TAYLOR'S TWO-HOME RUN NIGHT LIFTS SKY SOX IN SERIES OPENER

POSTGAME NOTES
Friday, August 17, 2018 vs. Omaha Storm Chasers (KC)
Colorado Springs Sky Sox (62-59) | Omaha Storm Chasers (58-65)
TAYLOR'S TWO-HOME RUN NIGHT LIFTS SKY SOX IN SERIES OPENER
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The Sky Sox opened their second-to-last homestand of the 2018 season with an 8-5 victory over the Omaha Storm Chasers, with Tyrone Taylor leading the offensive surge with two homers, three total hits, and four RBI on the night.
Following a scoreless initial frame, the Sky Sox struck the board in the second inning courtesy of Tyrone Taylor's leadoff home run, his 16th of the season, to give the home team the 1-0 lead.
After the Storm Chasers evened the game up in the top of the third with an unearned run, the Sky Sox manufactured another solo run to go up 2-1. Nate Orf struck a one-out single while Tyler Saladino reached on a fielding error. After a fly out by Christian Bethancourt for the second out, Taylor came up clutch once again with a RBI single to left field.
Once again, Omaha jumped into a rhythm, plating one run to tie the game at 2-2 on two singles and a walk in the inning.
The scoring didn't resume until the bottom of the seventh when Colorado Springs extended the lead out to 7-2 with a five-run frame. Dylan Moore started the frame with a single and after stealing second, advanced to third base on a wild pitch. Quintin Berry drew a one-out walk to put runners on the corners, but quickly got into scoring position himself after stealing second. After a wild pitch to plate Moore and a walk to Orf, Saladino went down on strikeouts to record the first out. A throwing error down to second on Orf's stolen base would plate Berry from third while Bethancourt followed up with a double to plate another. Taylor capped off the scoring frame with his second homer of the night, completing his four-RBI stint. The Sky Sox would score one additional run in the bottom of the eighth after Berry singled to bring in Moore, who tripled.
In the top of the ninth, the Storm Chasers found late offensive life. With two outs and the bases loaded by way of base on balls, a fourth walk would score the first run. Frank Schwindel singled on a groundball up the middle to get within three runs of the Sky Sox. Elier Hernandez, who represented the tying run, came up a connected with a deep fly to left-center field, which was tracked down by a racing Berry to end the rally and contest.
The Sky Sox are home to host the Omaha Storm Chasers for three games, with an off day on Monday the 20th before hosting the Iowa Cubs for another three games to round out their penultimate homestand of 2018. 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: The Sky Sox head into the second game of the three-game set against the Omaha Storm Chasers, Triple-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals, with first pitch scheduled for 6:00 p.m. MST. Omaha righty Zach Lovvorn will get the nod while right-hander Aaron Wilkerson will go for the Sky Sox.
Another Quality from Brooks: Aaron Brooks tossed another quality outing last night, marking his third consecutive quality start and fourth overall in his last six bids. In six and one-third innings, the righty only allowed one earned run with a walk surrendered and two strikeouts.
Sweet On Brink of History: With the win on Friday night, manager Rick Sweet's win count improves to 271 total (regular season) with the Sky Sox, tying former manager Brad Mills' club record in wins as Sky Sox manager. If you include postseason wins, Sweet is at 273 overall wins, trailing Mills by only three overall wins.
Swipers Keep Swipin': The Sky Sox combined for four stolen bags on the night in the first game against the Omaha Storm Chasers. The most by the squad in a game this season is seven, which was set on June 2 against Iowa.
Taylor's Tremendousness: Outfielder Tyrone Taylor opened up the second-to-last Sky Sox homestand with early fireworks, going 3-for-4 with two home runs, two runs scored, and four RBI. It marked his 16th and 17th home runs of the season and first four-RBI game for him in 2018. The two-homer game by Tyrone Taylor marks the 15th time a Sky Sox player has had a two-homer game against Omaha. The last instance took place on July 2nd, 2017 by Nate Orf at Werner Park in Papillion. The last two-homer game by a Sky Sox player against Omaha here in Colorado Springs: Matt Clark, on May 1st, 2015.  
Franchise Climb in Steals: The four stolen bases tonight for the Sky Sox gives them 151 stolen bases in a season, which currently ties for the second most stolen bases in a season by a Sky Sox team. The 151 stolen bases match the 2016 squad for the second most stolen bases in a season in Sky Sox history. The single season record is 169 stolen bases, which happened during the 2009 season.
The Hunt For First: The Sky Sox continue the hunt for their second-consecutive playoff run, battling it out with other top contender of the American North - the Oklahoma City Dodgers. Last season, the Sky Sox broke one of the longest postseason droughts in professional sports - taking the American North division for the first time and breaking their 20-year absence. Currently, the Sky Sox trail the Dodgers by two games in the standings.
Berry's Trio: Outfielder Quintin Berry stole three bases for the Sky Sox on Thursday afternoon in the final game against Iowa, marking the first time since June 2 when Dylan Moore met the feat. It was the third time this season where a Sky Sox player stole three bases in a game (Dubon on 5/4, Moore on 6/2).
