Lewis Brinson picked up right where he left off and homered to begin the ballgame in his return to action Tuesday night. (Bobby Stevens/MiLB.com)
The Sky Sox held a 2-0 lead early in the game, but it was the Express that engineered a 3-run comeback and won it 3-2 in the series finale Tuesday night at Dell Diamond. Lewis Brinson began the game with a bang in the form of a solo homer against his former team and EY tripled and scored in the third to put the Sox up 2-0. After that, the offense stalled and Round Rocks responded. Brett Nicholas connected for a two-run homer to tie the game in the fourth and Drew Robinson doubled in Preston Beck to give Round Rock the 3-2 lead in the eighth. Aaron Wilkerson pitched well enough to win and went 6 1/3 innings allowing 2 runs on 3 hits; he didn’t walk anyone and struck out 7 Express. Damien Magnifico gave up the deciding run in the eighth. Former Sox Austin Bibens-Dirkx went the first six for the Express and allowed the two runs.
The loss, combined with OKC’s 10-inning 7-1 win puts the Sox 8.5 games back with 14 to play and sets the tragic number to 5.
Hitting Notes –
The Sky Sox picked up their two runs on seven hits and got a multi-hit game from two men in their lineup.
Lewis Brinson led the ballgame off with a solo homer on the second pitch he saw from Bibens-Dirkx in his first game back off of the DL. He finished 1-for-4 against his former team and the homer marks his second with the Sky Sox.
Eric Young, Jr. had a triple and a double from the 8th spot in the lineup and reached base another time on a free pass in the ninth.
Michael Reed had a 2-for-4 night with a pair of doubles, but was left stranded in scoring position each time on base.
Andy Wilkins was on base twice with two walks and Garrett Cooper along with Josmil Pinto picked up base hits rounding out the offensive action by Colorado Springs.
Pitching Notes –
Aaron Wilkerson retired the first 10 men he faced before running into trouble in the fourth. A one-out single preceded the solo homer by Nicholas in the fourth, but that was the only blemish on Wilkerson’s line. He finished allowing the two runs on three hits and struck out seven batters. He threw 93 pitches across 6 1/3 innings, 62 of which went for strikes.
Michael Kirkman got the two lefties Joey Gallo and Jared Hoying out in his two-out outing.
Damien Magnifico gave up a run on two hits in the eighth inning and took his seventh loss of the season. He added a pair of strikeouts.
Play of the Game –
Lewis Brinson’s Homer –
Pregame Interview with Dan Karcher and Express Manager Jason Wood –
Thanks for reading – See you on the radio,
Dan
Colorado Springs Sky Sox Official Team Blog 