Results tagged ‘ Charlie Blackmon ’
Sky Sox 8/14 Notebook
CUDDYER RETURNS TO SECURITY SERVICE FIELD FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2002: Rockies outfielder Michael Cuddyer will start a Major League Rehab assignment with the Sky Sox today, and will be making his first ever appearance for the Sox. Cuddyer last played a minor league game in 2008 when he rehabbed with the Rochester Red Wings for four games. Cuddyer is also making his first appearance in the PCL since he was a member of the Edmonton Trappers during the 2002 season, where he played in four games at Security Service Field against the Sox during that year. Cuddyer has been on the disabled list since August 4 with a strained right oblique and will be making
his first appearance since the injury, and is scheduled to play seven innings tonight and nine innings tomorrow.
BLACKMON’S ON-BASE STREAK: With his two doubles in yesterday’s loss (as well as a walk), Sky Sox outfielder Charlie Blackmon has now reached base in 19 straight games at Security Service Field, and the 19-game home on-base streak is the longest in the league by an active player (Sacramento’s Adam Rosales has a 22-game home on-base streak but is currently with the A’s). During that 19-game streak, Blackmon is hitting .463 (31-for-67) with 23 runs, ten extra-base hits, 16 RBI and 13 walks and has reached base in all but two home games since returning from injury on July 4. The longest home on-base streak for any Sky Sox player this season was 23 games set by Matt McBride from June 13 to July 29.
LIKE PLAYING WITH A DH: Sky Sox starter Rob Scahill is currently batting .346 (9-for-26) in the 14 games he has batted this season, the only pitcher on the Sky Sox this season that has recorded more than two hits. Scahill has recorded a hit in eight of those 14 games as a hitter in the 2012 season. Scahill has a game-winning hit for the Sky Sox this season as a pinch-hitter against New Orleans on May 19 (Scahill singled and the run scored due to a throwing error by the Zephyrs on a throw to home), and Scahill is currently riding a three-game hitting streak. Scahill batted .250 (6-for-24) with 4 RBI last season for the Tulsa Drillers, his only other pro season where he has batted.
Sky Sox 8/14 Lineup vs Albuquerque Isotopes (1st in American Southern Division):
1 – Tommy Field – SS
2 – Charlie Blackmon – CF
3 – Michael Cuddyer – RF
4 – Andrew Brown – LF
5 – Brendan Harris – 3B
6 – Brandon Wood – 2B
7 – Chad Tracy – 1B
8 – Omir Santos – C
9 – Rob Scahill – RHP
Sky Sox 8/8 Notebook
CULBERSON FITTING RIGHT IN: New Sky Sox infielder Charlie Culberson, who was acquired by the Colorado Rockies in exchange for Marco Scutaro nearly two weeks ago, has a hit in all of his first seven games with the Sky Sox since July 31. Since his first game against his former team the Fresno Girzzlies on July 31, Culberson leads the team with 10 hits (tied with Brendan Harris and Tim Wheeler) and is batting .313 (10-for-32). In his last 23 games with the Grizz before the trade, Culberson totaled 14 hits in 90 at-bats.
SOX THE PCL BEST SINCE JULY: Even with last night’s loss, the Sky Sox have won the most games in the Pacific Coast League since the start of July at 22 wins. Unfortunately the team the Sky Sox are chasing down for the Pacific Northern Division crown, the Reno Aces, ranks second in the league in wins during that time frame with 21. Reno holds the best winning percentage at .600 (21-14) since July, barely edging out the Sox at .595 (22-15).
2ND HALF SOX: Since the All-Star Break ended and the second half began on July 12th, a Sky Sox player leads the PCL or is tied for the lead in virtually every offensive category. Sox outfielder Charlie Blackmon leads the PCL since the second half started in batting average (.411), runs scored (32), hits (44), while amassing the most total bases at 69, being the only player with an on-base percentage of .500. Sox infielder Brendan Harris has been an extra-base hit machine with 17 since the break and has the most doubles with 15. Matt McBride is tied for the lead in all of the PCL during that time frame in RBI at 28 (he has not appeared with Sox since August 2).
