Saturday Pebble Report: Tulsa shows off power in 7-6 loss

Colorado Springs 5, Sacramento 4

The Sky Sox split a double-header with the Sacramento River Cats, making up for Thursday night's rained out game.  In the first game, Armando Galarraga pitched five innings, allowing three runs on five hits and two walks.  He left with the Sky Sox trailing 3-2.  The Sky Sox offense came through late in the game, scoring three runs in the last two innings to come away with the win.  Kent Matthes scored the go-ahead run with a 2-run homer in the sixth.  It was his third home run in two games, and his ninth since being promoted to AAA.  Hernan Iribarren, Tim Wheeler, and Xavier Nady all enjoyed multi-hit nights.

Sacramento 4, Colorado Springs 1

Sacramento took the second game of the double-header, as the offense seemed to fall asleep.  Tim Wheeler scored the only run of the game for the Sky Sox, and it was largely due to defensive and pitching miscues by the Sacramento team.  Only Nady, Ben Paulsen, and Jaron Shepherd collected hits, all singles.  Cory Riordan pitched a solid game, allowing one run in 5.1 innings.  The game was intended to go only seven innings because of the double header, but a tied score pushed the game into the eighth.  Sacramento scored three unanswered runs off of Hisanori Takahashi and Steven Hensley to come away with the win.

Arkansas 7, Tulsa 6

Despite a strong offensive showing, a poor outing by Tim Gustafson led to a 7-6 loss to the Arkansas Travelers.  Angelys Nina's seventh hit in four games came in the form of a two-run home run in the bottom of the first.  It was his tenth of the year.  Tom Murphy had two hits, both doubles, while Tyler Kuhn, Kyle Parker, and Delta Cleary also collected a double.  Only two of the team's eight hits were singles.  Gustafson allowed 6 runs (only five earned) off of four hits and two walks.  He gave up three home runs.  Leuris Gomez allowed one unearned run, and his ERA with Tulsa sits at 0.99 over 36.1 innings of work.

Modesto 5, Lake Elsinore 3

Instead of a quick 1-2-3 opening inning, a passed ball by Will Swanner opened the door for a three run first for Lake Elsinore.  After the passed ball, Ben Alsup allowed a double and back-to-back singles for three runs to score.  This would be all that the Lake Elsinore Storm could muster against Modesto's pitching staff, however.  Alsup pitched six innings, allowing only two hits and a walk after the first inning, and striking out seven.  Ryan Arrowood and Scott Oberg didn't allow a hit, and eached walked a batter and struck out a batter.  The offense was able to convert 8 hits and five walks into five runs to come away with the win.

Asheville 8, Charleston 1

Asheville hit Charleston for a five run fourth inning, which blew open a fairly close game.   Derek Jones led the offensive onslaught with two home runs, and Ben Waldrip also homered.  The rally in the fourth inning was launched by Dillon Thomas' triple, and capped by Derek Jones' second home run of the game and his 18th of the year.  Outside of one run in the first, Charleston's offense was not able to get past Asheville's pitching staff despite accruing 8 hits.  Andrew Brown improved to 7-0 with his start, and Shane Broyles, Trent Blank, and Jacob Newberry all solid nights on the mound.

Spokane 6, Tri-City 5 (10 innings)

The Tri-City Dust Devils had a strong showing, but fell victim to a walk-off single in the 10th inning.  The offense collected 12 hits, including five doubles.  First Baseman Sean Dwyer was 4-for-5 with a double.  With the score tied at four through the first seven innings, Patrick Valaika hit his 11th double of the year to sore Sean Dwyer and put the Dust Devils ahead.  However, Spokane came back in the ninth with a run that pushed the game into extra innings.  Marc Magliaro allowed a double in the tenth and the walk-off single.

Missoula 5, Grand Junction 3

Grand Junction continued an August skid in which they are now just 5-16 in their last 21 games.  Three players had fielding blunders, including Emerson Jimenez' 21st error of the year.  Daniel Palo surrendered three runs in the fifth inning to put the GJ Rockies behind 2-5.  Ryan McMahon, Jordan Patterson, and Wesley Jones each had two hit nights.

DSL Rockies 7, DSL Pirates 2

The team collected 13 hits on Friday night on their way to a 7-2 victory over Pittsburgh's Dominican League affiliates.  Six players had two hit nights.  Of these, Antony Brito collected a triple and Denzel Richardson collected his 5th home run of the year.  Carlos Polanco had an impressive night on the mound, allowing two runs (one earned) off only one hit and one walk over seven innings of work.