August 2012
Sky Sox 8/30 Notebook
TULO LOVES THE SPRINGS: Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki homered for the second time in as many games with the Sky Sox this season with his game-tying solo shot in yesterday’s loss, and in his five at-bats in Colorado Springs this year he has reached base in four (good for an OPS of 2.800 this season for the Sox). Since his first appearance with the Sky Sox in 2008, Tulowitzki has scored a run in five of the six games he has played in Colorado Springs and has a batting average of .500 (8-for-16) with 4 RBI.
SOX STRIKEOUT HISTORY: With Rob Scahill striking out eight River Cats in last night’s loss, the 2012 Sky Sox have now set a new franchise record for team strikeouts in a season with 1,049 on the year. Scahill continues to add to his own personal single season record for the Sky Sox, and became the first player in team history to top 150 strikeouts in a season with his 151 punch-outs this year. The Sky Sox rank fourth in the PCL with their strikeout total, while Sacramento became the first team in the PCL to reach 1,100 strikeouts with their five last night.
CULBERSON CONTINUES HOT STREAK: Sky Sox second baseman Charlie Culberson had two hits in last night’s loss, extending his team-high hitting streak to 11 games (tied with DJ LeMahieu for the fourth longest hitting streak by a Sky Sox player this season). In his 25 games with the Sky Sox this season, Culberson has reached base in 22 games, and his 31 hits in the month of August for the Sox rank second on the team behind Tim Wheeler’s 33 hits. Culberson has 32 hits since joining the Sox, after only having 14 hits in his final 24 games with the Fresno Grizzlies.
RARE LOSS FOR THE SOX: Last night’s ninth inning rally by the River Cats handed the Sky Sox only their second loss of the season when leading after the eighth inning, and only their second home loss this season when leading after the seventh inning. The Sky Sox came in to the game last night with a record of 54-9 when holding their opponent to four runs or less, and it was the first loss for the Sox this year against Sacramento when holding the R-Cats to less than five runs.
Sky Sox 8/22 Notebook
BRENDAN ON BASE: Sky Sox infielder Brendan Harris currently ranks fifth in the league in on-base percentage at .410, but in the month of August Harris leads the the Pacific Coast League with a .520 on-base percentage (he and Albuquerque’s Tim Federowicz are the only players above .500). Harris owns the third best batting average in the league during the month of August at .397 (23-for-58, trailing Albuquerque’s Jerry Sands at .435 and Omaha’s Anthony Seratelli at .400), is tied for the fourth most walks at 14 and is tied for the team lead in hits with Tim Wheeler at 23. Harris had an on-base percentage of .429 during July, second on the team to Charlie Blackmon’s league-leading .476 percentage during that month.
DOUBLING UP: Since the start of the second half of the 2012 season, the Sky Sox have five players with double-digit doubles (Brendan Harris-16, Tim Wheeler-14, Charlie Blackmon-13, Chad Tracy-11, Tommy Field-10), the most of any team in the league (Andy Parrino is the only player with at least 10 doubles on the T-Pads). The Sky Sox have the most doubles of any team in the league this year at 317, and the most this month at 58.
SOX FINISH UP DIVISION PLAY: Last night’s loss ended the Sky Sox Pacific Northern Division schedule for the 2012 season with the Sky Sox finishing with a record of 27-21, 17-7 at Security Service Field and 10-14 on the road. The 27-21 mark improves upon the mark of 23-25 the Sox had last season in the first year of the division’s current makeup (Reno being the new addition to replace Portland), and the Sky Sox improved their record against Reno (7-9 this season, 5-11 last season) and Tacoma (8-8 last season, 12-4 this season) while not winning the season series with Salt Lake for the first time since the 2009 season. The Sox batted a combined .313 against the three division rivals and scored an average of 6.9 runs per game in the 48 total contests, their best averages against any division in the PCL.
HOMERS AT A PREMIUM: The matchup between the Sky Sox and the Tucson Padres will feature the two teams that have allowed the fewest homers in the league this season at 100 and 97 respectively. But the matchup also features the two teams that have hit the fewest homers this season, with Tucson hitting 103 and the Sox being the only team in the PCL to not reach 100 homers this season at 97.
NO SHOOTOUT WINS: Last night’s loss drops the Sox to 0-17 this season when allowing ten or more runs in a game. The Sox won six games last season when allowing double-digit runs.
Sky Sox 8/15 Notebook
STARTING OFF RIGHT AT HOME: With last night’s win the Sky Sox collected their 11th straight home series opener win, setting a new franchise record for consecutive home series opener wins. The previous record was set in the 1994 season at ten games (the Sox also won their home opener in the playoffs that season) and had a streak of ten wins during the 1996 and 1997 seasons combined. The streak began on June 2 against Tucson, with their last series opening loss at Security Service Field coming against the Oklahoma City RedHawks. During the 11-game streak, the Sky Sox have outscored their opponent 115-43, and have scored double digit runs in five of their last six home series openers.