Sky Sox 8/7 Notebook
BLACKMON’S BACK WITH A VENGENCE: Since Sky Sox outfielder Charlie Blackmon returned to the Sky Sox on July 4 from injury he leads the PCL in runs scored at 35 and in hits at 49, while he is tied for the most total bases in the league during that span with 77. Also during that stretch, Blackmon leads the Sky Sox with .392 batting average (3rd best in the PCL in that time frame), 18 extra-base hits, a .469 on-base percentage and a 1.085 OPS while totaling the most stolen bases on the team with seven. Blackmon has collected a hit in 25 of the 32 games since returning, and has raised his average from .203 to .328 during those 32 games, and his average is the highest among current Sky Sox players. Blackmon leads the Sox with a .408 on-base percentage.
BROWN MATCHES CAREER HIGH: Sky Sox slugger Andrew Brown hit his second home run in as many days yesterday to increase his team-leading total to 22 long bombs this season. Brown has now tied his career high at any professional level with the 22 blasts, matching his total while with the Springfield Cardinals (St. Louis Double-A) during the 2010 season. With his three-run homer yesterday, Brown also equaled his homer total from last year against Omaha while with the Memphis Redbirds when he appeared in nine games against the Storm Chasers.
HARRIS HAULING IN RBI: Sox infielder Brendan Harris has totaled the fifth most RBI on the Sky Sox with 49 on the season, but in his last 23 games since after the All-Star Break Harris has totaled 23 RBI, which is tied for the fourth most in the league during that span and second most on the Sox with Chad Tracy (Former Sky Sox utility player Matt McBride leads all PCL still with 28 RBI since the break). Harris totaled 26 RBI in his first 57 games this season.
HOLDING ON TO LEADS: This season the Sky Sox hold a record of 51-1 when leading after six innings, the only team in the league that has yet to lose multiple games when holding a lead after the sixth. Every other team in the PCL has at least three losses in that situation (Omaha leads the league with 12 losses in that situation). The Sox only loss when leading after six innings came at home to the Fresno Grizzlies on May 4.
Sky Sox Offensive Onslaught in July
The Sky Sox were one of three teams in the Pacific Coast League to post 17 wins during the month of July (Albuquerque and Reno), and the offense led the way for Colorado Springs. The Sox led the PCL in runs scored in the month of July at 206, the only team in the league to top 200 runs in the month, and led the PCL as well in hits with 335. Those break down to averages of 6.9 runs per game to go along with 11.2 hits per game. The Sox posted the second best batting average in the PCL at .315 behind Reno’s .321 average (the Sky Sox also led the PCL in batting average in June with a .309 team average).
But as hot as the Sox were in July, they have been that much more hot since the second half of the PCL season began on July 12. After starting off the second half with only four hits against Tacoma the Sky Sox have had only one game in their final 21 to end the month of July that they did not total at least eight hits in a game (which was a seven inning doubleheader game against Fresno on July 29). Out of those 21 games, the Sox totaled double-digit hits in 15. The Sox also scored at least seven runs in 13 of their final 22 games to end the month.
All of those team statistics since the second half began are impressive on their own, but the Sky Sox individually have been leading the way in the Pacific Coast League since July 12. Since the start of the second half, Charlie Blackmon leads the PCL in batting average at .446 (.026 higher than the next highest average), in runs scored at 26 (seven more than any other player), in hits with 37 with temmate Matt McBride ranking second at 32, total bases at 54 with an other-worldly .535 on-base percentage. McBride leads the PCL with 27 RBI since the break and is currently tied for the league lead among active players with 76 RBI this season, while infielder Brendan Harris has been an extra-base machine with 14 in the 19 games since the second half began, including a league-leading 12 doubles.
Sky Sox 7/24 Notebook
FIRST SEASON HOME SWEEP IN TEAM HISTORY: With a 9-1 win in yesterday’s series finale against the Tacoma Rainiers the Sky Sox finished the season a perfect 8-0 against the division rival Rainiers, the first time in franchise history the Sox have swept all eight games at Security Service against an opponent in one season. The eight-game home winning streak against Tacoma also set a record for the longest home winning streak all in one season against any PCL opponent in the Sky Sox 25-year history. The Sox took the season series from the Rainiers 12-4 this year.
