SKY SOX DROP FINAL GAME AGAINST ROUND ROCK TO SPLIT SERIES

POSTGAME NOTES
Thursday, July 19, 2018 vs. Round Rock Express (TEX)
Colorado Springs Sky Sox (53-43) | Round Rock Express (46-51)
SKY SOX DROP FINAL GAME AGAINST ROUND ROCK TO SPLIT SERIES
 
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - After winning the first two games of this series, the Sky Sox dropped the final two to split the four-game set with the Round Rock Express.  Colorado Springs fell 4-3 on Thursday night to wrap up the brief homestand, before heading out onto the road to face first-place Memphis.
After the high-scoring extra-inning contest last night, tonight's game started quietly by comparison, with the first two innings seeing no runs scored and only three combined hits between the two squads.  In the top of the third inning, Round Rock scored the first run of the evening.  With one out on the board, Drew Robinson hit his third triple of the past two days for his second hit of the night after lining a double in his first at-bat back in the first inning.  Christian Lopes then hit a sacrifice fly for the second out of the inning to score Robinson to make it 1-0 Round Rock.  Andy Ibanez then drew a walk, advancing to second on a Will Calhoun single, before Carlos Pèrez flew out to end the half-inning.
The Express would score again in the fourth frame, continuing their trend in this series of scoring in consecutive innings (they scored in five consecutive frames last night, from the fourth through the eighth inning).  In the first at-bat of the half-inning, Hunter Cole hit his seventh homer of the season to straight center field to extend Round Rock's lead to 2-0.
Colorado Springs answered in the bottom half of the inning, tying up the game with a pair of runs.  Orlando Arcia led off with a double, advancing to third on a wild pitch.  Tyrone Taylor then grounded out, scoring Arcia in the process.  Domingo Santana followed up the run with a single, moving up to third in the next at-bat on a Christian Bethancourt single.  Jett Bandy then hit a deep sacrifice fly to score Santana from third, equalizing the game at two runs apiece.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Sky Sox took their first lead of the contest.  Arcia tripled for his second hit of the night to put the go-ahead run 90 feet from home.  Two batters later, Santana hit a slow ground out, allowing Arcia to sprint home to give Colorado Springs a 3-2 lead. 
After a scoreless seventh inning, the Express scored again in the eighth.  Perez hit a leadoff single, followed by a Nick Torres single that put runners on the corners with one out.  Juan Centeno then hit a game-tying sacrifice fly, before Hanser Alberto tripled to bring in Torres and retake the lead for Round Rock, 4-3.
The 4-3 score would hold, with the Sky Sox splitting the series with the Express after winning games one and two, and dropping games three and four. 
The Sky Sox head out onto the road to Memphis tomorrow for a three-game set against the Redbirds.  They return home on the 24th to host the El Paso Chihuahuas for three games, followed by a four-game set against the Albuquerque Isotopes.  It will be the first and only time this season Colorado Springs plays El Paso and Albuquerque.  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 first game of a three-game series against the Redbirds in Memphis, the Sky Sox are sending righty Aaron Wilkerson to the mound to face off against fellow righty Chris Ellis for the Redbirds.  Both hurlers are in search of their third win of the season.
Round Rock Look-Back:  With Thursday night being the last scheduled contest between the Sky Sox and the Express, here is a look back at some of the history between the two clubs.  The first Sky Sox game at the Dell Diamond in Round Rock: July 26th, 2005 - Pascual Matos went 3-for-5 with 3 RBI, while Eddy Garabito went 3-for-5 with 1 RBI as the Sky Sox beat Round Rock, 8-2, in front of 8,406.  The first Round Rock game at Sky Sox Stadium (now Security Service Field): August 2nd, 2006 - Josh Wilson went 3-for-4 with 3 RBI and Carlos Rivera went 3-for-4 with 2 RBI as the Sky Sox beat Round Rock, 10-9. Round Rock's Brooks Conrad, Cody Ransom, and Brian Gordon each homered off Ubaldo Jiménez, in front of 2,047.  The last Sky Sox game at Round Rock - July 3rd, 2018, Tyler Heineman went 4-for-4, and Willie Calhoun belted a three-run homer as the Express beat the Sky Sox, 8-4, in front of 13,091. Tyrone Taylor belted a three-run homer in the loss for the Sky Sox.
