Results tagged ‘ Carlos Gonzalez ’
Life After CarGo
After last night’s 16-8 win over Fresno, everyone learned that Carlos Gonzalez had been called up by the Rockies. A call-up has rarely been more deserved. At the time of his promotion, Gonzalez was leading all of professional baseball with 59 RBIs and was leading the Sox in homers (10), triples (7), extra base hits (29) and slugging (.630). He’s been hot all season long for the most part and turned in two, six-RBI games, the Sky Sox season-high.
His dynamic play will certainly be missed in the lineup but with his promotion came news that Matt Murton would be returning to the Sky Sox to make room for Gonzalez on the Rockies 25-man roster. Murton started the season in Colorado Springs and was called up on April 29. Before he left though, Murton was leading the Sox with a .411 average, four homers and 19 RBIs so his return will help cover the loss of Gonzalez.
Here’s tonights CarGo-less lineup filled out by Stu Cole:
Eric Young Jr. – 2B
Mike McCoy – RF
Matt Miller – LF
Kenny Perez – 3B
Dan Ortmeier – 1B
Chris Frey – CF
Austin Rauch – C
Jonathan Herrera – SS
Franklin Morales – SP
Missing from the lineup is Murton but that is only because his travel plans from Houston, where the Rockies were last night, would not allow him to make it here in time for tonight’s game.
Morales will be making his second rehab start tonight as he recovers from a left shoulder strain suffered in his start against Arizona on April 21. In his first rehab start, Morales looked pretty good over his four innings of work. He gave up two runs on five hits while walking one and striking out five as the Sox went on to defeat Tacoma 12-4.
Ortmeier and Gonzalez Return
For the second straight day it’s not exactly ideal baseball weather but the game will still go on! Arrving at the ballpark this morning to a very thick fog and heavy mist was not the most inviting of scenarios but as the day went on the fog burned off. So, it’s game two between Fresno and Colorado Springs here on Wednesday afternoon and here’s Stu Cole’s lineup:
Eric Young Jr. – 2B
Mike McCoy – 3B
Carlos Gonzalez – CF
Matt Miller – LF
Dan Ortmeier – 1B
Chris Frey – RF
Austin Rauch – C
Jonathan Herrera – SS
Matt Belisle – SP
The biggest news today is the return to the lineup of both Carlos Gonzalez and Dan Ortmeier. Gonzalez missed yesterday’s game after fouling a ball off his shin in Monday’s game and is right back out there with his professional baseball-leading 59 RBIs. Ortmeier is returning to the diamond after missing the last five games with a sore back. His daily rest and work with trainer Heath Townsend has him back out and hitting in the five spot behind Matt Miller.
Today’s starting nine has seven players batting .285 or better with the first six in the lineup all batting over .300. The only players not boasting robust averages are catcher Austin Rauch, who is making his first start ever above Rookie level, and the pitcher Matt Belisle. Another interesting note about today’s lineup is that the first three hitters in the lineup Young Jr., McCoy and Gonzalez are also 1, 2, 3 in the PCL in runs scored.
80 Degrees And Sunny
Today’s weather here in Colorado Springs is nothing short of fantastic! The thermometer currently reads 81 degrees and with a slight breeze out to left field the conditions couldn’t be better for baseball. The Colorado Springs Convention & Visitor’s Bureau must be smiling and hoping that weather like this will come around often this summer. For the Sky Sox, it currently makes great weather for some early work. Veteran infielders Kenny Perez and Mark Bellhorn are out early today with skipper Tom Runnells working on their swings as they hit off a tee.
As the Sky Sox get their early work in this afternoon, here’s a look at Runnell’s lineup for tonight’s 6:05 PM game against the Omaha Royals.
Eric Young Jr. – 2B
Mike McCoy – 3B
Carlos Gonzalez – CF
Matt Miller – LF
Dan Ortmeier – RF
Kenny Perez – DH
Mark Bellhorn – 1B
Sal Fasano – C
Jonathan Herrera – SS
Jason Hirsh – SP
The big news today is the return of Carlos Gonzalez to the lineup after the center fielder missed the past three games with a minor hamstring injury. Gonzalez has been the team’s best offensive player thus far this season (after Matt Murton was called up by the Rockies) and currently leads the team in homers (5), RBIs (40), Slugging (.629) and triples (6). In his absense, the Sox did go 2-1 but Gonzalez’s dynamic abilities clearly make the Sky Sox a much more dangerous team when he’s in the lineup.