SOX STREAKING: The Sky Sox are currently riding a six-game winning streak, their longest of the season and tied for their longest win streak since their seven-game streak in the 2007 season. The Sky Sox had six game winning streaks in 2011 from April 21 to April 26 in games against Tacoma and Las Vegas and also in 2008 from August 4 to the first game of a doubleheader on August 10 in games against Omaha and Portland. The Sky Sox longest winning streak in team history is 14 games set in the 1995 season.
BIG MAC: Sky Sox utility player Matt McBride is currently riding a 17-game hitting streak. It is the longest active hitting streak for any Colorado Springs batter, is tied for the longest by a Sky Sox player this season (Tim Wheeler also had a 17-game streak) and is the third longest active streak in the PCL behind Tucson’s Everth Cabrera’s and Omaha’s Johnny Giavotella’s 18-game streaks. During the hitting streak McBride has either scored a run or driven in a run in 16 of the 17 games, and has 20 RBI and 18 runs scored. McBride is currently tied for the third most RBI in the league with Reno’s Jake Elmore at 64, the most of any current PCL players.
HARRIS BRINGING EM HOME: Sky Sox infielder Brendan Harris notched his second 5 RBI game of the season in yesterday’s win by going 4-for-5 with three doubles. Harris led the Sox with 14 RBI during the homestand against Salt Lake and Tacoma, tied with teammate Matt McBride for the most in the PCL since July 16. Harris also led the team with nine extra-base hits in the homestand, tied with Las Vegas’ David Cooper for the most during the time frame, and in his last 28 games Harris has collected 21 XBH (only nine in his 41 games this season).
3-4 THREAT: In the month of July, Matt McBride and Charlie Blackmon have totaled 31 hits and 30 hits respectively, which ranks second and third in the PCL during the month. Blackmon ranks second in the league in July with 20 runs scored behind Albuquerque’s Trent Oeltjen’s 21 runs (with McBride tied for fifth with 18 runs) and McBride ranks third with 20 RBI since the beginning of the month. Since the start of the second half, Blackmon ranks first in the league with 25 hits (while also ranking first with 17 runs scored) and McBride ranks second with 22 hits while also being tied with teammate Brendan Harris for the most RBI in that time frame at 15.
Stu Cole 2nd in All-Time Manager Wins
With the two wins in yesterday’s doubleheader, Sky Sox manager Stu Cole moved in to second place all-time in managerial wins at 225 in his nearly four seasons at the helm of Colorado Springs. Cole passed former Sox manager Tom Runnels for second on the list, the man who Cole replaced halfway through the 2009 season.
Stu Cole now trails only Sky Sox Hall of Famer Brad Mills, the last manager to win a PCL Championship for the Sky Sox, who totaled 271 regular season wins and 276 total wins for the Sky Sox. Cole is one of only three Colorado Springs managers with 200 regular season wins in the 25-year history of the team (Mills and Runnels the others) and one of four managers with at least 200 total wins (Charlie Manuel is the fourth).
Cole has spent 17 years in the Rockies organization and 11 seasons as manager. Before arriving at the Springs, Cole managed the Rockies Double-A team in Tulsa for three and a half seasons.
Other Notes:
STREAKING AT SECURITY SERVICE VS TACOMA: The Sky Sox are riding a seven-game home winning streak against the Rainiers, their longest streak against Tacoma at Security Service Field. The previous record had been five games, which the Sox had accomplished three times, and this current home streak is the longest in team history against one opponent all in the same season, passing the six game streak against Tucson in 1995.
3-4 THREAT: Sky Sox centerfielder Charlie Blackmon and utility player Matt McBride are tied for the second most hits in the month of July in the PCL at 29, trailing Albuquerque’s Josh Fields who has 32 hits. Both players are batting .403 during the month, two of only seven players to post an above .400 average. Blackmon ranks tied for third in the PCL with 18 runs during the month with McBride only one run behind at 17 in July.
HITS AT YOUR SECURITY SERVICE: Colorado Springs totaled double-digit hits in both wins yesterday, and in the last 23 games played at Security Service Field the Sky Sox have top double-digit hits in 18 of those games. This season the Sox are batting .319 at home, the third best home batting average of any team in the PCL behind Albuquerque’s .333 average and Reno’s .323 average.
