RICK SWEET BECOMES SKY SOX FRANCHISE WINNINGEST MANAGER

POSTGAME NOTES
Saturday, August 18, 2018 vs. Omaha Storm Chasers (KC)
Colorado Springs Sky Sox (63-59) | Omaha Storm Chasers (58-66)
 
RICK SWEET BECOMES SKY SOX FRANCHISE WINNINGEST MANAGER
Sweet Surpasses Former Team Manager Brad Mills With 272nd Regular Season Win Saturday Night
 
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Sky Sox manager Rick Sweet became the franchise's all-time winningest manager (regular season) Saturday night after the team closed out a close 3-2 victory over the Omaha Storm Chasers at Security Service Field. The win marked Sweet's 272nd overall regular season win with the Sky Sox since he began as the manager for the team in 2015. The victory moved Colorado Springs a game up in the standings and they now trail by just one game to Oklahoma City with 17 games remaining in 2018.
Omaha struck the board first in game two in the top of the third. Humberto Arteaga began the frame with a leadoff double and advanced on Billy Burns sacrifice bunt. Nicky Lopez came through with a single to right field to give the Storm Chasers the 1-0 advantage.
After going one over the minimum, Omaha's Zach Lovvorn finally surrendered his first hit to the Sky Sox in the bottom of the fifth when Rymer Liriano knocked a two-out double down the right-field line.
In the top of the seventh, Elier Hernandez doubled with two outs and was brought around on Jack Lopez's single to left field to give the Storm Chasers the 2-0 lead.
The Sky Sox offense entered the bottom of the seventh with just one hit. After two consecutive groundouts, Christian Bethancourt singled to extend the inning. Richie Shaffer then stepped up, knocking a two-run home run to tie the game at 2-2.
In the top of the eighth, Arteaga led off with a ground-rule double. In the next at-bat, Burns laid down a sacrifice bunt to the third base side of the mound while reliever Bubba Derby tried to make a quick play at third. His throw went wide, but stayed within short pickup distance after hitting off of the umpire, forcing a rundown to home plate where third baseman Dylan Moore dove and tagged out a speeding Arteaga for the first out. The Sky Sox were able to get two more outs in the inning unharmed and with the game still tied at two apiece.
With two outs once again, in the bottom half of the eighth, Tyler Saladino came in clutch with a triple off of the right-field wall and, after a throwing error past third base and into the dugout, he scored the go-ahead run to give the Sky Sox the 3-2 advantage.
Omaha's Cam Gallagher led the top of the ninth off with a walk, representing the tying run. After a groundout for the first out, which advanced Gallagher into scoring position, Elier Hernandez hit a sharp ball to right field that was caught on the run by Nate Orf for the second out. Jack Lopez ended the ballgame on a strikeout swinging delivered by Jacob Barnes.
The Sky Sox finish the series with the Omaha Storm Chasers tomorrow before heading into an off day on Monday. The team will then host 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 final game of the three-game set against the Omaha Storm Chasers, Triple-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals, with first pitch scheduled for 1:30 p.m. MST.  Omaha southpaw Jonathan Dziedzic will get the nod while right-hander Brandon Woodruff will go for the Sky Sox.
Sweet Makes Franchise History: With the win on Saturday night, manager Rick Sweet's win count improves to 272 total (regular season) with the Sky Sox, surpassing former manager Brad Mills' club record in wins as Sky Sox manager. If you include postseason wins, Sweet is at 274 overall wins, trailing Mills by only two overall wins.
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 just one game in the standings with 17 regular season games left in 2018.
Five-Hit Victory: The Sky Sox marked their second 3-2 victory this season when only recording just five hits against them. On April 28, the Sky Sox defeated the Storm Chasers 3-2 at Security Service Field though Omaha out-hit Colorado Springs 9-5. It marked the seventh overall victory this season for the Sky Sox when recording five or fewer hits (4/28 vs. Omaha (5); 6/23 Game 2 @ Iowa (5); 6/24 @ Iowa (5); 7/6 Game One vs. New Orleans (3); 7/12 @ New Orleans (5); 8/14 @ Iowa (5).
Hit 'Em Where It Hurts… and Counts: Down by two runs in the bottom of the seventh, Richie Shaffer stepped up with two outs and collected his first Sky Sox home run to tie the game late at two apiece.
Trailing After Six: The Sky Sox recorded their sixth win of the season when trailing after six innings of play as well as their sixth win after being tied through seven frames.  
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.
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.
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.
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.  
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).
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. 
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: Sunday, August 19 at 1:30 p.m. MT vs. Omaha Storm Chasers @ Security Service Field
RHP Brandon Woodruff (3-2, 3.67) vs. LHP Jonathan Dziedzic (6-8, 3.41) - Broadcast on XTRA Sports 1300
Promotion: Backpack giveaway presented by McDivitt Law Firm, 50-cent Hot Dogs presented by Safeway
COS TOP PERFORMERS
 Tyler Saladino (1-for-4, 3B, R)
 Richie Shaffer (1-for-3, HR, R, 2 RBI)
 Rymer Liriano (2-for-3, 2B)
 
OMA TOP PERFORMERS
 Humberto Arteaga (2-for-3, 2 2B, R)
 Elier Hernandez (1-for-4, 2B, R)
 Zach Lovvorn (7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 3 K)