SKY SOX WIN FIRST HOME GAME OF SECOND HALF

POSTGAME NOTES
Monday, July 16, 2018 vs. Round Rock Express (TEX)
Colorado Springs Sky Sox (52-41) | Round Rock Express (44-50)
SKY SOX WIN FIRST HOME GAME OF SECOND HALF
 
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The Sky Sox opened up their first homestand after the All-Star Break with a 5-4 win over the Round Rock Express Monday night, after going 2-2 on the road in New Orleans in the first series of the second half. 
After the Express went three up and three down in the top of the first, the Sky Sox bats went to work in the bottom half of the inning.  Orlando Arcia drew a one-out walk, and in the next at-bat, on a Tyrone Taylor single, Arcia came all the way home on an early Round Rock error for the first run of the night, with Taylor ending up at second on the play.  A wild pitch advanced Taylor to third, and a Domingo Santana single would score him to make it 2-0.  Christian Bethancourt then crushed a team-leading 14th home run to put the Sky Sox up 4-0 in the first.
The four-run first inning was followed by three scoreless frames, with Colorado Springs' starter Nick Ramirez exiting the game after the conclusion of the fourth inning.  Though Ramirez had pitched in 77 career games prior to this evening, tonight was his first career start.  Ramirez was scoreless in the start, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out two Round Rock batters.
In the top of the fifth inning Ramirez was replaced on the mound by Michael Brady, who gave up the first run of the night to Round Rock.  Tony Sanchez and Juan Centeno hit back-to-back one-out singles to put two on for Drew Robinson, who hit a single of his own to score Sanchez and make it a 4-1 contest.
In the top of the next inning, the Express added on.  Scott Heineman led off with a single, and Willie Calhoun doubled in the next at-bat to score Heineman.  A wild pitch from Brady then allowed Calhoun to move up to third, and a Sanchez single would score Calhoun to reduce Colorado Springs' lead to just one run. 
The Sky Sox immediately responded in the bottom half of the frame, scoring again for the first time since the four-run first inning.  Santana drew a one-out walk, moving up to second on a Bethancourt fly out, eliciting a pitching change from Round Rock.  The pitching change didn't work out, however, as Jett Bandy promptly hit an RBI double off the new Express pitcher (Tayler Scott) to extend the Sky Sox lead to 5-3.
Round Rock began to threaten in the penultimate inning, with Hunter Cole drawing a leadoff walk.  Sanchez then reached on the Sky Sox first error of the evening to put two on with no outs.  Juan Centeno then laid down a sacrifice bunt to move both runners over, before Hanser Alberto was hit by pitch to load the bases for Cliff Pennington, who drew a walk to plate Cole and make it 5-4.  The Express were unable to bring anyone else home, however, with the Sky Sox retaining a one-run lead going into the bottom of the eighth.
The bottom of the eighth and the top of the ninth saw no score change, however, with the Sky Sox winning their first home game of the second half 5-4.
The Sky Sox are in the midst of a four-game series against the Round Rock Express at Security Service Field, before going on the road to Memphis for a three-game set against the Redbirds. 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 four-game series against the Round Rock Express back home in Colorado Springs, the Sky Sox are sending righty Adrian Houser to the mound to face off against Round Rock's righty Richelson Peña, who is searching for his third win of the season.  Houser is looking for his second.
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.
Blanco's Blast: Infielder Andrés Blanco broke the shutout bid Sunday afternoon to lead off the top of the seventh with a solo home run, marking his fifth of the season. Blanco finished going 3-for-4 on Sunday while teammate Domingo Santana collected the only other multi-hit performance. It was his first home run since June 19 against Salt Lake in Colorado Springs.
Triple-A Debut in the Books: In his Triple-A debut on Sunday against New Orleans on the road, righty Cameron Roegner finished after four-and-one-third innings while allowing five earned runs on eight hits with three walks allowed and four strikeouts. Over 17 starts in Carolina this season, he is 8-5 with a 2.38 ERA.
Shutout Avoided: Blanco's home run on Sunday avoided the Sky Sox being shutout for a fourth time this year. The Colorado Springs squad was shutout for the first time in 2018 on May 26 (4-0) and blanked again the next day, May 27 (5-0), both in Memphis. The last time the team was shutout was on June 5 in Fresno (1-0).