Sky Sox Notebook 7/19
SOX HOT BATS AGAINST THE BEES: The Sky Sox have lost six of the eleven games against the Bees this season but the Sky Sox offense is batting .350 against Salt Lake in the eleven meetings, the highest average against any of their 12 different PCL opponents so far in 2012. The Sky Sox have averaged 8.6 runs per game against the Bees, the highest against any team this year.
CHARLIE IN CHARGE: Sky Sox outfielder Charlie Blackmon has totaled 18 hits and 10 runs scored during his current eight-game hitting streak with his 18 hits since July 7 leading the PCL during that time frame. Blackmon had just 15 hits in his first 21 games for the Sox this season, and he has raised his average from .185 to .277 during his current eight-game hitting streak. Blackmon is tied for the third most doubles (7) in the PCL this month.
BIG MAC: Sky Sox utility player Matt McBride is currently riding a 11-game hitting streak, the longest active hitting streak for any Colorado Springs batter and tied for the third longest by a Sky Sox player this season (Tim Wheeler had a 17-game streak and Andrew Brown had a 13-game streak). During that hitting streak McBride has either scored a run or driven in a run in ten of the eleven games. During the streak McBride has 10 RBI and 11 runs scored.
ROBERTS ON WHEN HE IS IN: Sky Sox outfielder Brandon Roberts has only started 40 games this season for Colorado Springs, but in those 40 games he has reach base in 32 of them. Roberts owns the fourth best average on the team at .288, and has the best AB/K ratio on the team at 163 at-bats with only 15 strikeouts.
Sky Sox Lineup 6/19 vs Salt Lake – Sox Look for Series Split, Even Season Series
1 – #2 Hernan Iribarren – 2B
2 – #5 Tommy Field – SS
3 – #8 Charlie Blackmon – CF
4 – #40 Matt McBride – RF
5 – #29 Brendan Harris – 3B
6 – #28 Chad Tracy – 1B
7 – #23 Brandon Wood – DH
8 – #6 Brandon Roberts – LF
9 – #3 Wilkin Castillo – C
SP – #16 Edwar Cabrera – LHP
Sox Scribbles: Sweep Success
The red-hot Sky Sox completed a four-game sweep of the Las Vegas 51s Tuesday night with a dominating 17-3 victory. The win marked the sixth in a row for the Sox who have now won eight of their last ten games.
There were no shortage of offensive stars for the Sox on this night. Charlie Blackmon led the way with a 3-for-5 performance including two home runs, three runs scored and five RBI. It marked the first multi home run game for the Sox season. Josh Fields (3), Ian Stewart (2) and Chris Nelson (2) each added home runs for the Sox. Stewart (4-for-4, R, 4RBI) crushed a three-run shot to give the Sox a 3-0 lead in the first, Fields (3-for-5, 3R,3RBI) hit a two-run blast to make it 5-1 in the third and Nelson (3-for5, 3R, 2RBI) added a solo shot in the seventh.
Jordan Pacheco returned to the lineup after sitting out the previous two games and finished the night 5-for-5 with four runs scored and two RBI. It was the second five-hit game for the Sox this season (Mike Jacobs, at Tacoma on 4/21) and the first for Pacheco in his Sky Sox career.
Alfredo Amezaga finished 2-for-6 and extended his hitting streak to 14 games.
Josh Muecke (1-2, 4.40) picked up his first win of the season allowing two runs on eight hits in 5.1 innings.
The Sox have an off-day today before heading to Tucson, Arizona to face the Padres on Thursday. RHP John Maine (0-1, 9.72) will be looking for his first win of the year. He’ll face off against RHP Will Inman (0-2, 7.94). These two teams split four games to open the season from April 7th – 10th. First pitch on Thursday is scheduled for 8:00 PM PT.
Fox Facts:
- For the first time since 2006, no Sky Sox home games were postponed in the month of April. It’s only the fourth time in franchise history that the Sox have avoided postponing a game in the season’s first month. The other two occurrences were in 1992 and 1994. If the Sox avoid any postponement in Tucson, it will be only the second time in franchise history that no games, home or away, were postponed in the month of April joining the ’94 season.
- The Sox pitching staff has enjoyed significant success recently after a rocky start to the season. Coming into play on April 19th, the staff had combined for an ERA of 7.89 in 12 games. In eight games since then, the Sox have posted a combined ERA of 2.61 (20er/69.0ip) and have lowered their season ERA by over two runs to 5.79.
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