BLANCO'S GRAND SLAM LEADS SKY SOX TO SECOND-STRAIGHT VICTORY

POSTGAME NOTES
Sunday, July 29, 2018 vs. Albuquerque Isotopes (COL)
Colorado Springs Sky Sox (57-47) | Albuquerque Isotopes (50-57)
BLANCO'S GRAND SLAM LEADS SKY SOX TO SECOND-STRAIGHT VICTORY
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The Sky Sox won their second straight game over the Albuquerque Isotopes 7-2 after another rain-stricken day at Security Service Field. Andrés Blanco recorded the Sky Sox second grand slam of the 2018 season, finishing 2-for-4 on the day.   
After nearly five hours of baseball and delay last night, the Sky Sox turned around for a scheduled 1:30 p.m. afternoon game. Following a scoreless top half of the first, Colorado Springs broke out in big fashion, first taking a 1-0 lead on a bases-loaded walk and then jolted to a 5-0 advantage on a grand slam by Andres Blanco before a storm blew across Security Service Field, forcing a rain delay.
Action continued after a delay of two hours and 20 minutes, picking up in the top of the second inning with the Sky Sox holding a five-run advantage. Brewers' rehabber Jonathan Villar made it a 6-0 ballgame in the bottom half of the frame on his solo home run to left field.
Albuquerque manufactured a solo run in top of the third and fourth frames. Raimel Tapia tripled in the third and plated the first run on Shawn O'Malley's groundout while Mike Tauchman secured the second run on his solo home run in the fourth to make it a 6-2 contest.
The Sky Sox made it a final 7-2 score with a run in the bottom of the eighth thanks to pinch-hitter Christian Bethancourt's sacrifice fly ball to plate Blanco, who doubled to leadoff the inning.
The Sky Sox continue into the final game against the Albuquerque Isotopes tomorrow with a 6:40 p.m. first pitch. Following tomorrow's game, the Sky Sox will hit the road for a seven-game road trip with their first stop in Reno before heading to Tacoma for four games.
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__NOTES__
Tomorrow's Preview: The Sky Sox enter into the final of the four-game set with Albuquerque and sixth game of the homestand with a 6:40 p.m. first pitch at Security Service Field. The Sky Sox are sending righty Aaron Brooks to the mound to face off against righty David Holman.
Grand Salami: The first inning grand slam on Sunday by Andres Blanco marks the 2nd grand slam home run at Security Service Field for the Sky Sox this season, since Kyle Wren did it on June 2 against Iowa. It also marks the 11th time a Sky Sox player has hit a grand slam homer against an Albuquerque pitcher. It is the first time this has happened in the four seasons since the affiliation change with the Sky Sox as a Brewers affiliate and Albuquerque as a Rockies affiliate. The last Sky Sox player to hit a grand slam versus Albuquerque was Ben Paulsen on August 23rd, 2014 in bottom of third in Colorado Springs against Justin Germano (Sky Sox won 12-10).
Delayed: In game 105 of the 2018 season, the Sky Sox met with their longest game delay at home which was two hours and 20 minutes long due to a storm passing over Security Service Field. Last night, in game 104, the Sky Sox set a previous high of two hours and 10 minutes also due to a passing storm.
Blanco From Both Sides: Andres Blanco finished going 2-for-4 with four RBI on Sunday afternoon. From the left side of the plate, he knocked a grand slam in the first inning. From the right side, he knocked a sixth-inning double off the centerfield wall.
Sweet Tally: Manager Rick Sweet is six regular season wins away to pass Brad Mills for the regular season wins as Sky Sox manager and nine wins away to pass him in overall wins with the Sky Sox.
Two Starts Cut Short: On Sunday afternoon, Brandon Woodruff's start was stopped after one inning, one-hit, two-strikeout inning due to a passing storm. Last night, starter Adrian Houser tossed five shutout innings while allowing just three hits with four strikeouts, but was cut short as rain piled onto the field during the bottom of the fifth inning.
Villar Begins Rehab: Brewers rehabbing second baseman Jonathan Villar began his rehab stint with the Sky Sox on Saturday. Villar finished going 2-for-3 with a run before being replaced by Andres Blanco when the game resumed Saturday after the rain delay. On Sunday, Villar went 2-for-3 with two runs, an RBI and a walk.
First Sky Sox Hall-of-Famer: MLB slugger and former Colorado Springs Sky Sox third baseman, Jim Thome, was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame yesterday, marking the first ever Sky Sox player to be featured in the Hall. The induction comes in his first year of eligibility alongside other inductees Chipper Jones, Vladimir Guerrero and Trevor Hoffman. Thome played in parts of two seasons with the Sky Sox in 1991 and 1992 when the team was affiliated with the Indians, compiling a .291 batting average in 53 regular season games. He played in all eight postseason games during the 1992 Pacific Coast League playoffs where the Sky Sox would overcome a 2-1 series deficit to Las Vegas in a best-of-five set before sweeping Vancouver 3-0 in the Championship series for their first PCL title.
Mr. and Mr. Clutch: Christian Bethancourt and Rymer Liriano proved to be the heroes of Saturday night after coming up in the bottom of the eighth inning with back-to-back home runs to break the 3-3 tie and seal the 5-3 victory in game two over the Isotopes. Bethancourt totaled his 16th of the season while Liriano marked his 18th of 2018 and second with the Sky Sox in as many nights.
