The Colorado Springs Sky Sox jumped out to an early lead and the bullpen shut down multiple New Orleans rallies late to preserve an 8-5 win in front of 5,023 at the Shrine on Airline Thursday night.
The Colorado Springs Sky Sox jumped out to an early lead and the bullpen shut down multiple New Orleans rallies late to preserve an 8-5 win in front of 5,023 at the Shrine on Airline Thursday night.
The Sky Sox (42-28) scored all eight runs in the first three innings, starting with a five-run rally with two outs in the first inning. After a pair of strikeouts, Brett Phillips and Ivan De Jesus lined RBI singles to right and left fields, respectively. Baby Cakes starter Adam Conley uncorked a wild pitch to plate the third run before René García launched his third home run of 2017 to extend the early lead to five.
Garcia added to his season-high RBI total in the third inning, grounding a two-out single up the middle to score Garrett Cooper and Phillips. With his two hits, Garcia extended his season-long hitting streak to six games, recording two hits in his last three games. Kirk Nieuwenhuis capped the offense by drawing a bases-loaded walk to extend the lead to 8-0.
Angel Ventura (2-1, 3.00) got back in the win column, tossing five innings while allowing three earned runs. Tom WIlhelmsen made his 2017 Sky Sox debut, while Stephen Kohlscheen threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings, retiring the tying run at the plate in both the seventh and eighth innings. David Goforth earned his fourth save by forcing potential tying runner KC Serna to ground out to Cooper at first base and give the Sox their fourth straight win.
Colorado Springs and New Orleans square off Friday night at 6 p.m. MT for the second game in the four-game series. RHP Michael Blazek (1-1, 3.26) looks to build off his 7.2 inning outing Sunday when he faces RHP Scott Copeland (4-7, 5.97) and the Baby Cakes.
