SKY SOX, SANTANA WALK OFF BOTH GAMES OF TWIN BILL

POSTGAME NOTES
Wednesday, August 22, 2018 vs. Iowa Cubs (CHC) - Double-Header
Colorado Springs Sky Sox (66-59) | Iowa Cubs (46-81)
SKY SOX, SANTANA WALK OFF BOTH GAMES OF TWIN BILL
Domingo Santana Delivers With Walkoff RBI Hits In Both Games Of Wednesday Doubleheader Against Iowa
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The Sky Sox walked off both games of Wednesday's doubleheader against the Iowa Cubs, winning game one 3-2 in extra (8) innings, and game two 4-3. The winning hits in both games of the twin bill came off the bat of Domingo Santana, who hit a walkoff RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning of game one, and a walkoff RBI double in the bottom of the seventh inning of game two. With the sweep on the day, the Sky Sox improve their win streak to five games and are half a game back in the division behind Oklahoma City with 14 more games to game in the regular season.
The Sky Sox head into the final game of the series with Iowa 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.
Game One
The Cubs got things going right off the bat in the first game of the double-header with a solo run in the first inning. After Chris Coghlan drew a leadoff walk, Mike Freeman doubled behind him, quickly putting the visitors on the board and taking a 1-0 lead.
Scoring didn't restart until the fifth inning when Iowa plated an insurance run. With two outs, Jason Vosler singled just off of the glove of a diving Dylan Moore at third base to bring around Coghlan, who walked with one out in the inning, giving Iowa a 2-0 lead.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Sky Sox found life, putting the first two batters on base and into scoring position after Rymer Liriano singled and Moore doubled to left field. A sacrifice fly to right field from the bat of Andrés Blanco plated the first run of the frame, advancing Moore to third, while Nate Orf followed with another sacrifice fly ball to left field to score Moore and tie it up at 2-2.
In the Sky Sox seventh, Liriano led the bottom half off with a walk and eventually would make it to third on a wild pitch and ground out. With two outs and the winning run on third, Tyler Saladino was a base hit away from ending the contest but went to on strikes to push the game into extras.
After another dominant half by southpaw reliever Quintin Torres-Costa (2 IP) in the top of the 10th to keep the Cubs off the board, stranding the potential go-ahead run, the Sky Sox came out in the bottom half in victorious fashion. With Saladino on second base, a wild pitch sent him to third base with one out. That's when Santana came up with a laser line drive to left field for the walk-off 3-2 game one win, marking the first extra-inning win at home this season for the Sky Sox.
Game Two
For a second consecutive time, the Cubs plated their first run of the contest in the first inning. Ryan Court initiated the momentum with a one-out double to left field. After Freeman reached safely on a fielding error at first base, Vosler came up with the RBI single to make it a 1-0 ballgame in Iowa's favor.
With momentum coming off of a fresh walk-off win, the Sky Sox powered through in the bottom half of the frame, tying the game at 1-1 on Tyrone Taylor's RBI single up the middle to plate Saladino, who singled in the inning.
After the Sky Sox took a 2-1 advantage in the bottom of the third on Jett Bandy's two-out RBI double, Iowa came back to start the fourth with two runs to take the lead. The Cubs tied the contest quickly at 2-2 after Vosler knocked a leadoff single and Mark Zagunis followed with an RBI double to centerfield. With one out, Jacob Hannemann singled to left field to give the Cubs the 3-2 lead.
The contest went scoreless until the bottom of the seventh with the Sky Sox chasing at least a run to extend the game. Moore drew a walk to lead off the frame, representing the tying run. Following a groundout, Moore was placed into scoring position. A wild pitch sent Moore to third base while Saladino and Taylor walked consecutively to load the bases. With one out, Santana, who walked off the first game in extras, stepped up and powered a game-winning double to right-center, marking his second consecutive walk-off hit of the day, making it a final 4-3 ballgame.
__NOTES__
Thursday's Preview: After a double-header tonight to make up for a postponed game one on Tuesday, the Sky Sox head into the final game of the three-game set on Thursday against the Iowa Cubs, Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, with first pitch scheduled for 6:40 p.m. MST. Iowa righty Trevor Clifton will get the nod while right-hander Aaron Brooks will take the mound for the Sky Sox.   
Not One, but Two: Outfielder Domingo Santana hit not one, but TWO walkoffs on Wednesday evening against the Iowa Cubs. In game one of the doubleheader, Santana hit a walkoff RBI single in extra innings, and in game two Santana hit a walkoff RBI double in the bottom of the seventh to hand the Sky Sox the doubleheader sweep over the Cubs.
Sweet Makes Franchise History: With the two wins on Wednesday night, manager Rick Sweet's overall win count improves to 277 total overall with the Sky Sox, surpassing former manager Brad Mills' for most overall club wins as Sky Sox manager.
A First in Extras: The Sky Sox entered into their 11th extra-inning game Wednesday night in game one of the doubleheader. The 8th inning victory marked just their third win in extras and the first win in extras at home this season. The team is now 1-6 at home in extra innings.
