Jorge Lopez climbs the hill for the third time against Memphis and 12th time overall in 2016. Lopez is in search of his second win of the season and first against the Redbirds. (Bobby Stevens/MiLB.com)
The Sky Sox bounced back with a 7-6, 10-inning victory last night in the second of a four-game series over Memphis thanks in part to two Will Middlebrooks home runs. The second WMB blast left ther yard in the 10th inning and put Colorado Springs in front for good at 7-6. Austin Ross pitced two scoreless innings and got the win, while Tim Dillard struck out the last batter of the game and earned his first save in 2016.
Tonight, the Sky Sox hunt for their second win of the series and the third of the road trip as they square off against the Redbirds at 5:35 p.m. from AutoZone Park. Jorge Lopez takes the hill for the 12th time this season and third against the Redbirds. He’s 1-4 with a 6.04 ERA through his first 11 games (10 starts). Jerome Williams will make his second start of the season with the Redbirds after being signed by the Cardinals at the beginning of the month. The Sky Sox are 14-18 away from Security Service Field and look to improve on the poor first half of this road trip. The Sox and ‘Birds have squared off eight times in 2016 with the each team picking up four wins apiece. All time, the Colorado Springs is 70-81 against Memphis and 30-47 at the home of the Redbirds.
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Today’s Game Notes / Listen Live at 5:00 MDT / Lineups
Colorado Springs Sky Sox (27-29) at Memphis Redbirds (24-34) – 5:35 p.m. – AutoZone Park – Memphis, Tennessee
Pitching Matchup: RHP Jorge Lopez (1-4, 5.94) at RHP Jerome Williams (0-1, 5.40)
Sky Sox Pitcher: RHP Jorge Lopez gets the start in the third game of a four-game series and will make his 12th appearance (11th start) in a Sky Sox uniform. Over his first 11 outings, Lopez is 1-4 with a 6.04 ERA and has allowed 37 runs (34 earned) on 60 hits, 2 homers, 35 walks, 3 hit batters, and 43 strikeouts in 50 2/3 innings of work. Opponents are hitting .294 against the righty from Puerto Rico. Lopez came out of the pen in his last outing in relief of Corey Knebel at New Orleans, it was just the 10th relief appearance of his career. Tonight will be the righty’s third start against Memphis as the first two of his season came against the Redbirds, one at home and one on the road. He’s 0-0 with a 6.48 ERA allowing 6 runs on 11 hits, 6 walks, and 8 strikeouts in 8 1/3 innings of work. Lopez was selected by the Brewers in the 2nd round of the 2011 draft out of the Caguas Military Academy in Puerto Rico. In 101 career minor-league outings he is 31-31 with a 4.21 ERA and 1-1 with a 5.40 ERA in two big-league starts, his win coming against the Padres at Petco Park on September 29, 2015.
Last Time Out: 6/5/16 at New Orleans – Lopez came out of the bullpen for the first time this season as RHP Corey Knebel made a rehab start with the Sox. Lopez started in the second inning and pitched into the seventh allowing 3 runs on 5 hits, 2 walks, a hit batter, and 5 strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings. He took the loss and threw 94 pitches, 57 of which went for strikes. The Sky Sox would lose the tilt 3-0.
Lat 10 Outings with the Sky Sox:
Redbirds Pitcher: RHP Jerome Williams will make his second start with the Redbirds tonight against the Sky Sox. The righty was signed to a minor-league contract by the Cardinals on June 2nd and made his degut with the Redbirds on June 5th against Iowa. He took the loss and allowed three runs to the I-Cubs in the first start of his 2016 campaign. Williams is a veteran that was originally selected by the Giants in the Compensation round of the 1999 draft. He has pitched for the Giants, Cubs, Nationals, Twins, Dodgers, Athletics, Angels, Phillies, Astros, Rangers and now Cardinals organizations. That’s 11 for those keeping score at home. In the minors he’s 50-57 with a 4.26 ERA in 214 career outings and 52-66 with a 4.57 ERA in 225 big-league games. He last pitched for the Phillies in 2015 and went 4-12 with a 5.80 ERA in 33 appearances (21 starts)
Last Time Out: 6/5/2016 at Iowa – Williams climbed the hill for the first time in 2016 on Sunday against the Iowa Cubs. He took the loss, but limited the I-Cubs to 3 runs on 5 hits, 3 walks, and 6 strikeouts. He gave up two home runs in defeat and threw 82 pitches, 52 of which went for strikes. The Redbirds lost the tilt 6-1.
2016 Game Log –
Dan Karcher (@SkySoxKarch) continues his 27th season behind the mic for Sky Sox games, he will have the call of tonight’s game from AutoZone Park at 5:35 p.m. I’ll get Sky Sox Warmup off and running at 5:00 MDT on XTRA Sports 1300.
Thanks for reading – See you on the radio,
Dan
Colorado Springs Sky Sox Official Team Blog 