The Sky Sox and Dodgers left everything on the field in a lengthy twinbill Saturday evening and unfortunately for Colorado Springs they ended up on the wrong side of both ends, losing 1-0 in 9 innings of game one and dropping the second in 5-1 fashion. Junior Guerra started game one on a rehab assignment and went 3 1/3 scoreless innings before turning things over to the bullpen. On the other side of the mound it was the young, outstanding Trevor Oaks that got the call, but only lasted 2/3 of an inning because of an apparent injury. Thus it was really a bullpen game for both sides. Neither side cracked until the bottom the ninth, which marked the second extra inning. Yasiel Puig led off the inning with a double to center against David Goforth and two batters later it was Austin Barnes with the game-winning single and the Dodgers walked off with the 1-0 win.

Game two saw Josh Hader against Lisalverto Bonilla and it was the latter that earned the with a complete game. Hader pitched a scoreless first, but was roughed up for five runs in the second. O’Koyea Dickson led the inning off with a double and Micah Johnson singled him to third, and Jack Murphy walked to load the bases before Michael McKenry mishandled a pitch and allowed the first run to cross the plate. Brandon Hicks reached on a free pass and with two outs Drew Maggi put the exclamation point on the inning with a grand slam and put the Dodgers up 5-0. That would be all it took as the Sky Sox didn’t their run until the seventh inning.

As a result of the doubleheader sweep, the Sky Sox are now 8.5 games out of first and their tragic number is down to 1.

FULL RECAPS HERE – GAME 1 – GAME 2

Game One Recap – 

Hitting Notes – 

The Sky Sox didn’t score and tallied three hits in the 1-0 loss, so needless to say, there isn’t much to talk about here.

Ramon Flores picked up two of the hits in his debut with Colorado Springs. Both hits were singles.

Nate Orf had the third hit on the board for the Sox, also a single.

Lewis Brinson was the only other man to reach, courtesy of a walk.

Pitching Notes – 

Junior Guerra started and was slated to go 60 pitches, but was lifted after 55 and 3 1/3 innings pitched. 29 of the 55 went for strikes and Guerra’s final line went 3 1/3 innings, 1 hit, 0 runs, 2 walks and 2 strikeouts. He didn’t allow the hit until his fourth inning of work.

Austin Ross was first out of the pen and got the first 8 outs in relief of Guerra. He allowed one hit, walked one, struck out one, and made a fine defensive play off the mound.

Ben Rowen pitched the seventh and forced extras with a scoreless frame. He recorded four outs in total allowing a hit and striking out one.

Micahel Kirkman got one out in the eighth inning.

David Goforth got out of a jam in the eighth and recorded an out in the ninth before Austin Barnes tagged the game-winning hit in the ninth. He took the loss allowing a run on 2 hits and 1 strikeout.

Play of the Game – 

Unfortunately for the Sky Sox the play of the game came off the bat of a Dodger. Yasiel Puig began the 9th inning with a leadoff double off the top of the centerfield wall and that set the table for Austin Barnes who delivered the walk-off single two batters later. The run-scoring single won the game for Oklahoma City and put their magic number at 3.

Pregame Interview with Dan Karcher and Andy Wilkins – 

Game Two Recap –

Hitting Notes – 

The Sox picked up their one run on five hits which brought their total to 1 run on 8 hits in 16 offensive trips to the plate in the doubleheader.

Lewis Brinson led the offensive attack with the lone multi-hit game. He had a single and a double and lifted his average to .406.

Michael McKenry had the double and run scored in the seventh inning. He reached twice on the knock and a walk.

Ramon Flores and Kyle Wren had singles. Wren’s plated McKenry in the seventh and marked his 29th RBI of the season with Colorado Springs.

Pitching Notes – 

Josh Hader climbed the hill and went four frames in the 5-1 loss. He pitched fine in three of the four, but the second inning proved to be costly. He allowed three extra -base hits (a double, triple, and grand slam) and walked a pair in that inning alone. It was the only frame in which he allowed a hit. He went the four innings and allowed the 5 runs on 4 hits, walked 3 and struck out 2. He threw 73 pitches, 42 of which went for strikes.

Brooks Hall recorded four outs in relief and allowed a hit while striking out one.

Stephen Peterson wrapped up the sixth by getting the two men he faced.

Play of the Game –  

Drew Maggi’s Grand Slam –

Pregame Interview with Dan Karcher and Brewers Farm Director Tom Flanagan – 

Thanks for reading – See you on the radio,

Dan

@Dan_Acheson