Dilly Dilly:  Tim Dillard's relief appearance on Thursday was his 106th game pitched (in the regular season) with the Sky Sox, putting him in a tie for 7th place all time with Pete Walker, who pitched in 106 games for the Sky Sox in 1999-2000. Dillard's next appearance will move him into sole possession of 7th place all-time. Edgmer Escalona is next in 6th place at 124 regular season games pitched with the Sky Sox.  Tim Dillard's intentional walk in the top of the ninth inning, was his eighth career intentional walk with the Sky Sox, moving him into a four-way tie for 7th place all-time in career intentional walks issued (regular season), tying him with Steve Bourgeois (8 IBB from 1997-1998, 2000), Jim Czajkowski (8 IBB from 1994-1995), and David Goforth (8 IBB from 2015-2017). Reliever Tim Dillard notched his second win of the season with the Sky Sox Tuesday night. He now is tied for 17th in most wins for a Sky Sox pitcher overall with Hiram Burgos, Pete Walker and Nate Minchey with 15 wins. 14 of Dillard's 15 wins have come in relief, which is good for a tie for fourth all-time with Scott Fredrickson (1993, 95, 96) for most wins in relief.
Sweet Tally: Manager Rick Sweet is nine regular season wins away to pass Brad Mills for the regular season wins as Sky Sox manager and 12 wins away to pass him in overall wins with the Sky Sox.
Noriega Joins the Party:  In the fourth inning on Wednesday night, Gabriel Noriega hit a two-run home run to make it 4-1 for his first homer in a Sky Sox uniform.  His last Triple-A home run came all the way back on 8/21/14 when he was with the Tacoma Rainiers, at Cheney Stadium against the Omaha Storm Chasers.
The Double Triple:  Drew Robinson's triple in the 10^th inning Wednesday night, his second triple in the game, marked the 18th time an opponent has had two triples in a game against the Sky Sox.  The last opponent with a two triple game against the Sky Sox: John Andreoli (Iowa) on April 28th, 2015 (G2) in Colorado Springs.  The last Round Rock player with a two triple game against the Sky Sox: Jared Hoying on April 13th, 2015 in Colorado Springs.
Hager Goes Off:  Infielder Jake Hager collected his third career five-hit game on Tuesday against Round Rock. He went 5-for-6 after collecting a double and four singles with an RBI and two runs. His first five-hit game was on June 29, 2012 while with Bowling Green where he went 5-for-5 with three doubles. His last was on April 26, 2016 while with Montgomery when he went 5-for-5 (all singles). After going 5-for-6 on Tuesday night with all five hits coming in consecutive at-bats, Jake Hager kept his streak going on Wednesday night after going 3-for-3 in his first three at-bats of the night to make it eight hits in eight consecutive at-bats.  He grounded out in his fourth at-bat to end the streak at eight, but hit a single in his fifth at-bat and grounded out in his sixth to go 4-for-6 on the night, and 9-for-12 in the two contests combined.  The 5-hit game Tuesday and 4-hit game Wednesday by Jake Hager marks the ninth instance where a Sky Sox player had 4 hits or more in back-to-back games. Charlie Culberson was the last to do it (4 hits on July 13th, 2013 and 4 hits on July 14th, 2013 vs. Salt Lake). Culberson is the only player to have back-to-back four hit games twice with the Sky Sox (also doing it on September 1st and 2nd, 2012).  Hager is only the fourth player in Sky Sox history to hit in consecutive games involving both a 4-hit and a 5-hit game. The other three: - Ed Hearn - 4 hits on July 30th, 1990, and 5 hits on July 31st, 1990, - Jeff Manto - 5 hits on July 18th, 1991 and 4 hits on July 19th, 1991, - J.R. Phillips - 4 hits on August 8th, 1999 and 5 hits on August 9th, 1999.
Long List: With the addition of Jeff Ames on Tuesday night, Ames became the 56th different player to play for the Sky Sox this season (27 position players, 29 pitchers), almost reaching the season totals for the last two seasons: - 2016 (57 players - 27 position players + 30 pitchers), - 2017 (55 during regular season - 24 position players +31 pitchers) [- 4 additional in 2017 postseason - 3 position players + 1 pitcher)]. The addition of Jeff Ames on Tuesday raises the 31-year his- tory of the Triple-A of Sky Sox baseball to 1,085 players who have appeared in one game (regular season or postseason), 512 position players and 573 pitchers. With the recent first time call-ups of Nate Orf and Corbin Burnes earlier in July, it now marks that 822 of the Sky Sox 1,085 players (75.8%) that have appeared in one game in the majors. During the four affiliation with the Brewers since 2015, there have been 145 players that have played for the Sky Sox (69 position players + 76 pitchers). With Boone Logan's appearance with the Sky Sox earlier this season, there has also been seven additional players who played for the Sky Sox during the Colorado Rockies affiliation (1993-2014) and the Milwaukee Brewers affiliation (since 2015): position players Michael McKenry, Chris Nelson, and Eric Young, Jr., plus four pitchers: Logan, Jim Miller, Josh Roenicke, and Rob Swahili.
