits apiece, and Reid Brignac, Ryan Wheeler, Xavier Nady, and Tim Wheeler each doubled. However, the team left 11 batters stranded so the 15 hits transferred into only 5 runs.

Collin McHugh made his second start with the Sky Sox. He was able to rebound from a start where he was roughed up a little, giving up 4 runs in 5 innings. Last night, he allowed 1 run off of three hits and two walks. He did struggle with efficiency, using 106 pitches to get through 6 innings.

Relief pitchers Hisanori Takahashi and Coty Woods gave up 3 runs apiece. Takahashi exited the game in the 8th after allowing a walk and back-to-back doubles. Woods, who has struggled with consistency at the AAA level, did not fare any better. After allowing the inherited runner to score in the eighth, he pitched a wild and ineffective ninth. With the score tied through 8 innings, he allowed 3 more runs to score, which the offense was not able to counter in the bottom of the inning.

Tulsa Drillers 12, Arkansas Travelers 5

The Tulsa Drillers snapped an 8 game losing skid in an impressive fashion last night, out scoring the Arkansas Travelers 12-5. The team left only 5 runners on base and was 8-for-15 with runners in scoring position.

Kyle Parker was one of four hitters with a three hit night, along with Cristhian Adames, Tyler Kuhn, and Angelys Nina. Parker was a double shy of hitting for the cycle, and his 4 runs batted in led the offensive charge in last nights victory for Tulsa. He hit his 15th home run of the year, and is on pace to match or exceed his home run totals from his Asheville and Modesto seasons.

Though Parker has made three starts at first base since last Friday, he was back in the outfield in last night's game. It will be interesting to see if Parker can make the conversion to first base. It will also be interesting to see how the organization continues to handle this. With an offensive performance like last night, I am hoping we are looking at our first baseman of the future.

Christian Bergman pitched his sixth consecutive quality start and was credited with the win. He allowed 3 runs, including a solo home run, on seven hits and a walk, and he struck out 5 batters in his six innings of work. Dan Houston struggled, allowing 2 runs to score on a bases clearing triple, and left the game after only getting one batter out. Relievers Isaiah Froneberger and Joe Gardner fared much better, and between them pitched 2 2/3 hitless innings.

Modesto Nuts 1, Stockton Ports 3

Modesto's offense was shut down by Stockton's pitching staff. Stockton's starter Tanner Peters allowed one run on five hits and a walk. Harold Riggins and Trevor Story hit the only extra base hits for the team, both doubles. Story later scored the only run for Modesto following Ryan Casteel's line drive single in the sixth inning. Wild pitching in the seventh inning allowed Modesto to load the bases, but Trevor Story struck out to end the inning, and the next six Modesto batters were retired in order.

Tyler Gagnon started for Modesto, and while he had a good outing, his record fell victim to the Modesto offense's silent bats and defensive miscues. Of the 3 runs scored, only one was earned. Gagnon allowed five hits and two walks, and struck out 8 batters. He struggled with control and with keeping the ball down, though he was able to induce two batters to ground into a double play.

Asheville Tourists 3, West Virginia Power 0

The best performance in last night's victory over the West Virginia Power came from an unexpected source. Starting pitcher Matt Carasiti delivered by far his best start of the year, allowing only four hits and three walks in 6 2/3 scoreless innings, using only 96 pitches. In his previous outings he had not once pitched a scoreless game, completed 6 innings of work, nor has he allow fewer hits than he did in last night's game.

The offense had a quiet night at the plate, but it was enough in light of Carasiti's fine performance. Rosell Herrera hit his 26th double of the year. Max White also doubled, and Dillon Thomas collected two singles. Asheville accrued nine strikeouts.

Tri-City Dust Devils 6, Hillsboro Hops 4

A wild five run fifth inning provided all that the Dust Devils needed to win against Hillsboro on Friday night. The team batted around the order, and the inning included a home run, four stolen bases, an RBI sacrifice fly, and two runs scored off of a fielding error.

Sean Dwyer, drafted in the 11th round of this year's draft, hit his first home run. Kyle Von Tungeln collected nearly half of the team's seven hits, including a double. 13th round pick Michael Benjamin also collected a single and a double.

The Dust Devils pitching was unremarkable but effective. Johendi Jiminian pitched 4 2/3 innings, allowing one run run on six hits. Shawn Stuart earned his second win of the year, pitching 2 1/3 innings and allowing one run on only two hits.

Grand Junction Rockies 3, Billings Mustangs 2 (11 innings)

Grand Junction did not score until the eighth inning, but were able to come away with a walk off win in 11 innings. The team was behind 0-2 through the first seven innings. Then, with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Robbie Perkins came through with his second home run of the year to score Jairo Rosario.

The game went into extra innings after a scoreless ninth inning. Jairo Rosario hit a single in the bottom of the 11th- his third hit of the night. With Miguel Dilone batting, a failed pickoff attempt allowed Rosario to score to advance to third. Dilone then hit a ground ball to center field and Grand Junction was able to walk off with the win.

Zach Jemiola, who has had an up-and-down season with Grand Junction, was sharp last night. He allowed one run and struck out seven.

Grand Junction Rockies 3, Billings Mustangs 1

In the second game of Friday's doubleheader, the Grand Junction Rockies again came away with the win. Four of the seven hits were doubles, and seven unique batters came away with a hit. 19-year-old Raimel Tapia, who comes to Grand Junction from the Domincan Republic, hit his seventh double last night, and now leads the team in that category.

Joel Payamps pitch 6 innings, allowing one run on five hits and two walks. Daniel Palo allowed an isolated double in the eighth inning, and Dylan Stamey pitched a perfect ninth, striking out two batters.

DSL Rockies 4, DSL Yankees 3

Hamlet Marte, Omar Carrizales, and Luis Jean collected two hits apiece in last nights victory over the Yankees' second DSL squad. Carrizales led off the game with a double. This was followed by three consecutive singles, and the team quickly jumped out to a 2-0 lead. They added a run in the third and were able to hold onto the lead through four innings. Starting pitcher allowed three runs in five innings, and left the game with the score tied 3-3. Marte provided the game winning run with a solo shot in the seventh. It was his second home run of the year.