Tim Dillard hasn’t pitched in a game since the 18-inning marathon against the Bees on May 14th. He went four-scoreless in that tilt and looks to pick up the fourth win in his last five outings with a victory tonight. (Bobby Stevens/MiLB.com)

I don’t know how many times we’ve seen it, but if the first two months of the season are any indication, last night’s huge comeback will not be the last we’ve seen in 2016. The Sky Sox trailed 6-0 after the first-half inning, 9-2 after three innings, but went on to score 11 unanswered runs en route to the 13-9 victory Thursday night. Ariel Pena went 4 2/3 in relief and picked up the win while five Sox picked up two-hit games and Garin Cecchini drove home a team-high three. The Sky Sox plated two in the first, four in the fourth, six in the fifth, and one in the sixth for their 13 run, 12 hit attack.

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The Sky Sox are in search of their second series sweep of the season and first of longer than two games as they swept Salt Lake in a rain-shortened two game series in May. In hopes of doing so, Colorado Springs will send side-arming righty Tim Dillard to the hill for his first start of the 2016 season and eighth appearance overall. He enters with a 3-0 record and a 3.71 ERA, but has not pitched since May 14th. The Storm Chasers will trot out righty Christian Binford for his tenth career Triple-A start, he is 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA through is first three in 2016 and 4-3 with a 4.15 ERA in nine total starts. The Sky Sox and Chasers split a 16 game season series in 2015. Overall Colorado Springs has not fared well against Omaha going 74-112 against them and 43-51 here at Security Service Field.

Today’s Game Notes / Listen Live at 6:30 MDT / Lineups 

Colorado Springs Sky Sox (24-25) vs. Omaha Storm Chasers (26-26) – 7:05 p.m. – Security Service Field – Colorado Springs, Colorado

Pitching Matchup: RHP Tim Dillard (3-0, 3.71) vs. RHP Christian Binford (1-1, 3.00)

Sky Sox Pitcher: RHP Tim Dillard has had a great season when he has been active for the Sky Sox as he has compiled an unblemished 3-0 record with a 3.71 ERA in seven games. Across 17 innings the righty has dropped down and allowed 7 runs on 15 hits, 6 walks, and 17 strikeouts. Opponents are hitting the veteran at a .242 clip. He has not pitched since May 14 when he earned the win against the Salt Lake Bees in the 18-inning marathon. He’s won 3 of his last 4 appearances. Dillard faced the Storm Chasers on April 23 at Werner Park and threw one pitch in the eighth and induced a ground ball to third off the bat of Jorge Bonifacio; the Sky Sox lost that game 11-9. The righty’s last start came on September 1, 2015 against the Chasers. He went five innings and allowed 3 runs on 6 hits, including a home run to Rey Fuentes, 2 walks, and 3 strikeouts. Dillard was originally selected by the Brewers in the 34th round of the 2002 draft and has made 403 minor-league appearances (112 starts) within the organization and 73 in the big league with the Brewers. In the minors he’s racked up a 75-53 record with 15 saves and a 3.80 ERA, while he’s 1-4 with a  4.70 ERA in 73 big-league outings.

Last Time Out: 5/14/16 vs. Salt Lake – Dillard was the fifth and final pitcher used by the Sky Sox in the 2-1 18-inning marathon game back on May 14th. The righty started his outing in the 15th frame and went on to close out the tilt with four-scoreless innings, during which he allowed four hits, one walk, and four strikeouts. He earned the third win of his season and dropped his ERA to 3.71.

2016 Game Log:

Storm Chasers Pitcher: RHP Christian Binford is set to make the 10th start of his season and fourth with the Storm Chasers. With Omaha, the righty is 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA allowing 8 runs (7 earned, on 18 hits, 5 walks, 2 hit batters, and 13 strikeouts in 21 innings. Prior to his call up he made six starts with Northwest Arkansas in Double-A and went 3-2 with a 4.84 ERA across 35 1/3 innings. Binford went seven his last time out against the PCL’s best offense, but suffered the loss allowing five earned on six hits. The Florida native was selected by the Royals in the 30th round of the 2011 draft out of Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania. 2016 marks his third stint in Triple-A as he is 2-6 with a 4.76 ERA in 13 games (9 starts) with the Royals top affiliate and 27-31 with a 3.46 ERA in 88 career minor-league outings. One of his four Triple-A outings in 2014 came against the Sky Sox in Omaha. He allowed 1 run on 3 hits, 2 walks, and 4 strikeouts in four innings of work against the Sox on August 30, 2014.

Last Time Out: 5/28/2016 vs. El Paso –  Binford climbed the hill with Omaha for the third time and pitched into the eighth inning before running out of gas. He faced three hitters in his final inning and all three reached on two walks and a triple. The righty’s final line read 5 runs on 6 hits, 3 walks, and 2 strikeouts in 7-plus innings. He threw a season-high 101 pitches, 63 for strikes and suffered the loss in the 7-2 loss.

2016 Game Log:

Dan Karcher (@SkySoxKarch) continues his 27^th season behind the mic for Sky Sox games, he and I will have the call of tonight’s game from Security Service Field at 7:05 p.m. Sky Sox Warmup gets all fired up at 6:30 MDT on XTRA Sports 1300.

Brewers Family Roundup

The Brewers picked up homers from Chris Carter and Jonathan Villar en route to their 4-1 win over Philadelphia last night…Chase Anderson got the win…Jimmy Nelson will look to keep the good times rolling tonight and we’ll keep an eye out for Jacob Barnes making his MLB debut as well…Biloxi dropped its second straight to Mississippi 7-4…Brett Phillips and Javier Betancourt had a triple and home run respectively…Brevard County improved to 18-35 with its 7-3 win over the Flying Tigers…Dustin DeMuth led the way with a 3-for-5 night at the plate and Jon Olczak picked up his fifth save…Wisconsin returned to the win column after dropping four straight with a 3-1 win over the Chiefs…Blake Allemand picked up a hit for the 11th straight game in the victory.

Thanks for reading – See you on the radio,

Dan

@Dan_Acheson