Sunday Pebble Report: Eddie Butler is too good for Double-A

Triple-A Colorado Springs

Game 1 - W 6-2

It was Vinny Castilla bobblehead night as Chris Volstad pitched a shortened complete game against the Brewers affiliate in the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday. Volstad improved his record to 6-4 with just two runs allowed on seven hits, two walks and two strikeouts. all of the damage against Volstad ocurred in the third inning, when Nashville scored two runs on a walk and three hits.

The Sky Sox kicked off the scoring in the second inning with a Ryan Wheeler double followed by a triple from Jordan Pacheco. Jordan scored on a single by Ben Paulsen, who moved to third on a double by Kent Matthes. A failed bunt by Volstad limited the damage as Nashville turned it into an inning ending double play. Paulsen finished with a perfect 3-for-3 performance including two RBI.

Game 2 - W 4-2 (58-60)

The Sky Sox produced all of their offense in the first inning of the second game with most of the scoring coming off a Kent Matthes double that scored Ryan Wheeler. Matthes had a pair of strikeouts in the game, but also plated a run and scored a run off the double. Left fielder Xavier Nady had a two-hit day, raising his season average to .295. First baseman Jordan Pacheco went 2-for-3 and is batting .313.

Starter Cory Riordan pitched four shutout innings before giving way to Rob Scahill (#30 PuRP) who earned the win. Scahill allowed just two hits in 1.2 shutout innings and lowered his ERA to 5.26 on the year.

Double-A Tulsa - L 2-3 in 11 innings (59-58)

Right hander Eddie Butler (#3 PuRP) made his ONEOK debut and recorded his fifth consecutive shutout. Going back a month to July 11th, Butler has thrown 26 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run to cross the plate. The Virginia native carries a 0.00 ERA in two Double-A starts after allowing just three hits in five innings, walking none and striking out six.

Butler worked around a rough first inning after allowing two leadoff base runners on a single and double. He then escaped the inning by striking out Joe Benson and inducing Brett Nicholas to slap a grounder to first baseman Kiel Roling who threw out Luis Sardinas at home. Outfielder Tyler Kuhn paced the Drillers with two hits, two runs scored and a walk. Both of the Drillers runs were knocked in by Kiel Roling, who went 1-for-4 with a walk. Catcher Tom Murphy (#11 PuRP) had just one hit, lowering his Double-A average to .400 on the season.

High-A Modesto - L 5-6 (58-61)

Reliever Scott Oberg lost control of the tied game in the bottom of the eighth as he walked a pair of batters and then gave up a jammed single to shortstop Addison Russell. The Nuts had rallied to tie the game in the top of the ninth with two outs as Jared Simon and Trevor Story (#4 PuRP) both supplied RBI base hits.

Second baseman Taylor Featherston (#25 PuRP) was a catalyst for the Nuts, reaching base twice on singles and scoring both times as Simon collected three RBI on the night. Designated Hitter Ryan Casteel #24 PuRP) scored twice after going 1-for-4 and reaching on an error in the eighth. Starter Tyler Gagnon went 5.2 innings allowing four earned runs on 11 hits, no walks and three strikeouts. Gagnon's ERA sits at 5.45 for the season after Saturday's performance against the A's affiliate.

Low-A Asheville - L 3-7 (56-60)

Starter Jayson Aquino (#12 PuRP) endured his worst start as a Tourist and saw his record fall to 0-5 on the season. Walks did in the lefty as he pitched five innings, allowing five earned runs on five hits, four walks and five strikeouts. The Dominican's ERA sits at 4.07 for the season.

Second baseman Juan Ciriaco was a spark plug for the Tourists as he reached base on two hits and stole his 46th bag of the season. Ciriaco scored a run and collected an RBI on the day. Shortstop Rosell Herrera (#8 PuRP) pushed his season average to .352 with two hits and a RBI in the game. Herrera leads the South Atlantic League in batting average and is two years younger than the players ranked 2-through-7.

Short-Season Tri-City - L 3-6 (25-29)

Starter Johendi Jiminian put in another fine performance, limiting hits and holding the opposition to just two earned runs in five innings pitched. Johendi's final line was two earned runs on three hits, three walks and four strikeouts. The outing lowered the right handers ERA to 2.93 on the season.

First baseman and Northwest League's Home Run Derby champ Sean Dwyer, had two walks and a hit to raise his average to .276 on the season. Left fielder Michael Tauchman had a walk and two hits to raise his average to .304 on the year. Tauchman was caught going to second in the third when he doubled with two men on, the throw went home in time to keep the lead runner from scoring and the catcher then threw out the outfielder after he had rounded first base.

Rookie Grand Junction - L 3-12 (24-25)

The Rockies ran into a buzzsaw known as Patrick Conroy who had a perfect game going until the seventh. That's when Dom Nunez (#21 PuRP) reached on a single to right field and later scored on a Correlle Prime single. The Rockies scored all three of their runs in the seventh with a walk from Emerson Jimenez and three singles from Nunez, Prime and Ryan McMahon.

Second round pick Alex Balog (#15 PuRP) suffered through a tough start that saw him last just two innings and give up six earned runs. Balog's ERA sits at 14.40 after allowing two walks and one strikeout. Helmis Rodriguez came on in relief and didn't fare much better giving up nine hits and five earned runs in 4.1 innings. The right handed Angel Lezama stopped the bleeding with 2.2 shutout innings by striking out four batters.

DSL Rockies

Game 1 - L 0-1

Starter Javier Polacios demonstrated why he is ranked sixth in ERA for the DSL with a complete game five hitter, allowing just one earned run and striking out seven. The outing lowered the Venezuelan's ERA to just 1.97 on the season.

Catcher Joel Diaz led the Rockies in hitting with a 2-for-3 day that raised his averge to .298 on the season. Only three other Rockies players were able to produce hits in the game as the Marlins pitchers shut down the Rockies offense.

Game 2 - W 6-2 (27-31)

A huge fifth inning helped the Rockies break a 2-2 tie and finish with the win. The inning started with back-to-back doubles by Jose Rodriguez and Omar Carrizales. Carrizales later stole his 27th bag of the season and came around to score on a Yonathan Daza groundout. A walk by Luis Castro and a single by catcher Wilkyns Jimenez led to the other two runs in the inning. Denzel Richardson stole his seventh bag of the season, but ended the inning by getting caught trying to steal third. Carrizales was 2-for-5 in the game with a RBI and run scored, raising his season average to .286. Third baseman Luis Castro had a hit and RBI in the game and is hitting .288 on the year.