Saturday Pebble Report: Eddie Butler delivers another great performance

Colorado Springs: 9-8 L (61-63)

The Sky Sox blew both a three run lead in the eighth and a two run lead in the 14th en route to losing Friday night. Starting pitcher Armando Galarraga pitched five innings allowing three runs before giving way to Steven Hensley. Hensley pitched two scoreless innings before giving the ball to Mitchell Boggs, who continued to struggle. Boggs gave up three runs on four hits and a walk and recorded just one out.

Logan Kensing came on with bases juiced and gave up a sac fly before working out of the jam and pitching a spotless ninth inning. Then it was Hisanori Takahashi's turn, Takahashi pitched three scoreless innings with four strike outs before giving way to eventual loser Mike McClendon

After the Sky Sox regained the lead in the top of the 13th, McClendon alllowed two runs, both of which scored on an error by SS Reid Brignac. The Sky Sox then lost on a sacrifice fly in the 14th.

There were six Sky Sox hitters that enjoyed multi-hit games. Jordan Pacheco hit his first home run with the Sox - a sixth inning solo shot-  and Ryan Wheeler had another big game going 4-for-7 with three RBIs.

Tulsa: 6-5 L (61-61)

Tulsa lost 6-5 in 13 innings after blowing a four run ninth inning lead. Eddie Butler continued his impressive work by throwing five innings of one run baseball. Butler allowed just one hit and one walk while striking out three, he saw his ERA "jump" to 0.60. It took Butler just 55 pitches to navigate five innings, 36 of which were strikes. Butler would have been a winner, but Cole White allowed four runs to score in the bottom of the ninth, two of which were unearned thanks to a Kyle Parker error. Kenny Roberts ended up taking the loss in the 13th.

Dustin Garneau drove in a pair and  Jayson Langfels added an RBI, and the other two Tulsa runs were unearned. Tulsa managed just six hits in 13 innings without recording an extra base hit and yet still had Frisco on the ropes until the ninth. Tom Murphy was 0-for-6 as he saw his average drop to .226 since joining Tulsa.

Modesto: 6-3 W (63-61)

Modesto won again on Friday thanks to a strong pitching performance from Tyler Gagnon. Gagnon won his 11th game of the year with seven innings of work, he gave up three runs (one earned) on five hits and two walks while striking out five. Patrick Johnson and Bruce Kern pitched scoreless innings to preserve the victory.

Trevor Story hit his 11th home run of the year in the first inning - a three run shot - and Brian Humphries and Will Swanner eached chipped in with RBIs. Taylor Featherston was 2-for-4 with two doubles.

Asheville: 5-3 L (58-63)

Jayson Aquino fell to 0-6 after giving up four runs in five innings of work on Friday. Aquino allowed eight hits and three walks while striking out five, but he ran into trouble in the sixth when he gave up two runs without recording an out, Andrew Brown replaced him allowing one inherited runner to score before ending the sixth. Brown pitched the rest of the way allowing one earned run in three total innings of work.

Francisco Sosa recorded his 81st RBI and Juan Ciriaco his 22nd, but Asheville failed to do much offensively. Also of note, Ciriaco stole his 47th base of the year.

Tri-City: 6-2 L (26-34)

Ryan Warner delivered a quality start but took the loss after surrendering three runs in six innings. Four relievers combined to finish the game for Tri-City.

On offense, the Dust Devils were held to just four hits. Wilfredo Rodriguez and Alec Mehrten both had hits and RBIs, but the offense did little on a night that the pitching couldn't hold it's own either.

Grand Junction: 7-6 L (25-29)

Starter Alex Balog gave up six runs on eight hits and one walk in 4.1 innings of work as he saw his ERA rise to 13.50. But, Devin Burke actually took the loss after allowing just one run in 3.2 innings of work as Grand Junction's three run seventh wasn't enough to complete the comeback.

Cesar Galvez notched three hits, including his first double of the year from the lead off spot and Raimel Tapia and Jordan Patterson each recorded two hits in a losing effort.