Sky Sox Stymied in 5-1 Loss

September 4, 2016 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Colorado Springs Sky Sox News Release


COLORADO SPRINGS, CO - The Colorado Springs Sky Sox offensive woes in Iowa continued on Sunday afternoon as they dropped a 5-1 decision to the Iowa Cubs in front of 8,486 at Principal Park on Sunday afternoon for their third straight loss.

Colorado Springs starter Aaron Wilkerson (2-6, 6.42) got off to a rough start in his final outing with the Sky Sox this season. John Andreoli led off with a walk and then stole second to give the I-Cubs an early threat in the first. A couple batters later, Andreoli came home to score the first run of the game on a sacrifice fly from Jeimer Candelario. The next batter, Bijan Rademacher, doubled to center to score Logan Watkins, giving the Cubs a 2-0 lead after one inning.

Another leadoff walk in the second caused more trouble for Wilkerson. With the runner on first and one out, Iowa starting pitcher Drew Rucinski (7-15, 5.92) helped his own cause by hitting triple to center, scoring Taylor Davis to increase the lead to 3-0 Iowa after two.

The three runs proved to be enough early support for Rucinski on the mound. Over the first four innings, he retired the first 12 batters he faced, striking out six to keep the Sky Sox off the bases in the first half of the game.

In the fourth, the I-Cubs tacked on another run as Andreoli doubled to left to score Munenori Kawasaki as the lead increased to four for the I-Cubs after four innings of play.

With one out in the fifth, Josmil Pinto singled to center for the first Sky Sox hit of the day, ending Rucinski's streak of batters retired to start the game at 13.

Albert Almora Jr. led off the bottom half with a double. After Wilkerson struck out Candelario, the Sky Sox turned to Sam Freeman out of the bullpen. Almora Jr. came home to score on an error before Freeman could get the final out of the inning, closing the book on Wilkerson. He pitched four and a third innings, allowing five earned runs on seven hits while walking two and striking out nine. He suffered his sixth loss of the season with the Sky Sox.

In the seventh, the Sky Sox were able to break through off Rucinski. Lewis Brinson reached with a one-out double. The next batter, Andy Wilkins, singled to right to score the Sky Sox first run of the day, cutting the Iowa lead to four runs. Michael Kirkman pitched a clean bottom half to keep the Sky Sox down four going to the eighth.

With two outs in the eighth, the I-Cubs turned to Joe Thatcher out of the bullpen. The Iowa lefty induced a fly out from Kyle Wren to keep the Cubs up 5-1. Damien Magnifico pitched a scoreless bottom half to send the game to the ninth in Iowa.

In the ninth, Cubs reliever Spencer Patton struck out a pair in a clean inning to finish off the I-Cubs third straight win over the Sky Sox.

For the I-Cubs, Rucinski earned his seventh win of the season by striking out eight in seven and two thirds strong innings.

The Sky Sox 2016 season ends with an 11:08 a.m. MDT Labor Day matinee against the I-Cubs at Principal Park on Monday. Hiram Burgos (10-9, 4.23) is scheduled to get the start for the Sky Sox in the season finale.



Pacific Coast League Stories from September 4, 2016


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