SOX SIMILAR SLAM HISTORY: With his grand slam yesterday, Brandon Wood became the 14th player in Sky Sox history to hit multiple grand slams in one season as he has hit two grand slams in last six home games and the 17th player with multiple slams in their Sky Sox career. The Sky Sox have now hit 101 grand slams in their 25-year history (including one playoff grand slam), and have also allowed exactly 101 grand slams. More strange is that the Sky Sox have hit 57 grand slams at Security Service Field all time and allowed 44 on the road, and have also allowed 57 grand slams at home and 44 on the road.
NEW STU RECORD: The Sky Sox notched their 65th win last night on the season, and with the win Sky Sox manager Stu Cole has now won the most games in one season as a Triple-A manager in his three seasons solely at the helm of the Sky Sox. Cole took over for former Sox manager and current Rockies coach Tom Runnels during the 2009 season with the Sox winning 73 games during that year (44-50). Cole moved in to second place all time in manager wins earlier this season (passing Runnels) and his 237 wins trails only Brad Mills’ 276 total wins for most all time in Sky Sox history.
Sky Sox 8/15 Lineup vs Albuquerque (1st in American Southern Division):
1 – Tim Wheeler – LF
2 – Charlie Blackmon – CF
3 – Michael Cuddyer – 1B
4 – Andrew Brown – RF
5 – Brendan Harris – SS
6 – Brandon Wood – 3B
7 – Charlie Culberson – 2B
8 – Omir Santos – C
9 – Cory Riordan – RHP
Sky Sox 8/14 Notebook
CUDDYER RETURNS TO SECURITY SERVICE FIELD FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2002: Rockies outfielder Michael Cuddyer will start a Major League Rehab assignment with the Sky Sox today, and will be making his first ever appearance for the Sox. Cuddyer last played a minor league game in 2008 when he rehabbed with the Rochester Red Wings for four games. Cuddyer is also making his first appearance in the PCL since he was a member of the Edmonton Trappers during the 2002 season, where he played in four games at Security Service Field against the Sox during that year. Cuddyer has been on the disabled list since August 4 with a strained right oblique and will be making
his first appearance since the injury, and is scheduled to play seven innings tonight and nine innings tomorrow.
BLACKMON’S ON-BASE STREAK: With his two doubles in yesterday’s loss (as well as a walk), Sky Sox outfielder Charlie Blackmon has now reached base in 19 straight games at Security Service Field, and the 19-game home on-base streak is the longest in the league by an active player (Sacramento’s Adam Rosales has a 22-game home on-base streak but is currently with the A’s). During that 19-game streak, Blackmon is hitting .463 (31-for-67) with 23 runs, ten extra-base hits, 16 RBI and 13 walks and has reached base in all but two home games since returning from injury on July 4. The longest home on-base streak for any Sky Sox player this season was 23 games set by Matt McBride from June 13 to July 29.
LIKE PLAYING WITH A DH: Sky Sox starter Rob Scahill is currently batting .346 (9-for-26) in the 14 games he has batted this season, the only pitcher on the Sky Sox this season that has recorded more than two hits. Scahill has recorded a hit in eight of those 14 games as a hitter in the 2012 season. Scahill has a game-winning hit for the Sky Sox this season as a pinch-hitter against New Orleans on May 19 (Scahill singled and the run scored due to a throwing error by the Zephyrs on a throw to home), and Scahill is currently riding a three-game hitting streak. Scahill batted .250 (6-for-24) with 4 RBI last season for the Tulsa Drillers, his only other pro season where he has batted.
Sky Sox 8/14 Lineup vs Albuquerque Isotopes (1st in American Southern Division):
1 – Tommy Field – SS
2 – Charlie Blackmon – CF
3 – Michael Cuddyer – RF
4 – Andrew Brown – LF
5 – Brendan Harris – 3B
6 – Brandon Wood – 2B
7 – Chad Tracy – 1B
8 – Omir Santos – C
9 – Rob Scahill – RHP
Sky Sox 8/11 Notebook
CARRER YEAR FOR BROWN: Sky Sox outfielder Andrew Brown hit his team-leading 23rd homer of the season in last night’s win, and his third in the last six games since rejoining the Sky Sox on August 4. The 23 homers is a career high for Brown in his six professional seasons, one of many career highs Brown has posted already this season. Brown moved in to the league lead with 91 RBI on the season (18 more than he has ever posted in his career), has 55 extra-base hits (ten more than he has ever posted), 111 hits (nine more than his previous career high), 76 runs scored (nine more than the previous high) and 29 doubles (12 more than the previous high). Brown has 43 homers in his two career Triple-A seasons to go along with 164 RBI in 199 total games.