Santana Knocks Two: Outfielder Domingo Santana knocked his first and second Sky Sox home runs in clutch fashion Tuesday night. With one out in the bottom of the fourth and down a run, he hit an opposite-field home run to make it a 7-5 Sky Sox lead. In the sixth, he hit a solo shot to tie the game up at 8-8. Before being optioned on June 23, Santana played in 62 games for the Brewers with three home runs.
Two-HR Games: Santana's two-home run game against Round Rock at home marked the first individual two-home run game since July 1 in Round Rock when Nate Orf slugged two and fourth total of the season for the Sky Sox. The last two-homer home game against Round Rock was on May 7, 2008 by Ian Stewart.
19 Hits: The Sky Sox marked a second-highest mark in hits on the season with 19 against Round Rock on Tuesday. The most they have accrued this season so far is 20, which was met on April 30 against Nashville at home.
Another 10-Run Matchup: Tuesday night's run parade marked the eighth time where the Sky Sox and Express have both scored 10 runs each in a game against each other.
New High In Walks: The Sky Sox arms set a new high in walks this season with 11 total on Tuesday night. The previous high set this season was 10 which was set just three games prior on July 14 in New Orleans. On Tuesday night, every Sky Sox pitcher had at least one walk. The last time Sky Sox pitching gave up 11 walks at home was on April 7, 2011 against Tucson.
Walk This Way: There were 17 total walks in Saturday night's contest between the Baby Cakes and the Sky Sox, with the Sky Sox issuing 10 and the Baby Cakes allowing seven free passes. The last time the Sky Sox issued at least 10 walks in a game and still won the game took place last year on May 16th, 2017 in El Paso, when the Sky Sox issued 11 walks and still beat the Chihuahuas, 15-11.
Home Run Count: With 20 home runs this month through 7/17, the Sky Sox had tied for their second-most in a month in just 14 games. Their second highest count was 20, which was set over 29 games in May. The most they have tallied in a month came in June, which was 37 HR over 28 games.  On Wednesday night Gabriel Noriega hit homer number 21 to surpass May's effort for second-most homers in a month for the Sky Sox, and in just 15 games.
Davis' 36th: Reliever Erik Davis made his 36th appearance Tuesday night, putting him into a tie for third in most games pitched across the PCL.
Former Sky Sox To MLB All-Stars: Four 2018 National League All-Stars spent time with the Sky Sox during their Triple-A campaigns: reliever Josh Hader (MIL - 2017), Charlie Blackmon (COL - 2011-13), Nolan Arenado (COL - 2013-14), and Scooter Gennett (MIL - 2015).
Ramirez' First Career Start: Since being converted to a pitcher two seasons ago, Nick Ramirez had pitched in a total of 77 games before getting his first start, which came on Monday night against the Round Rock Express. Ramirez threw four innings in the start, giving up no runs on just a sole hit with one walk while striking out a pair of Express batters.
This Week's Preview: The Sky Sox head out onto the road to Memphis tomorrow for a three-game set against the Redbirds.  They return home on the 24th to host the El Paso Chihuahuas for three games, followed by a four-game set against the Albuquerque Isotopes.  It will be the first and only time this season Colorado Springs plays El Paso and Albuquerque. 
 
 
NEXT GAME: Friday, July 20 at 6:05 p.m. MT vs. Memphis Redbirds @ Autozone Park
RHP Aaron Wilkerson (2-2, 2.08) vs. RHP Chris Ellis (2-1, 3.25) - Broadcast on XTRA Sports 1300
NEXT HOME GAME: Tuesday, July 24 at 6:40 p.m. MT vs. El Paso Chihuahuas @ Security Service Field
 
COS TOP PERFORMERS
 Paolo Espino (5.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 7 SO)
 Orlando Arcia (2-for-4, 2B, 3B, 2 R)
 Domingo Santana (2-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI)
 
 RR TOP PERFORMERS
 Drew Robinson (2-for-4, 2B, 3B, 1 R, 1 BB)
 Adrian Sampson (7.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 SO)
 Hanser Alberto (2-for-4, 3B, 1 RBI)