The Sky Sox had plenty of chances to add to their 1-0 lead, but couldn’t come up with the big hit and New Orleans took advantage en route to their 4-1 victory Friday night in the Big Easy. Colorado Springs picked up 10 hits, but went 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position and left a whopping 10 men on base.

The tough night at the dish began in the first when the Sox put two men on with one out, but Garrett Cooper grounded into an inning-ending double play to end the threat. Another two hits went by the boards in the second, but an RBI groundout by Cooper in the third put the Sox on the board. Ivan De Jesus and Ryan Cordell singled and doubled, respectively, before Cooper drove in the former with the 5-3 out. That would be all for the visitors in the scoring department, despite having at least one runner on base in every inning.

On the other side it was Michael Blazek putting together another great start for the Sox. He weaved in and out of the first three innings without too much trouble before back-to-back Baby Cake hits opened up the fourth. A single off the bat of Steve Lombardozzi and a Tomas Telis double put two on with nobody out. Blazek gave up a sacrifice fly to Mike Aviles which tied the game, but that was it until the sixth.

Lombardozzi and Aviles had singles to put runners at the corners with two down, then came a Brandon Barnes single and Cal Towey double and in a blink it was 4-1 Cakes.

The Sox had no answer late and Drew Steckenrider slammed the door in the ninth with three strikeouts. Ballgame.

Game Story Here

Hitting Notes – 

The Sky Sox had a great night at the plate and picked up double-digit hits, but as mentioned above couldn’t produce with runners on. Three Sox, including an unlikely source, had multi-hit games.

Michael Blazek, yes that Michael Blazek, went 2-for-3 with a double in the loss. He really did it all, pitched well, played great defense and picked up a couple of knocks. He’s hitting a cool .400 on the season.

Ryan Cordell picked up a single and a double in four trips to the plate.

Nick Noonan went 2-for-4 with two singles against his former team.

Ivan De Jesus reached three times with a single and two walks and scored the lone run.

Garrett Cooper had a single and the lone RBI.

Brett Phillips went 1-for-4 with a double.

Andrew Susac connected for a double to round out the Sky Sox night’s at the plate.

Pitching Notes – 

Michael Blazek pitched another six strong innings, but was left with the loss. He allowed four runs on eight hits, didn’t walk a batter and fanned four on 83 pitches, 52 of which went for strikes.

Wei-Chung Wang and Tim Dillard cleaned up with a scoreless inning of relief each.

Play of the Game – 

For the Sox there were two defensive gems that stand out. Blazek fielded a hot shot that knocked his glove clean off in the second inning and in the third they turned a 2-6-3 double play. Pretty good stuff! Unfortunately, again, there’s no video of either :(.

Pregame Interview with Sky Sox Infielder Nick Noonan – 

With yesterday’s win, the Sky Sox have three wins in five games against the Marlins’ top affiliate. Tonight is round two…Let’s get to it!

Colorado Springs Sky Sox (42-29) vs. New Orleans Baby Cakes (27-46) – 5:00 p.m.  

Game Notes / Listen Live at 4:30 p.m.

Pitching Probables: RHP Forrest Snow (1-1, 9.53) at RHP Tom Koehler (1-0, 0.96)

Sky Sox Starter: Righty Forrest Snow gets the call for the Sox in the third game of four against the New Orleans Baby Cakes.  Snow has appeared two games with the Sky Sox and is 1-1 with a 9.53 ERA, allowing six runs on eight hits in five and two-third innings. He’s given up two homers, walked three and fanned nine. Opponents in the PCL are hitting .320 against him. With Biloxi he went 4-2 with a 3.55 ERA, and had one start.

Snow was signed by the Brewers as a free agent this past offseason after he elected free agency from the Mariners. Originally drafted by Seattle in the 36th round of the 2010 draft out of Washington, Snow has racked up a 36-47 record with 10 saves and a 4.24 ERA in 224 MiLB games, 80 of which have been starts.

Last Time Out – June 17 – Loss vs. OKC – 

Snow was stormed early against the Dodgers as he gave up six runs on six hits in 2 1/3 innings. He allowed two homers, walked one and struck out seven on 66 pitches, 40 of which went for strikes. If you did the math, yes he did record every out via a strike out.