Back-to-Back Tally: The late back-to-back homers by Christian Bethancourt and Rymer Liriano marked the sixth time a pair of Sky Sox have met the feat this season. It is Bethancourt's second time being a part of a back-to-back pair in 2018. The first time came on July 1 at Round Rock with Jacob Nottingham.
No Extras: Five arms through Sky Sox pitching did not give up an extra-base hit Saturday night. Albuquerque tallied three runs on nine singles throughout the rainy affair.
Five-Hit, Again: The Sky Sox were five-hit for a second time this week, once by El Paso, and the other in game one against the Isotopes, with both games adding the fifth hit in the bottom of the ninth. Before the homestand, Colorado Springs was four-hit consecutive times on the road in Memphis.
Liriano's Launch: After launching 16 home runs with Salt Lake over 65 games this season, Rymer Liriano, who was acquired by the Brewers on July 20 as a free agent, launched his first home run with the Sky Sox in big-time fashion - sending it over the mountain-scape above the videoboard in left-center field. His home run broke the Isotopes six-inning shutout and marked the 57th solo home run of the year for Colorado Springs this season.
Game One Record: The Sky Sox now hold an 18-9 record in game one's in a series. Despite the loss, the Sky Sox still hold the best winning percentage in the first game of a series with a .667 percentage.
Errors Turn Costly: The Sky Sox three errors on Friday night in game one against the Isotopes turned costly as each where an error was made resulted in runs scoring. The highest amount of errors the Sky Sox have made as a team this season is four, which was marked on April 26 against Omaha.
Rainout: Thursday night's rubber match between the Sky Sox and Chihuahuas was cancelled due to wet grounds, for Colorado Springs' first cancelled game of the 2018 season. Back in 2016, on August 19, the final game of a four-game set against El Paso was also cancelled due to wet grounds, making Thursday the second occurence of a game cancelled at home versus El Paso in 11 scheduled home games all-time versus the Chihuahuas. Last year there were three postponed games and one cancelled game at home in July, when the games on the 13th, 14th, and 15th were all postponed in a row, with one of two games of a doubleheader on the 15th being cancelled.
Craig-Train: Veteran Allen Craig, who was signed by the Padres as a free agent in January 2018, knocked home runs 11 and 12 - marking his first multi-home run game of the season - while leading the team's offensive drive over the Sky Sox with five of the eight runs scoring off of his bat.
20 Hits: The Sky Sox tied for most hits in a game this season with 20 against El Paso on Tuesday. The Sky Sox set the milestone of 20 on April 30 against Nashville at home. With two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Orlando Arcia just missed marking the 21st of the night with a long drive to the right field wall, which was caught on a stretched leap by El Paso's Forrestt Allday.
Multi-Hit Barrage: Seven of the Tuesday night's nine batters in the Sky Sox lineup collected two hits or more. Tyrone Taylor, Domingo Santana, and Aaron Brooks collected two apiece while Andres Blanco, Orlando Arcia, and Jake Hager knocked three total. Jett Bandy was the top performer with his four-hit performance.
Good For Two: Catcher Jett Bandy collected his first multi-home run game of the season with the Sky Sox on Tuesday night against El Paso, combining for three RBI; he now has five total on the season. So far, the Sky Sox have combined for five multi-home games. It marks their second in eight days since Domingo Santana slugged two on July 17 at home against Round Rock,
10-Run Victory: The Sky Sox 13-1 victory Tuesday night against the Chihuahuas marked the fourth time the Colorado Springs squad has won by 10 runs or more in 2018. The last time the Sky Sox completed the feat was on June 15 against Las Vegas at home (15-2 score); the first time was on April 30 at home against Nashville (17-3). All four victories of 10 or more runs have happened at Security Service Field.
Brooks Comin' In Hot: Righty Aaron Brooks came in red hot on Tuesday in his 10th start with the Sky Sox. Brooks finished the night against El Paso after five and one-third innings while allowing just three hits, a solo run, a walk, and struck out six. Offensively, he helped his cause with two hits, including a double, a run, and an RBI.
This Week's Preview: The Sky Sox are home to host the Albuquerque Isotopes for a four-game set, for the first and only time this season Colorado Springs will play Albuquerque. The Sky Sox will then hit the road for a nine-day, seven-game roadtrip, with a three-game set in Reno against the Aces, followed by a four-game series in Tacoma versus the Rainiers, with off days bookending the road trip.
NEXT GAME: Monday, July 30 at 6:40 p.m. MT vs. Albuquerque Isotopes @ Security Service Field
RHP Aaron Brooks (7-3, 3.74) vs. RHP David Holman (4-4, 5.12) - Broadcast on XTRA Sports 1300
Promotion: NOVA Home Loans Community Ticket Day presented by Pike Peak Library District
COS TOP PERFORMERS
 Andres Blanco (2-for-4, HR, 2B, 2 R, 4 RBI)
 Jonathan Villar (2-for-3, HR, 2 R, RBI, BB)
 Nick Ramirez (2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K)
 ABQ TOP PERFORMERS
 Mike Tauchman (1-for-3, HR, R, RBI, BB)
 Ryan Metzler (2-for-3, BB)
 Brett Oberholtzer (6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 K)