Orf Alert: The hit by pitch by Nate Orf in the seventh inning of game three against Iowa was his 19th HBP this season, the second most in a season by any Sky Sox player. Clint Barmes holds the single season record with 22 HBP in the 2007 season. The hit by pitch by Orf is also his 36th HBP in the regular season in his Sky Sox career, moving him past former Sky Sox catcher Mark Strittmatter (35) for second place all-time. Strittmatter played parts of seven seasons with the Sky Sox (1993, 1995-2000). Clint Barmes holds the career HBP record with 47 HBP (2003-2004, 2007-2008).
Davies' Rehab: Zach Davies made his fifth rehab start with the Sky Sox on Thursday afternoon while marking his third losing decision. On Thursday, Davies tossed three and two-thirds innings while allowing four runs on three hits and walked five batters. Overall, he has totaled 17.0 innings while allowing 12 runs on 18 hits with 12 walks and 13 strikeouts.
Early Scoring: Nashville held the easy advantage in early scoring in the series against Colorado Springs this weekend. Over the four games, the Sounds outscored the Sky Sox by a total of 15-6 in the first three innings.
Three Outs, One Play: The Nashville Sounds completed the first Triple Play in the PCL this season on Sunday the 12th. In the bottom of the sixth with two on and no outs, Dylan Moore grounded right at the third base bag, which resulted in a five-four-three triple play to end the inning. It marked the seventh triple play against the Sky Sox, last happening on July 20, 2015 at home also against Nashville. In the 8th inning that game, with Jason Rogers at second and Matt Clark at first, and both running on the pitch, Matt Dominguez for the Sky Sox lined out to Nashville center fielder Craig Gentry on a diving catch for the first out. Gentry threw to second baseman Joey Wendle to get Rogers for the second out, then Wendle threw to first baseman Anthony Aliotti at first base to complete the triple play. Nashville won that game, 10-5.
Swept: The Sky Sox were swept for the first time this season by the Nashville Sounds this weekend. The Sky Sox now total one sweep against an opponent and one sweep by an opponent with 11 series wins, nine series losses, and 10 series ties.
Extras: The Sky Sox played their 10th extra-inning game of the season on Sunday, falling in their fourth straight. Colorado Springs is now 2-8 in extra-inning contests in 2018. The team is now 0-6 at home in extra innings. Last year was the first time the Sky Sox had lost four at home in extra innings (2-4). The last time the Sky Sox lost eight games in extra innings was in 2003 (1-3 at home, 3-6 on the road).
Leading Into the Ninth: The Sky Sox marked their third defeat when leading in a game after eight innings on Sunday. The squad is now 47-3 when losing the lead after eight innings.
Red Hot: The Sky Sox could not end the red-hot Nashville Sounds, dropping the fourth straight game of a four-game set with a 9-7 score in extra innings. The Sounds collected their 13th win in a row.
'Pen holding it down: After three runs were allowed by starter Paolo Espino through five frames on Saturday, relievers Bubba Derby and Mike Zagurski held off any additional scoring. Derby tossed three, two-hit frames while Zagurski tossed a 1-2-3 ninth.
Five or Less: The Sky Sox were held to five or less hits for the 23rd time this season last Friday. It marked the eighth time in 2018 where the Sky Sox were held to four hits exactly.
Heavy Damage: The 18 runs the Sky Sox surrendered last Thursday night marked the most runs they've given up in a game all season. The previous high of 17 runs also came at home in Security Service Field, on 6/19 against the Salt Lake Bees.
Lengthy Evening: The three-hour and 55-minute contest last Thursday night was the longest game the Sky Sox have played all season, unseating the previous long of three-hours and 53-minutes, which came less than a month ago on the road in New Orleans against the Baby Cakes on 7/14. The 3:55 time for the 18-9 game marks the longest nine-inning Sky Sox game (time) against the Nashville Sounds. The previous longest nine-inning game in time between the Sky Sox and Nashville was at 3:47, taking place on April 10th, 2015, where Nashville won that game, 12-8.
This Week's Preview: The Sky Sox are back at Security Service Field for a split seven-day homestand with three-game sets against the Omaha Storm Chasers and the Iowa Cubs.
NEXT GAME: Saturday, August 18 at 6:00 p.m. MT vs. Omaha Storm Chasers @ Security Service Field
RHP Aaron Wilkerson (3-4, 2.48) vs. RHP Zach Lovvorn (1-6, 7.23) - Broadcast on XTRA Sports 1300
Promotion: Harry Potter Night with Post-Game Fireworks
COS TOP PERFORMERS
 Tyrone Taylor (3-for-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI)
 Dylan Moore (2-for-4, 3B, 2 R, 1 SB)
 Nate Orf (2-for-4, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 SB)
OMA TOP PERFORMERS
 Trevor Oaks (6.0 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 2 K)
 Parker Morin (2-for-3, 2B, 2 R, 1 BB)
 Frank Schwindel (1-for-4, 2 RBI, 1 BB)