Vibes Trounce Owlz to Start Series

Colorado Springs, COLORADO - After wrapping up a tough series against the Ogden Raptors last night, the Rocky Mountain Vibes came sprinting out of the gates tonight in game one of a four-game series against the Orem Owlz, scoring 11 runs in the first four innings. The Vibes would go on to win game one 13-2.
The Orem Owlz-who came into tonight with a three-game win streak-were the first to score in this series, in the top of the second inning. David Clawson led off the frame with his thirteenth double of the season, and three at-bats later Anthony Mulrine blasted a two-run homer to make it 2-0 Orem.
The Vibes responded in kind in the bottom half of the inning. Micah Bello led off with a single, and two pitches later Cam Devanney belted a deep, game-tying two-run homer of his own. With one out on the board, José Sibrian followed suit with a solo home run to give the Vibes their first lead of the night, 3-2.
The Rocky Mountain squad went back to work in the third inning, scoring another three runs. Joe Gray Jr. and Bryan Torres led off with a pair of walks, advancing to second and third on a groundout. Devanney then picked up another two RBI with a bases-clearing double, advancing to third on a wild pitch. Nick Kahle then singled him home to make it a 6-2 ballgame.
For the third inning in a row, the Vibes poured it on to extend their lead in the fourth. Nick Egnatuk kicked things off with a triple, coming home on a wild pitch. Carlos Rodriguez singled next, and Torres and Bello both reached on Ogden errors, with the second allowing both Rodriguez and Torres to score to make it 9-2. Kahle then tripled to plate Bello, and Sibrian singled to score Kahle to make it a nine-run affair at 11-2.
The Vibes would score their dozenth run in the bottom of the seventh, and their thirteenth run in the bottom of the eighth inning via a Gray Jr. solo shot to make it 13-2. That proved to be the end of the scoring, with the Vibes taking game one easily.
The Vibes are home for their second-to-last homestand of 2019, set to wrap up on 8/24. The Vibes will host the Orem Owlz for a four-game set before the team heads out on their final road trip of the year on 8/26. For all information on the Vibes, follow along on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @vibesbaseball and visit the team's website at www.vibesbaseball.com.
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Tomorrow's Preview: The Vibes continue their eight-game homestand with the second game of a four-game series against the Orem Owlz, with first pitch set for 6:40 p.m.  The Owlz are slated to start righty Matt Leon (3-3, 3.96) against Vibes right-hander Karsen Lindell (1-1, 3.76). The game will be available on MiLB.TV as well as the MiLB TuneIn app.
Changing the Game One Tune: With the loss to Great Falls last Monday night in game one of that four-game series, the Vibes fell to a dismal 4-13 record in game one's this season. However, with the walkoff win on Saturday night in game one of the four-game series against the Raptors, the Vibes improved to 5-13 in game ones, and to 6-13 in game one's with the win over Orem Wednesday night.
Lightning Delay: With Tuesday's Vibes game suspended due to lightning, and the game to be resumed on the road in Ogden (likely on Monday), it marks the first time in 22 years where a Colorado Springs team had a home game suspended, and subsequently completed on the road. There were actually two instances where Triple-A Sky Sox games were suspended at home, then completed on the road. On July 23rd, 1995, the Vancouver Canadians had a 1-0 lead over the Sky Sox, when that game was suspended in the top of the 2nd inning due to rain. Since the game the next night on July 24th, 1995 was being nationally televised on ESPN2, and there were no more home games against Vancouver that year, the decision was made to resume that suspended game on August 17th, 1995 at Nat Bailey Stadium in Vancouver, where the Sky Sox won, 4-1. The other instance took place on May 2nd, 1997 when the Las Vegas Stars had a 7-3 lead over the Sky Sox, when the game was suspended in the bottom of the 8th inning at 9:35pm due to a travel curfew. Las Vegas had a 10:55pm flight out of the Colorado Springs Airport that night (quicker check-in procedures back at that time, prior to the advent of TSA at airports in 2001). Since this was the last meeting in Colorado Springs during the first half of that season, the game was resumed at Cashman Field in Las Vegas on May 28th, 1997, where the Stars won, 8-4.

Late Game Struggles: With the 3-2 loss to the Ogden Raptors in 10 innings on Monday night, the Vibes fall to 0-3 in extra-inning games this season.

