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Sky Sox Take Both Games of Doubleheader

June 23, 2018 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Colorado Springs Sky Sox News Release


DES MOINES, Iowa - The Sky Sox won both games of a scheduled doubleheader today, winning game one this morning 4-2, and game two this evening 2-0 with their fifth shutout of the season.

After dropping a heartbreaker last night via a walkoff walk, the Colorado Springs Sky Sox came out swinging in game one of the scheduled doubleheader this morning. Keon Broxton became the Sky Sox first baserunner of the day with a one-out single in the top of the first, followed by a Tyrone Taylor single to extend Taylor's hit streak to eight games and put two on for Jacob Nottingham. Nottingham then hit a double to plate Broxton and advance Taylor to third. Jake Hager then hit a sacrifice fly for the second out of the inning to score Taylor from third and give the Sky Sox an early 2-0 lead over the Cubs.

After a leadoff walk for Mark Zagunis in the bottom half of the first, the next three Cubs batters were all struck out to send it to the top half of the second inning, when the Sky Sox extended their lead. Jett Bandy led off with a single, and with Colorado Springs starting pitcher Bubba Derby at the plate, Bandy stole second to put himself in scoring position. With two outs and Nate Orf at the plate, Orf hit an RBI double to score Bandy and extend the Sky Sox lead to 3-0.

In the bottom half of the third frame, Iowa got some offensive momentum going. Chesny Young led of with a single for the Cubs, advancing to second on a balk. Iowa starting pitcher Alec Mills then laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Young up to third, and a Zagunis single would score Young to make it 3-1. Victor Caratini then hit a single of his own to put runners on the corners with two outs, and a David Bote walk loaded the bases, but a groundout ended the inning without further damage.

After two scoreless frames, the Sky Sox scored again in the top of the sixth. Dylan Moore became the first baserunner of the inning after being hit by pitch, and with Bandy at the plate he stole second for his ninth steal of the season. Bandy then singled to score Moore and extend the Sky Sox lead to three runs.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Cubs did not go quietly. Young led off with a double, advancing to third one at-bat later on another Colorado Springs balk. Christian Donahue grounded out to score Young and make it a 4-2 ballgame, but aside from a pair of walks after that, the rally fell short, with the Sky Sox winning game one of the doubleheader 4-2.

GAME 2

In game two of the doubleheader, the Sky Sox again scored in the top of the first, wasting no time. After two quick outs, Orf hit a double in the third at-bat of the game, and in the very next at-bat, Nottingham hit an RBI single to score Orf and give Colorado Springs a 1-0 lead.

Both starting pitchers settled in after the top half of the first, as Aaron Brooks and Duary Torrez went on to have excellent starts for the Sky Sox and the Cubs, respectively. Through four innings, Brooks had allowed no runs on just two hits with two walks and four strikeouts, whereas Torrez had allowed just two hits on one run with no walks and three strikeouts.

In the fifth, however, the Sky Sox knocked Torrez from the game. Hager led off with a single, before two quick outs via Moore and pinch-hitter Christian Bethancourt (ending Brooks' day). Brett Phillips then hit a two-out single to put two on, before Broxton drew a walk to load the bases. With nowhere to put him, Orf drew a bases-loaded walk to force home Hager and make it 2-0, similar to what the Cubs did to the Sky Sox in the ninth inning last night to win the game. Nottingham then struck out to end the half-inning.

Two and a half scoreless frames later, the Sky Sox collected their second win of the day 2-0, for their fifth shutout of the season to take both games of the twin bill, and improve to 3-1 in this five-game series in Iowa.

The Sky Sox enter into the final game of a five-game set against the Iowa Cubs tomorrow with a 12:08 p.m. MT scheduled first pitch at Principal Park in Des Moines, Iowa. 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: In the final game of the five-game series against the Iowa Cubs at Principal Park in Des Moines tomorrow, the Sky Sox are sending righty Zach Davies to the mound to face Cubs southpaw Kyle Ryan.

Running Away With It: With the four stolen bases during game one of Saturday's doubleheader, the Sky Sox have amassed 106 stolen bases, which is now the 7th most stolen bases in a single season, with nearly half of the season remaining. The team record for most stolen bases in a season is 169 stolen bases, during the 2009 season. During that season, Eric Young, Jr. had 58 stolen bases, with Mike McCoy adding 40 (1st and 3rd all-time in a single season in the individual SB category).