In other developments today, the Rockies purchased the contract of Sky Sox reliever Joel Peralta to take the place of Matt Daley who was very unforutnately hurt in his outing yesterday. To make room for Peralta on the 40-man roster, the Rockies designated for assignment Sky Sox closer Steven Register. Register will be on waivers for the next 72 hours and therefore exposed to any other Major League team. While he is on waivers, Register will be unavailable to play for the Sox. To take the place of Register, the Rockies promoted reliever Ryan Mattheus from Double-A Tulsa.
Today’s pitching matchup pits Sox right-hander Jason Hirsh (3-2, 5.27) versus the O-Royals’ lefty Heath Phillips (1-4, 8.72). Hirsh is coming off his roughest outing of the season when he gave up eight runs on 11 hits over a season-low 4.1 innings against a hot-hitting Iowa on May 13. That outing came after three very solid games (two starts) for Hirsh in which tossed at least 6.0 innings and gave up two runs or less in each appearance.
Saturday Sox Notes
Our apologize for missing last weeks entry for the Saturday Sox Notes. We’ll make up for it this week by including some notes from last weeks as well.
Saturday, April 25
WHAT A START:With their win last night, the Sky Sox have now matched the best start in team history. Their 10-5 record to begin the season equals the 10-5 start by the 1997 squad that finished that year with a 76-64 record. The ’97 team is also the last Sky Sox team to make the playoffs.
MURTON MASHING: Sky Sox rightfielder Matt Murton has been on a tear. Through the first 15 games of the season, Murton is hitting .413 (26-for-63) with three homers, five doubles, 15 RBIs, 16 runs scored and five stolen bases. He is tied for the Minor League lead with his 26 hits and leads the Sky Sox in hitting, hits, homers and runs scored. Murton has also recorded 10 multi-hit games this.
THICK AS THIEVES:Second baseman Eric Young Jr. is off to a thieving start. Young Jr. has played in 11 games thus far swiping 11 bases to lead all of Minor League Baseball. The Sky Sox record for stolen bases in a single season was set by Wayne Kirby in 1992 with 51. As a team, the Sox have stolen a league-high 26 bags. The team record for stolen bases in a season is 149 set in 2000.
Friday, April 24
TRIPLE TIME: Aces centerfielder Alex Romero had a big game last night going 4-for-5 with two triples, two runs scored and two RBIs to lead Reno past Colorado Springs 8-5. His two triples tied the most ever by an opposing player in Sky Sox history and marked the 13th time an opponent knocked out two, three-baggers. The last player to accomplish the feat was Jon Knott for Portland on June 30, 2006 at Security Service Field.
Thursday, April 23
GONZALEZ GOES OFF:Centerfielder Carlos Gonzalez was an RBI machine in yesterday’s 16-8 thrashing as he finished the game going 2-for-5 with six runs driven in. It was the most RBIs in a single game for the Sox this season and the most since Matt Miller plated six runs on August 12, 2008 against Tucson at Security Service Field.
OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION:That same August 12th game against Tucson last year also featured the last time the Sky Sox scored at least 16 runs and knocked out at least 20 hits as they did yesterday. In the game last year, the Sox outscored the Sidewinders 21-5 runs and registered 24 hits.
Tuesday, April 21
DALEY DOMINANCE: Through his first five outings of the seaons, Sox middle reliever has been very impressive. In five games, the right-hander has tossed 8.0 innings and given up just one run (1.13 ERA) while striking out a team-high 15 batters which ranks third in the PCL. He has also inherited seven runners and not allowed any of them to score.
Sunday, April 19
ORTMEIER ON HIS GAME: Sky Sox first baseman Dan Ortmeier is off to a hot start in 2009. In each of his first seven games, Ortmeier has recorded at least one hit and turned in five two-hit games for a .429 batting average (T-4th in the PCL). He also has two doubles and a triple as well as seven RBIs. Dating back to the end of last season, Ortmeier has put together a nine-game hitting-streak.
Friday, April 17
DOUBLE OUTBREAK:Yesterday, the Sox batters knocked out a season-high seven doubles off Reno pitchers. Despite that high number, the seven doubles fell short of the Sky Sox record of nine that was recorded at home on September 4, 2005 vs. Fresno.
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