Can't Stop Won't Stop: Since joining the Vibes on 7/25, Carlos Rodriguez has become an offensive mainstay for the team, posting not just one but two four-hit games (8/8 @ BIL & 8/14 @ GTF), becoming the first and only Vibes player with two four-hit games. Coming into this homestand, Rodriguez had an active eight-game hitting streak which tied the longest for any Vibes hitter this season. He extended that to a Vibes-best nine games on Saturday night with a single, to 10 games on Sunday afternoon with a single in the bottom of the eighth inning, to 11 games on Monday night with a single in the seventh, and to twelve games on Wednesday night with a single in the fourth. In those 12 games, Rodriguez has had multiple hits in three of them for 19 total hits including a triple, two walks, a stolen base, and six runs. Through his first 20 games, Rodriguez has had hits in all but two of them, starting his tenure with the Vibes with a four-game hitting streak, then going 0-for-4 on 7/30, then having a three-game hitting streak before going 0-for-4 on 8/3, before launching into his current hitting streak.

Goodnight Gray!: Joe Gray Jr. lifted his first homer of the season Saturday night in walk-off fashion, blast­ing a solo shot to left for the 7-6 Vibes win. The homer marked the first Vibes walk-off homer of the season. With Gray Jr. hitting the first walk-off homer in Vibes history, it marks the first time since the Triple-A era. The last time a Colorado Springs player had a walk-off homer was Nate Orf, who hit a walk-off solo homer in the bottom of the 8th inning on July 16th, 2017, off Iowa pitcher Jack Leathersich, to win game 2 of a DH against the Cubs, 5-4 in 8 innings. The last Colorado Springs walk-off homer in the 9th inning took place on June 18th, 2016, when Will Middlebrooks hit a walk-off grand slam homer in the bottom of the 9th inning, off Omaha's Kevin McCarthy, as the Sky Sox beat the Storm Chasers, 8-5.

Big Audience: Saturday night's crowd of 7,048 is the largest crowd for the Vibes this inaugural season. The crowd is the largest at UCHealth Park since the Triple-A Sky Sox beat the Oklahoma City Dodgers, 8-2 on August 31st, 2018, in front of a crowd of 8,998 at Security Service Field. The 8,998 game on 8/31/2018 was the largest crowd after the 2006 stadium renovation, when the picnic section and banquet facilities were built., and the 5th largest all-time. The largest crowd ever in this stadium (pre-renovation) was 9,505 on July 4th, 2004 against the Omaha Royals.

Torres Swipes: Bryan Torres stole his 14th and 15th bags of the season on 8/13 and 8/14 to move him into possession of second place (as of 8/21) in the Pioneer League in steals, behind only Eddy Diaz of the Grand Junction Rockies who leads the league with 20. As of 8/21, Torres led all of the Rocky Mountain squad in not just steals, but also batting average (.287), hits (52), doubles (11), RBI (23), and on-base percentage (.373).

Penultimate Homestand: The Vibes are currently in the midst of their second-to-last homestand of 2019, set to culminate on 8/24. Their final road trip is set to begin on 8/26 in Ogden and conclude on 9/2 in Grand Junction. The final homestand will run from 9/3-9/7, with all five of those final games being played against the Grand Junction Rockies prior to the 2019 season ending on 9/7.

Vibes vs. Pioneer Northern Review: The Thursday night contest against the Great Falls Voyagers marked the final time the Vibes would face a Northern Division opponent in the regular season. The Vibes finished 7-9 against their two opponents, 4-4 against the Billings Mustangs and 3-5 against the Great Falls Voyagers.
This Week's Preview: The Vibes are home for their second-to-last homestand of 2019, set to wrap up on 8/24. The Vibes will host the Orem Owlz for four games before the team heads out on their final road trip of the year on 8/26.
NEXT GAME: Thursday, August 22 @ 6:40 p.m. MT vs. Orem Owlz @ UCHealth Park
RHP Matt Leon (3-3, 3.96) vs. RHP Karsen Lindell (1-1, 3.76) - Broadcast: MiLB TuneIn app
PROMOTION: Military Appreciation Night presented by T-Mobile, and $3 Thirsty Thursday-$3 Craft Beers featuring Breckenridge Avalanche Amber
RMV TOP PERFORMERS
   Cam Devanney (2-for-5, HR, 2B, 4 RBI, 2 R)
      Joe Gray Jr. (1-for-3, HR, 2 R, 2 BB, 1 RBI)
    Nick Kahle (2-for-4, 3B, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB)
ORM TOP PERFORMERS
    Anthony Mulrine (2-for-3, HR, R, 2 RBI)
    Ryan Smith (2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO)
    David Clawson (1-for-4, 2B)