The Sky Sox and Redbirds have gotten a RARE weekend off during the hectic baseball season thanks to Mother Nature and the manic springtime weather in Colorado Springs. Saturday’s game has been scheduled to be made up as part of today’s doubleheader, while Sunday’s tilt will be re-scheduled as part of a doubleheader when the Redbirds return in June. Today’s doubleheader begins at 4:05 p.m. and will be made up of two seven-inning games, the second of which will begin 30-minutes after the completion of the first.

All the credit goes to the hard working staff at the Sky Sox which worked endlessly on Sunday to get Security Service Field looking like a baseball field again!

Today’s Game Notes / Listen Live at 3:30 MDT

Colorado Springs Sky Sox (4-5) vs. Memphis Redbirds (5-4) – DOUBLEHEADER

Pitching Matchup Game 1: RHP Hiram Burgos (0-1, 12.00) vs. RHP Deck McGuire (0-0, 0.79 ERA)

Sky Sox Pitcher: RHP Hiram Burgos is no stranger to Triple-A and is set to make the second start of his season in game one of the twinbill. Burgos took the loss against Nashville on April 11, working into the fourth inning and allowing 4 runs on 6 hits, 2 walks and 2 strikeouts. He labored and threw 82 pitches, 49 for strikes. In 2015, Burgos went 1-1 in two starts against Memphis. He went 7-scoreless innings, allowed just 2 hits, and struck out 8 Redbirds at AutoZone Park on June 27, 2015.

Today’s game will mark the 17th for the righty in a Sky Sox uniform; he’s 3-5 with a 3.66 ERA in 16 starts. Burgos made his Triple-A debut with the Nashville Sounds in 2012, his third professional season out of Bethune-Cookman University. He has a career record of 7-14 with a 3.78 ERA in 35-career Triple-A games.

2016 Game Log:

Redbirds Pitcher: RHP Deck McGuire has been penciled in for the first game of the doubleheader, it will be his third start of the season and second against the Sox. McGuire, the Redbirds’ Opening Day Starter, is off to a hot start despite not recording a decision and has allowed 2 runs (1 earned) on 7 hits, 5 walks, and 8 strikeouts in 11 1/3 innings across his two starts. The righty gave up a run on four hits and only tossed 71 pitches (41 strikes) in 5 1/3 frames against the Sox in the first game of the season. His second outing came against his former team, the highly-touted Oklahoma City Dodgers, against which he gave up one unearned run in six innings.

McGuire was originally selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1st round of the 2010 draft out of Georgia Tech. He spent parts of the first four years of his career with the Blue Jays before being traded to the A’s organization during the 2014 season. McGuire pitched for Triple-A OKC and Double-A Tulsa in 2015, before signing with the Cardinals for the 2016 season. The righty has not made his big-league debut, but he very well could with a couple more strong starts with the Cards’ top affiliate.

2016 Game Log:

Pitching Matchup Game 2: RHP Ariel Pena (0-0, 0.00) vs. RHP Arturo Reyes (0-1, 1.80 ERA)

Sky Sox Pitcher: RHP Ariel Pena is set to make his 2016 debut with the Sox in game two of the doubleheader. The 6-foot-3, 245-pound righty broke spring training with the Brewers and made his lone appearance on Opening Day. He gave up 5 runs on 5 hits, three of which were back-to-back-to-back homers in 1 2/3 innings against the San Francisco Giants.

The righty broke into professional baseball in 2007 in the Dominican Summer League Angels. He pitched within the LA system until the 2012 season when he was acquired by the Brewers. Pena made 43 appearances (7 starts) with Colorado Springs in 2015 and went 2-2 with a save and a 4.14 ERA. The native of the Dominican Republic went 0-1 with an 8.59 ERA in six appearances against Memphis last season

2016 Game Log: Has not pitched with Colorado Springs.

Redbirds Pitcher: RHP Arturo Reyes will make the second start of his season in the nightcap of today’s doubleheader. The 24-year old took the loss against Oklahoma City on April 11th, working 5.0 innings and giving up 1 run on 2 hits, 1 walk and 8 strikeouts. He was out-dueled by the Dodgers highly-touted prospect Julio Urias who went five-scoreless and struck out nine. Reyes was a 40th round selection of the Cardinals in the 2013 draft out of Gonzaga. He made his Triple-A debut last season and went 1-3 with a 7.82 ERA in five starts. He has not faced the Sky Sox in his brief career with the Cards’ top affiliate.

2016 Game Log:

We hope to see you out at the park today, but if you can’t make it, tune in! Dan Karcher (@SkySoxKarch) continues his 27^th season behind the mic for Sky Sox games, I’m along side him for the home games and we’ll have the call this afternoon from Security Service Field. Coverage begins with Sky Sox Warmup at 3:30 on XTRA Sports 1300.

Quick Hits: The Blog – From Saturday

THE SOX ARE HOME THROUGH FRIDAY!!!

The Sox continue what was once an 8-game homestand today through this Friday with Today’s doubleheader against the Redbirds and four more games against the Nashville Sounds. Here is the full press release highlighting all of the great happenings at Security Service Field: Sky Sox Open 2016 Home Schedule With Action-Packed Promotions

See you on the radio,

Dan

@Dan_Acheson