Roster Moves:  With Miguel Sanchez making his Triple-A debut with the Sky Sox in the fifth inning Saturday night (even though he was called up earlier this season but did not make an appearance), Sanchez became the 54th player to play for the Sky Sox this season (27 position players, 27 pitchers). Here's the breakdown of players used each season during the Brewers affiliation (since 2015):  2015 - 22 position players, 30 pitchers (52 total), 2016 - 27 position players, 30 pitchers (57 total), 2017 - 24 position players, 31 pitchers (55 total during regular season) [27 position players, 32 pitchers (4 additional in 2017 postseason, 59 grand total)], 2018 - Through 7/14 - 27 position players, 27 pitchers (54 total).  The most Sky Sox players that appeared in a game in one season happened during the 2005 season (during Colorado Rockies affiliation), when 67 players were used that season (34 position players, 33 pitchers). There were four additional position players that were called up to the Sky Sox that 2005 season. However, those four players did not appear in a game.)  In comparison, the fewest players used in a season for the Sky Sox was only 41 players used, done twice (during Rockies affiliation). In 1994, only 21 position players and 20 pitchers were used, and in 1998, only 20 position players and 21 pitchers were used. In 1992, during Cleveland Indians affiliation, there were only 40 players used in the regular season (22 position players, 18 pitchers), with three additional players used in the postseason, raising the total to 43 grand total (24 position players, 19 pitchers).
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.
Going Deep, Again:  In the top of the fifth inning Saturday night, Brett Phillips lined his second solo homer in as many nights to make it a 3-2 ballgame.  The last Sky Sox batter to hit home runs in consecutive games was Tyrone Taylor on July 3rd and 4th against the Round Rock Express on the 3rd and the Baby Cakes on the 4th.
Leaving Men On:  Though the Sky Sox and the Baby Cakes combined for seven runs on Friday night, they also combined to go 1-for-19 with runners in scoring position.  Colorado Springs went 0-for-6 with RISP, while New Orleans went 1-for-13 with RISP.  There were also four solo homers in the game; two for each squad.
The Back-to-Back:  In the third inning on Friday night, Brett Phillips hit his fifth homer of the season, and the Sky Sox first home run of the second half to make it 1-0.  Orlando Arcia then immediately followed up Phillips' home run with a solo dinger of his own to make it 2-0 Sky Sox. That was only Arcia's second homer of the season, and his first on the road.  It was the first time the Sky Sox have gone back-to-back since Independence Day, when Arcia hit his first homer of the season in the first inning against New Orleans at Security Service Field, immediately before Tyrone Taylor followed up with a homer of his own.
First Half in the Books: The Sky Sox finished the first half of season with the third-best record in the Pacific Coast League (49-39), behind Fresno (52-37, 2nd, Pacific North) and Memphis (56-34, 1st, American South). As a squad, the offense ends the half with a .274 average (801-for-2924), which is good for sixth best in the PCL. Over 89 games, the team has collected 161 doubles, 36 triples, 85 home runs, 420 RBI, 304 walks, 736 strikeouts, and are the outright leaders in stolen bags (118) by 40. On the pitching end of things, Colorado Springs staff fares fifth best with their 49-39 record and 4.30 ERA. The staff to this point have totaled 759.0 innings of work and allowed 767 hits over 3,296 batters faced with 363 ER, 64 home runs, 294 walks, and 694 strikeouts tallied.
In Comparison: At the half last season (2017), the Sky Sox also led the American Northern Division. After 89 games, the Colorado Springs squad finished six games up in the conference with a 55-34 record. This season, the Sky Sox finish the half also atop the conference with a 49-39 record but just one-and-a-half games up.
Number 11: In 22 total series before the All-Star break, the Sky Sox finished with 11 series wins following the game four win Saturday night with six series losses and five series ties.
This Week's Preview: The Sky Sox returned home on Monday, July 16 to take on the Round Rock Express (TEX) for four games before going back on the road for three games in Memphis against the Redbirds.
First Half Notable Happenings:
- 2-Hitter (Combined) by Freddy Peralta, J.J. Hoover, Michael Brady, and Jorge López, 4/5 (Gm. 2) @ Omaha
- Home Run in 3 straight games by Keon Broxton, 4/10-11-14 v. NO (2)/RR (1), Five RBI game by Kyle Wren, 6/6/2018 @ Fresno
- 3-Hitter (Combined) by Corbin Burnes, Nick Ramirez, Erik Davis, 4/19/18 @ New Orleans
- 17 Runs scored and 20 Combined Hits on April 30 against Nashville
- Corbin Burnes 13-strikeout game on May 6 against Oklahoma City (road - 7.0 IP)
- Grand Slam by Kyle Wren, 6/2/2018 vs. Iowa
- Freddy Peralta 11-strikeout game on June 10 against Sacramento (road - 6.0 IP)
- Eight-run seventh inning against Las Vegas on June 15 (home)
- Three Walk-Off wins in June including back-to-back on June 17/18 over Salt Lake (5 total pre-All-Star)
 
 
NEXT GAME: Tuesday, July 16 at 6:40 p.m. MT vs. Round Rock Express @ Security Service Field
RHP Adrian Houser (1-1, 3.68) vs. RHP Richelson Pena (2-1, 4.29) - Broadcast on XTRA Sports 1300
Promotion: $2 Tuesday - $2 Tickets, $2 Parking, $2 Coors (Presented by Boost Mobile)
 
COS TOP PERFORMERS
 Nick Ramirez (4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO)
 Christian Bethancourt (1-for-4, HR, 1 R, 2 RBI)
 Domingo Santana (1-for-2, 2 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB)
 
RR TOP PERFORMERS
 Willie Calhoun (2-for-3, 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB)
 Tony Sanchez (2-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI)
 Cliff Pennington (1-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 BB)