Yadiel Rivera and Nate Orf each recorded two-out RBIs, but the Iowa Cubs used a two-run seventh inning to defeat the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, 3-2, on a chilly Monday afternoon in front of 3,523 at Principal Park.
Yadiel Rivera and Nate Orf each recorded two-out RBIs, but the Iowa Cubs used a two-run seventh inning to defeat the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, 3-2, on a chilly Monday afternoon in front of 3,523 at Principal Park.
After Jeimer Candelario's solo home run put Iowa (11-12) on the board in the fourth inning, the Sky Sox took their first lead of the game in the top of the sixth inning.
Ryan Cordell led off with a double and came around to score on a two-out bloop single from Rivera to tie the game. One batter later, Orf lined a RBI double to the left-centerfield gap to plate Rivera and give the Sox a 2-1 lead.
The Cubs would rally for the second time in the rain-shortened series, scoring a pair of runs in the seventh inning on trio of softly-hit singles and a few Sox errors. The Iowa bullpen trio of David Rollins (1-1, 0.90), Pierce Johnson and Félix Peña (4) shut down the Sox offense, allowing one hit after starter Williams Pérez allowed eight hits over six innings.
Paolo Espino took the no-decision for Colorado Springs (13-7), throwing his second quality start during his last four outings of 2017. The Panamanian right-hander tossed six innings, allowing a single earned run while striking out six Iowa batters. Espino retired 17 of the 21 batters faced, picking off Bijan Racdemacher off second base to end his final inning of work.
The Sox head south for a four-game series with division rivals Oklahoma City, starting Tuesday at 6:05 p.m. MT. Brandon Woodruff (4-0, 1.61) aims for his fifth consecutive win of the season against the Dodgers' Trevor Oaks (0-1, 1.89) in a matchup of the Pacific Coast League's top-two pitching staffs in terms of earned run average entering Monday's action.