CHACIN’S RETURN TO COLORADO SPRINGS: Sky Sox starter Jhoulys Chacin will be making his first appearance with Colorado Springs in more than two years tonight, with his last start for the Sox coming on August 10, 2010. In his last season with the Sox in 2010, Chacin posted a 1.51 ERA (35.2 ip, 6 er) while totaling 34 strikeouts, and allowed one earned run or less in six of his seven starts that season. Chacin pitched for the Sox in the 2009 season as well, and is the starter for the last Sky Sox no-hitter on August 18, 2009 at Oklahoma City (Chacin went 5.1 innings in the combined no-hitter with Joel Peralta, Juan Rincon and Randy Flores), one of two no-hitters the Sox tossed that season (Brandon Hynick’s perfect game being the other).
ONE MORE WIN: Last night’s serie opening win for the Sox gave them 64 wins on the season, matching the most wins for the Sky Sox under Stu Cole in seasons he has managed the entire year (Cole took over for Tom Runnels during the 2009 season after Runnels became a coach for the Rockies) and with a win tonight set a new record for wins with Stu solely at the helm. Cole earlier this season moved in to second place all time in managerial wins, trailing only Brad Mills in career Sky Sox manager wins.
SOX THE PCL BEST SINCE JULY: WIth their win last night, the Sky Sox have won the most games in the Pacific Coast League since the start of July at 24 wins. Unfortunately the team the Sky Sox are chasing down for the Pacific Northern Division crown, the Reno Aces, ranks second in the league in wins during that time frame with 23. Reno holds the best winning percentage at .622 (23-14) since July, barely edging out the Sox at .615 (24-15).
Sky Sox 8/11 Lineup vs Round Rock Express:
1 – Tim Wheeler – LF
2 – Tommy Field – SS
3 – Charlie Blackmon – CF
4 – Andrew Brown – RF
5 – Brendan Harris – 3B
6 – Charlie Culberson – 2B
7 – Chad Tracy – DH
8 – Brandon Wood – 1B
9 – Omir Santos – C
SP – Jhoulys Chacin – RHP
Sky Sox 8/10 Notebook
BROWN’S STREAKS AT SECURITY SERVICE: Sky Sox outfielder Andrew Brown has the longest active home-hitting streak in the league at 18 games, which he started on June 9 against Sacramento. It is the second longest home hitting streak by any player this season in the Pacific Coast League, trailing only Reno’s Jake Elmore who had a 21-game streak that was snapped on July 12. Brown also has the second longest active home on-base streak at 18 games (trailing only Adam Rosales’ 22-game streak, who is currently with the Oakland A’s). During this 18-game home hitting and on-base streak, which started on the same day, Brown is batting .481 (37-for-77) with eight homers, 32 RBI, nine doubles and 23 runs scored.
STARTING OFF RIGHT AT HOME: The Sky Sox have currently won nine consecutive home series openers, with the streak starting in their series with the Tucson Padres on June 2. The all-time Sky Sox record is 10 consecutive home series opener wins, set during the 1994 season (the final game of that streak was a five-inning game against Phoenix called due to rain on September 2nd of that season). The Sox are 11-3 overall this season in home series openers.
TRACY BRINGING ‘EM HOME: Sky Sox first baseman Chad Tracy will be facing his former team today in the Round Rock Express, where last season he tied for the PCL lead in RBI at 109. Tracy has totaled 69 RBI this season for the Sox, third most on the team behind Andrew Brown (88) and Matt McBride (77), but since June 1st Tracy has the most RBI on the Sox with 53 and trails only Jerry Sands (54) from Albuquerque in the PCL during that time span. Tracy also became the third Sox player to double-digit homers with a solo shot in Wednesday’s win.
Sky Sox 8/10 Lineup vs Round Rock (Last place in American Southern Division):
1 – Tim Wheeler – LF
2 – Tommy Field – SS
3 – Charlie Blackmon – CF
4 – Andrew Brown – RF
5 – Charlie Culberson – 2B
6 – Hernan Iribarren – 3B
7 – Chad Tracy – 1B
8 – Brandon Wood – DH
9 – Omir Santos – C
SP – Cory Riordan – RHP
Sky Sox 8/8 Notebook
CULBERSON FITTING RIGHT IN: New Sky Sox infielder Charlie Culberson, who was acquired by the Colorado Rockies in exchange for Marco Scutaro nearly two weeks ago, has a hit in all of his first seven games with the Sky Sox since July 31. Since his first game against his former team the Fresno Girzzlies on July 31, Culberson leads the team with 10 hits (tied with Brendan Harris and Tim Wheeler) and is batting .313 (10-for-32). In his last 23 games with the Grizz before the trade, Culberson totaled 14 hits in 90 at-bats.