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. Currently, the Sky Sox trail the Dodgers in the standings by half a game with 14 regular season games left in 2018. 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.
Franchise Climb in Steals: The two stolen bases Wednesday for the Sky Sox gives them 155 stolen bases in a season, which marks the second highest amount of stolen bases in a season by a Sky Sox team. The single season record is 169 stolen bases, which happened during the 2009 season.
Another Five-Hit Victory: The Sky Sox marked their eighth overall victory this season when recording five or fewer hits in game one of Wednesday's double-header against Iowa. The Sky Sox recorded half of the instances when facing the Cubs. Other instances: (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); 8/18 vs. OMA (5).
Double-Header Walk-Off History: There have been two instances where the Sky Sox won both games of a doubleheader in walk-off fashion. The first instance is the only instance where both games were won on walk-off hits: April 11th, 2013 against the Tucson Padres, Game 1, Sky Sox won 5-4 with a walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the 7th inning by Ryan Wheeler. In Game 2, Sky Sox won 4-3, when the Sky Sox rallied with a 3-run bottom of the seventh, completed by Charlie Blackmon's walk-off, two-run triple. Current St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas took the loss for Tucson in Game 2. The other instance came last year in a doubleheader against the Iowa Cubs, only one of them by a hit, and with Nate Orf scoring both winners: July 16th, 2017 against the Iowa Cubs. In Game 1, Sky Sox won 2-1, with Ivan DeJesus, Jr. batting, Nate Orf scores the winning run on a Justin Hancock wild pitch in the bottom of the 7th. In Game 2, Sky Sox won 5-4 with a walk-off solo homer in the bottom of the 8th inning by Nate Orf.
Cycle Just Missed: Outfielder Tyrone Taylor came just short of the Sky Sox first cycle of the season after starting the day off with a home run and following up with a triple and single. In his final at bat, Taylor knocked a sharp single to centerfield and tried to stretch a double to complete the feat, but was thrown out at second.
17 Runs: The Sky Sox tied for their most amount of runs recorded in a game. The team set the feat on April 30 against Nashville at Security Service Field. They were just four hits shy of breaking the most hits in a game (20) with 17 total on the day. It marked the first time the Sky Sox have scored 17 runs in a game against Omaha.
Early Scoring: The Sky Sox combined for six more runs in the first two innings Sunday afternoon. Throughout the 2018 season, the team has combined for 81 runs in the first inning and 71 runs in the second inning, totaling 152 runs. The 81 runs in the first inning marks the second-highest scoring total in an inning for the squad. The most frequent is the seventh inning (90).
Sweep: The Sky Sox recorded their second series sweep with a final game victory over Omaha. Their first sweep came back in April with a three-game sweep of New Orleans at Security Service Field.
Orf Alert: The sacrifice fly by Nate Orf in the 5th inning of game one, which tied the game at 2-2, was Orf's 19th regular season sacrifice fly in his career with the Sky Sox, tying him with Beau Allred, Matt McBride, and Matt Miller, into a four-way tie for second place all-time in career sacrifice flies. Orf is now one sacrifice fly away from Jim Tatum's regular season career mark with 20 SF. In addition, his RBI was his 153rd career regular season RBI with the Sky Sox, moving into sole possession of 21st place all time in career regular season RBI with the Sky Sox. Orf was previously in a four-way tie for 21st place at 152 RBI with Jeff Baker, Clint Barmes, and Jeff Barry.
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.
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.
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.
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. Following the second-to-last homestand, the Sky Sox hit the road for their final regular season road trip with four games in Iowa before playing another four in Omaha, including a double-header to make up for a postponed game from earlier in the season.
NEXT GAME: Thursday, August 23 at 6:40 p.m. MT vs. Iowa Cubs @ Security Service Field
RHP Aaron Brooks (8-4, 3.51) vs. RHP Trevor Clifton (0-4, 4.06) - Broadcast on XTRA Sports 1300
Promotion: $3 Thirsty Thursday presented by Coors - $3 Upper Reserve Tickets, Craft Beer and Parking
         
GAME ONE:
COS TOP PERFORMERS
 Domingo Santana (1-for-4, RBI)
 Christian Bethancourt (1-for-3, 2B)
 Quintin Torres-Costa (W, 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K)
   
IOW TOP PERFORMERS
 Mike Freeman (2-for-4, 2B, RBI)
 Chris Gimenez (1-for-2, 3B, BB)
 Jason Vosler (1-for-4, RBI)
 GAME TWO:
COS TOP PERFORMERS
 Tyler Saladino (1-for-3, 2 R, 1 BB, 2 SB)
 Domingo Santana (1-for-3, 2B, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB)
 Tyrone Taylor (1-for-3, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SB)
IOW TOP PERFORMERS
 Mark Zagunis (1-for-2, 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB)
 Jason Vosler (2-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI)
 Ryan Court (1-for-4, 2B, 1 R)