SKY SOX BOUNCE BACK WITH 6-1 GAME TWO VICTORY IN TACOMA

POSTGAME NOTES
Sunday, August 5, 2018 vs. Tacoma Rainiers (SEA)
Colorado Springs Sky Sox (59-51) | Tacoma Rainiers (55-57)
SKY SOX BOUNCE BACK WITH 6-1 GAME TWO VICTORY IN TACOMA
TACOMA, Wash. - The Sky Sox bounced back in game two of the series with a 6-1 victory over the Tacoma Rainiers at Cheney Park. Aaron Brooks highlighted the Sky Sox on the mound today with an impressive six and two-thirds innings pitched while allowing one run on four hits with a walk surrendered and five strikeouts. Offensively, both Nate Orf and Rymer Liriano collected three-hit performances while Orf and Shane Opitz tallied a pair of RBI each.
After Tacoma took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on Daniel Vogelbach's solo home run, the Sky Sox joined the party, scoring a run in each of the second and third innings while putting two additional runs up in the fourth.
With two outs in the top of the second, with two runners on - Jett Bandy, who reached on a fielding error, and Opitz, who walked - Quintin Berry clutched up with his single up the middle to tie things up at 1-1.
In the third, Bandy clubbed in the team's go-ahead run on his sacrifice fly ball to score Tyler Saladino from third base, who was hit by a pitch with one out and moved to third on Christian Bethancourt's single.
The Colorado Springs squad continued the timely offense after Rymer Liriano sparked the half with a double and Opitz followed with a single to quickly bring in Liriano. With two outs, a balk advanced Opitz into scoring position at second base and Orf knocked a base hit, giving the Sky Sox a 4-1 advantage.
After going scoreless in the fifth, the Sky Sox offense got going again, adding two more runs in the sixth and seventh frames. In the sixth, another two-out rally manufactured a solo run. With two on, Orf delivered his second clutch two-out single to bring in Liriano who singled to lead-off the inning. In the seventh, Opitz brought in the final visiting squad run of the day on his sacrifice fly ball to plate Keon Broxton from third, making it a final 6-1 contest.
The Sky Sox continue into game three of the set with an 8:05 p.m. MST first pitch tomorrow before taking a day off prior to returning home to Security Service Field on the ninth to take on the Nashville Sounds. 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 continue their four-game set in Tacoma against the Rainers tomorrow, with first pitch scheduled for 8:05 p.m. MST. Colorado Springs righty Aaron Wilkerson (3-3) is set to face Tacoma's southpaw Ross Detwiler (2-5).
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, with each team earning wins Sunday, the Dodgers still hold a two-game advantage in the standings over the Sky Sox.
Hits Kept Coming: On Sunday night, the Sky Sox put up 12 hits including a hit and base runner in every single inning except for the ninth inning when they went down in order.
Brooks Earns Number Eight: Aaron Brooks dominated in his 12 start with the Sky Sox Sunday afternoon against Tacoma. In six and two-thirds innings, he delivered a four-hit outing while allowing just a solo run on a home run given up in the first. He surrendered one walk and struck out five.
Orf Alert: With his three hits on Sunday, Orf now has 326 regular season hits with the Sky Sox, moving him in a tie for 13th place all time with Ben Petrick at 326 hits. His four singles the last two days has given him 221 total singles with the Sky Sox, moving him into a tie for 10th place all-time on the singles list with Luis Medina.
Dead Even: The Sky Sox and Rainiers entered into this series with a dead even 172-172 all-time record, with the Sky Sox going 103-67 at home and 69-105 in Tacoma coming into this four-game set. With Sunday's win, they continue tied at 173-173 with a 1-1 series.
Sweet Tally: With the Sky Sox win Sunday afternoon, Rick Sweet marks his 268th regular season win with the Sky Sox. Sweet now trails Brad Mills by only three wins to tie Mills' club record 271 wins as Sky Sox manager. If you include postseason wins, Sweet is at 270 overall wins, trailing Mills by only six overall wins.
Take One For The Team: The 52 Sky Sox hit by pitches (on offense) ties the sixth most HBP in a season, tying the 1993 and 2006 seasons. The single season mark is 71 HBP, set in 2007.
Swipin' Bags: The 134 Sky Sox stolen bases this season is currently the fifth most in a single season. The team record is 169 stolen bases in 2009.