SOX THE PCL BEST SINCE JULY: Even with last night’s loss, the Sky Sox have won the most games in the Pacific Coast League since the start of July at 22 wins. Unfortunately the team the Sky Sox are chasing down for the Pacific Northern Division crown, the Reno Aces, ranks second in the league in wins during that time frame with 21. Reno holds the best winning percentage at .600 (21-14) since July, barely edging out the Sox at .595 (22-15).
2ND HALF SOX: Since the All-Star Break ended and the second half began on July 12th, a Sky Sox player leads the PCL or is tied for the lead in virtually every offensive category. Sox outfielder Charlie Blackmon leads the PCL since the second half started in batting average (.411), runs scored (32), hits (44), while amassing the most total bases at 69, being the only player with an on-base percentage of .500. Sox infielder Brendan Harris has been an extra-base hit machine with 17 since the break and has the most doubles with 15. Matt McBride is tied for the lead in all of the PCL during that time frame in RBI at 28 (he has not appeared with Sox since August 2).
Sky Sox 8/7 Notebook
BLACKMON’S BACK WITH A VENGENCE: Since Sky Sox outfielder Charlie Blackmon returned to the Sky Sox on July 4 from injury he leads the PCL in runs scored at 35 and in hits at 49, while he is tied for the most total bases in the league during that span with 77. Also during that stretch, Blackmon leads the Sky Sox with .392 batting average (3rd best in the PCL in that time frame), 18 extra-base hits, a .469 on-base percentage and a 1.085 OPS while totaling the most stolen bases on the team with seven. Blackmon has collected a hit in 25 of the 32 games since returning, and has raised his average from .203 to .328 during those 32 games, and his average is the highest among current Sky Sox players. Blackmon leads the Sox with a .408 on-base percentage.
BROWN MATCHES CAREER HIGH: Sky Sox slugger Andrew Brown hit his second home run in as many days yesterday to increase his team-leading total to 22 long bombs this season. Brown has now tied his career high at any professional level with the 22 blasts, matching his total while with the Springfield Cardinals (St. Louis Double-A) during the 2010 season. With his three-run homer yesterday, Brown also equaled his homer total from last year against Omaha while with the Memphis Redbirds when he appeared in nine games against the Storm Chasers.
HARRIS HAULING IN RBI: Sox infielder Brendan Harris has totaled the fifth most RBI on the Sky Sox with 49 on the season, but in his last 23 games since after the All-Star Break Harris has totaled 23 RBI, which is tied for the fourth most in the league during that span and second most on the Sox with Chad Tracy (Former Sky Sox utility player Matt McBride leads all PCL still with 28 RBI since the break). Harris totaled 26 RBI in his first 57 games this season.
HOLDING ON TO LEADS: This season the Sky Sox hold a record of 51-1 when leading after six innings, the only team in the league that has yet to lose multiple games when holding a lead after the sixth. Every other team in the PCL has at least three losses in that situation (Omaha leads the league with 12 losses in that situation). The Sox only loss when leading after six innings came at home to the Fresno Grizzlies on May 4.
Sky Sox Offensive Onslaught in July
The Sky Sox were one of three teams in the Pacific Coast League to post 17 wins during the month of July (Albuquerque and Reno), and the offense led the way for Colorado Springs. The Sox led the PCL in runs scored in the month of July at 206, the only team in the league to top 200 runs in the month, and led the PCL as well in hits with 335. Those break down to averages of 6.9 runs per game to go along with 11.2 hits per game. The Sox posted the second best batting average in the PCL at .315 behind Reno’s .321 average (the Sky Sox also led the PCL in batting average in June with a .309 team average).
But as hot as the Sox were in July, they have been that much more hot since the second half of the PCL season began on July 12. After starting off the second half with only four hits against Tacoma the Sky Sox have had only one game in their final 21 to end the month of July that they did not total at least eight hits in a game (which was a seven inning doubleheader game against Fresno on July 29). Out of those 21 games, the Sox totaled double-digit hits in 15. The Sox also scored at least seven runs in 13 of their final 22 games to end the month.
All of those team statistics since the second half began are impressive on their own, but the Sky Sox individually have been leading the way in the Pacific Coast League since July 12. Since the start of the second half, Charlie Blackmon leads the PCL in batting average at .446 (.026 higher than the next highest average), in runs scored at 26 (seven more than any other player), in hits with 37 with temmate Matt McBride ranking second at 32, total bases at 54 with an other-worldly .535 on-base percentage. McBride leads the PCL with 27 RBI since the break and is currently tied for the league lead among active players with 76 RBI this season, while infielder Brendan Harris has been an extra-base machine with 14 in the 19 games since the second half began, including a league-leading 12 doubles.
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