Doubleheader History: Saturday's scheduled split day/night doubleheader marks only the second time that the current era Sky Sox (since 1988) has played a split day/night doubleheader. This is the first time that the spot day/night doubleheader was scheduled on the original schedule to start the season. The only other instance where the Sky Sox played a split day/night doubleheader was on June 14th, 2003 at Zephyr Field (now The Shrine on Airline in Metairie) against New Orleans. This was scheduled after the April 8th, 2003 game was rained out during the first Sky Sox visit to New Orleans that season. Both games were scheduled nine-inning games. In Game One, Jason Lane went 3-for-5 with a RBI for the Z's, as the Zephyrs beat the Sky Sox, 2-1 in 11 innings (T-3:17, A-3,273). In Game Two, Gabe Kapler went 1-for-2 with 2 SB for the Sky Sox, but Zephyrs pitcher threw a four-hit nine-inning shutout, striking out nine, as the Zephyrs blanked the Sky Sox, 9-0 (T-2:24, A-7,812). Last year, the Sky Sox tried to play a split day/night doubleheader at home on August 10th against Round Rock, after consecutive rainouts on August 8th and 9th. The Sky Sox had won the first game, 4-2. However, more rain arrived between games, and the evening game was once again postponed. During a previous baseball era back in the 1950's in the Single-A Western League, the Colorado Springs and Des Moines teams played a split day/night doubleheader in Colorado Springs. On July 21st, 1957 at Memorial Park in Colorado Springs, the Single-A Sky Sox beat the Des Moines Demons, 4-3 in the afternoon game, and 15-9 in the evening game. Normally doubleheaders back then had one game nine innings and one game seven innings, but in this doubleheader, both games were nine innings. Des Moines was a Single-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs then, while Colorado Springs was affiliated with the Chicago White Sox.

Fifth Shutout: The Sky Sox posted their fifth shutout of the season Saturday in game two of a doubleheader. Colorado Springs had just posted their fourth shutout Thursday evening against the Iowa Cubs with a 5-0 victory. The last shutout for the Colorado Springs squad came on May 24 in Nashville when they blanked the Sounds 4-0.

Extended: Outfielder Tyrone Taylor extended his hit streak to eight games Saturday morning with a hit in game one of the doubleheader. Over the eight games, he was 12-for-34 with seven runs, two doubles, three home runs, and seven RBI. His hit streak came to an end after going 0-for-3 in game two of the doubleheader.

Blanks: After posting their fourth shutout of the season against Iowa Thursday night, the Sky Sox opened game two with five more shutout innings before allowing their first run of the series in the sixth frame, for 14 shutout innings against the Cubs to start this series.

Century Mark Reached: The Sky Sox stole 100 bases as a team on Thursday night at Iowa against the Cubs. In 2017, the team combined for 99 stolen bags over the entire season. In 2018, it took the squad just 71 games.

Zagurski Rolls On: Southpaw reliever Mike Zagurski, who leads the league in holds with 11, tossed his 30th game of 2018 on Thursday evening in Des Moines to put himself into a tie for first in the category with Oklahoma City's Joe Broussard.

Welcome: Recently promoted southpaw reliever Nick Ramirez made his third appearance of the season with the Sky Sox with one and two-thirds innings while allowing one hit on Thursday. He also marked his first Triple-A hit and RBI on his single in the seventh inning.

Out-Hit W: The win in game one over the Cubs marked just the 10th time for the Sky Sox out of 28 times this season when they were out-hit by opponents and walked away with the victory.

This Week's Preview: The Sky Sox are on the road in Des Moines to face off against the Iowa Cubs, Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, to play five total games at Principal Park in a four-day stretch, including a scheduled doubleheader on Saturday. The Sky Sox return home on Monday, June 25 and will host the Memphis Redbirds, St. Louis Cardinals top affiliate, for four games at Security Service Field.

NEXT GAME: Sunday, June 24 @ Iowa - 12:08 p.m. MT @ Principal Park

RHP Zach Davies (MLR 0-1, 10.80) vs. LHP Kyle Ryan (0-1, 2.91) | Broadcast on XTRA Sports 1300

Next Home Game: Monday, June 25 vs. Memphis Redbirds (STL)

COS TOP PERFORMERS (Gm.1)

- Bubba Derby (W, 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 6 SO)

- Jett Bandy (2-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 SB)

- Nate Orf (2-for-4, 2B, 1 RBI, 1 SB)

COS TOP PERFORMERS (Gm. 2)

- Nate Orf (2-for-2, 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB)

- Jacob Nottingham (1-for-3, 1 RBI)

- Aaron Brooks (4.0 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 4 SO)

IOWA TOP PERFORMERS (Gm. 1)

- Mark Zagunis (1-for-2, 1 RBI, 2 BB)

- Chesny Young (2-for-3, 2B, 2 R)

- Victor Caratini (1-for-3, 1 BB)

IOWA TOP PERFORMERS (Gm. 2)

- Duary Torrez (4.2, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 3 SO)

- Chesny Young (1-for-2, 1 BB)

- Mark Zagunis (1-for-1, pinch-hit single)

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