Leadoff Bomb:  Dylan Moore hit a leadoff homer in the first at-bat of Friday night's contest, marking Colorado Springs' third leadoff home run of the season. The first came on 5/19 off the bat off Keon Broxton in game two of a doubleheader versus the Memphis Redbirds in Colorado Springs. The last came via Nate Orf on 6/15 at home against the Las Vegas 51s. Moore's leadoff homer is the first to come on the road for the Sky Sox this season.
A Good Night for Homers:  The lead-off homer by Dylan Moore Friday marked the fifth time that a Sky Sox player has hit a lead-off homer against Reno. The other four times:  - June 9th, 2011 in Colorado Springs: Willy Taveras solo homer off Reno's Matt Torra, Sky Sox won 13-6, - April 8th, 2012 in Reno: D.J. Lemahieu off Reno's Zach Kroenke, Sky Sox won 5-2, - June 22nd, 2014 in Reno: Rafael Ynoa, off Reno's Trevor Cahill, Sky Sox won 9-5, - July 18th, 2016 in Reno: Kyle Wren, off Reno's Braden Shipley, Reno won 10-1. The two homers by Dylan Moore marked the fifth time that a Sky Sox player has hit a two-homer game against Reno. The other four: - Brad Eldred, June 24th, 2010 in Reno. - Josh Fields, June 11th, 2011 in Colorado Springs. - Andrew Brown, July 4th, 2012 in Colorado Springs. - Rafael Ynoa, June 22nd, 2014 in Reno. Dylan Moore also had a two-homer game in Memphis on May 25th, 2018. The last time a Sky Sox player had two, two-homer games on the road in the same season was Eliezer Alfonzo, who had a two-homer game on June 22nd, 2011 in Tacoma and on June 26th, 2011 in Salt Lake. Jamie Westbrook's two-homer game for Reno on Friday marks only the third time a Reno player has had a two-homer game against the Sky Sox. The other instances: Rusty Ryal, June 12th, 2012 in Colorado Springs, and Wes Jensen, June 18th, 2016 in Reno.
Grand Salami: The eighth inning grand slam Wednesday by Jett Bandy marks the third of the season for the Sky Sox and first on the road for the team in 2018. It also marks the second grand slam in four games, since Andrés Blanco hit one Sunday against Albuquerque at Security Service Field. Kyle Wren marked the first one for the Sky Sox on June 2 against Iowa.
Davies Rehab: Right-handed pitcher and Brewers rehabber Zach Davies made his third rehab stint for the Sky Sox Wednesday night, tossing two and two-thirds innings and allowing five runs on just four hits with three walks and three strikeouts. Overall, after three rehab starts with Colorado Springs, he has totaled 8.2 IP, 10 H, 7 ER, 5 BB, 9 K and is 0-2.
First Sky Sox Hall-of-Famer: MLB slugger and former Colorado Springs Sky Sox third baseman, Jim Thome, was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame last weekend, marking the first ever Sky Sox player to be featured in the Hall. The induction comes in his first year of eligibility alongside other inductees Chipper Jones, Vladimir Guerrero and Trevor Hoffman. Thome played in parts of two seasons with the Sky Sox in 1991 and 1992 when the team was affiliated with the Indians, compiling a .291 batting average in 53 regular season games. He played in all eight postseason games during the 1992 Pacific Coast League playoffs where the Sky Sox would overcome a 2-1 series deficit to Las Vegas in a best-of-five set before sweeping Vancouver 3-0 in the Championship series for their first PCL title.
This Week's Preview: The Sky Sox are in the midst of a seven-game road trip, with a three-game set in Reno against the Aces, followed by a four-game series in Tacoma versus the Rainiers, with off days bookending the road trip.
NEXT GAME: Monday, August 6 at 8:05 p.m. MT vs. Tacoma Rainiers @ Cheney Stadium
RHP Aaron Wilkerson (3-3, 2.54) vs. LHP Ross Detwiler (2-5, 5.76) - Broadcast on XTRA Sports 1300
NEXT HOME GAME: Thursday, August 9 vs. Nashville Sounds - 6:40 p.m. first pitch
COS TOP PERFORMERS
 Nate Orf (3-for-4, 2 RBI, BB)
 Rymer Liriano (3-for-5, 2 R, 2B)
 Aaron Brooks (6.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K)
 TAC TOP PERFORMERS
 Daniel Vogelbach (1-for-3, HR, R, RBI)
 Ian Miller (1-for-3, 2B)
 Shawn Armstrong (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 K)