In last night’s series-opening 8-2 win against the Salt Lake Bees, Sky Sox starter Drew Pomeranz earned his first win since May 18 by holding the Bees hitless through six innings while totaling a season-high eight strikeouts, the longest start of the Rockies top prospects career without allowing a run (Pomeranz went three hitless innings for the Tulsa Drillers on September 5, 2011 in his last minor league start before making his major league debut on September 11).  Despite not allowing any hits, Pomeranz did work out of a no-out bases loaded jam in the fifth set up by two walks and a throwing error on a force attempt without a strikeout and a double play in consecutive batters.

Sky Sox reliever Mike Ekstrom took over for Pomeranz and set down Salt Lake in order in the seventh, then Zach Putnam pitched a perfect eighth inning.  Putnam returned for the ninth and allowed two Salt Lake batters to reach base on a fielding error and a walk, then Bees third baseman Luis Jimenez blooped a single just out of the reach of Colorado Springs second baseman Brendan Harris to end the no-hitter bid and scored the first run of the game for Salt Lake.  The Bees added another hit in the inning which scored a second run, but despite the no-hitter being lost two outs short of completion, the Sox did set a season-best by holding the Bees to just two hits.

The near no-no would have been the fifth in Sky Sox history, and first since the Sox posted two in 2009.  8.1 innings was the third longest in a game the Sky Sox have gone before giving up their first hit, as Colorado Springs lost two no-hitters late in games in the span of eight days in their first year of affiliation with the Rockies in 1993.  Ryan Hawblitzel went 9.1 innings against Vancouver on July 27 (and suffered the loss in the extra-inning game) and three pitchers (Mo Sanford, Terry Wells, Keith Shepherd) went 8.2 innings against Calgary on July 19.

The no-hitter would have been the fourth combined no-hitter in team history.