SKY SOX BLANK CUBS 5-0 TO BEGIN IOWA ROAD TRIP

POSTGAME NOTES
Thursday, June 21, 2018 @ Iowa Cubs
Colorado Springs Sky Sox (38-32) | Iowa Cubs (25-45)
SKY SOX BLANK CUBS 5-0 TO BEGIN IOWA ROAD TRIP
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The Sky Sox marked their fourth shutout Thursday evening with a 5-0 victory over the Iowa Cubs at Principal Park in Des Moines. Righty hurler Aaron Wilkerson tossed a three-hit, shutout gem through five and one-third innings of work with three strikeouts while the bullpen only allowed four hits through three and two-thirds.
On a misty evening in Des Moines, the Sky Sox and Cubs of the American North opened their five-game, four-day series. Colorado Springs jumped on the board in the second inning after a quiet initial frame. After Jacob Nottingham singled and Brett Phillips drew a walk, Andrés Blanco brought in the first run of the game on his 12th double to right field. An intentional walk to Dylan Moore would place runners on the corners and, with one out, Wilkerson grounded out to plate Phillips to give a 2-0 Sky Sox advantage.
Through the next four consecutive innings, the Cubs would retire 12 of the next 13 Sky Sox batters while the Sky Sox ended any Iowa scoring chance by forcing them into three consecutive double plays in three straight innings.
In the seventh, the Sky Sox offense picked it back up after two consecutive walks to Keon Broxton and Blanco. Following a double-steal by Broxton, who also stole second prior, and Blanco, recently promoted southpaw reliever Nick Ramirez collected his first Triple-A hit and RBI with a single to centerfield. Nate Orf plated the fourth Sky Sox run on his groundout to shortstop, extending the lead to 4-0.
Colorado Springs' final run came in the top of the ninth after Blanco led off with a walk and stole the squad's fifth base of the night. With a runner in scoring position, pinch-hitter Kyle Wren doubled to right field to bring the score to 5-0.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Cubs threatened with two runners on with less than two outs, but reliever Mike Zagurski worked out of the jam to hold the shutout with back-to-back strikeouts.
The Sky Sox enter into game two of a five-game set against the Iowa Cubs Thursday with a 6:08 p.m. MT scheduled first pitch at Principal Park in Des Moines, Iowa. For all information on Sky Sox, follow along on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and visit the team's website at www.skysox.com.
__NOTES__
Tomorrow's Preview: In the second game of the five-game series against the Iowa Cubs at Principal Park in Des Moines, the Sky Sox are sending righty Brandon Woodruff to the mound to face Cubs righty Trevor Clifton.
Fourth Shutout: The Sky Sox posted their fourth shutout of the season Thursday evening against the Iowa Cubs with a 5-0 victory. The last shutout for the Colorado Springs squad came on May 24 in Nashville when they blanked the Sounds 4-0.
Century Mark Reached: The Sky Sox stole 100 bases as a team on Thursday night at Iowa against the Cubs. In 2017, the team combined for 99 stolen bags over the entire season. In 2018, it took the squad just 71 games.
Zagurski Rolls On: Southpaw reliever Mike Zagurski, who leads the league in holds with 11, tossed his 30th game of 2018 on Thursday evening in Des Moines to put himself into a tie for first in the category with Oklahoma City's Joe Broussard.
Welcome: Recently promoted southpaw reliever Nick Ramirez made his third appearance of the season with the Sky Sox with one and two-thirds innings while allowing one hit. He also marked his first Triple-A hit and RBI on his single in the seventh inning.
Out-Hit W: The win in game one over the Cubs marked just the 10th time for the Sky Sox out of 28 times this season when they were out-hit by opponents and walked away with the victory.
Extended: Outfielder Tyrone Taylor extended his hit streak to six games Thursday night with his single in his first at bat. Over the six games, 9-for-27 with five runs, two doubles, three home runs, and seven RBI.
Orf Continues the Climb:  With the one hit by Nate Orf Tuesday evening, Orf passed Neifi Perez for 19th place with 301 hits. He became the 20th player in Sky Sox history to collect 300 regular season hits in his Sky Sox career Monday night with his two hits. In addition, the runs scored were numbers 197 and 198 for the infielder, which passed Jay Gainer for 10th place all time on runs scored. Matt Miller is next in 9th at 201 runs scored.
Wear It: The hit by pitch by Nate Orf was his 14th of the season, which is third most for a Sky Sox player in a single season. Clint Barmes holds the top two single season marks: 22 HBP in the 2007 season and 15 HBP in the 2004 season. The hit-by-pitch was also Orf's 31st regular season hit-by-pitch in a Sky Sox uniform, good for third place all-time. Barmes has the most with 47. Mark Strittmatter is second with 35 total.
New Career Highs: Alec Asher, who pitched out of the pen Tuesday evening, set new career highs in hits and earned runs allowed. In three and two-thirds innings, the righty allowed 10 earned runs on 11 hits. His previous high of hits allowed was 10 (8/14/15 vs. Pawtucket (AAA)) while his previous high of earned runs was 7 (3x, 4/28/14, 9/5/15 & 7/30/17).
American North: With the victory, Colorado Springs improved their overall record against American North opponents to 15-8.
Mas Hits: The 24 hits Tuesday marked the fourth time Salt Lake has had at least 24 hits in a game here in Colorado Springs. The other instances: 33 hits - July 29th, 1994 (most in stadium history); 27 hits - August 23rd, 2011; 24 hits - August 20th, 2001.The last time an opponent had 24 hits in a game in Colorado Springs was on May 29th, 2013 by Tacoma, who had 30 hits (the second most allowed in stadium history).
Fourth Time's the Charm:  The Sky Sox walked off in the bottom of the ninth inning on Father's Day (Sunday), marking their third walk-off of the season and their first since 5/12. They followed up with another walk-off on Monday for their second walk-off in as many days and their fourth of the season.
This Week's Preview: The Sky Sox are on the road in Des Moines to face off against the Iowa Cubs, Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, to play five total games at Principal Park in a four-day stretch, including a scheduled doubleheader on Saturday. The Sky Sox return home on Monday, June 25 and will host the Memphis Redbirds, St. Louis Cardinals top affiliate, for four games at Security Service Field.
NEXT GAME: Friday, June 22 @ Iowa - 6:08 p.m. MT @ Principal Park
RHP Brandon Woodruff (2-1, 2.57) vs. RHP Trevor Clifton (0-0, 2.79) | Broadcast on XTRA Sports 1300
Next Home Game: Monday, June 25 vs. Memphis Redbirds (STL)
COS TOP PERFORMERS
 Aaron Wilkerson (5.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 K)
 Andres Blanco (1-for-2, 2 BB, 2 R, 2 SB)
 Brett Phillips (1-for-3, R, BB, SB)
   IOWA TOP PERFORMERS
 Victor Caratini (3-for-4, 2B)
 Ryan Court (2-for-4, 2B)
Mark Zagunis (1-for-2, 2 BB)