Redbirds Truly Walk-Off In 1-0 Sox Loss

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO - 2,985 fans were treated to another pitchers' duel on Monday in the Redbirds' 1-0 win over the Sky Sox at AutoZone Park in Memphis.

A day after Memphis carried just a 2-0 lead into the ninth, The Sky Sox and Redbirds would battle through eight and a half scoreless frames before the decisive bottom of the ninth in the series finale.

Tyler Cravy turned in one of his best performances of the season, tossing 7.2 innings of shutout baseball. The Sox ace allowed just three hits and two walks while striking out four Redbirds in an outing that should have earned him his eighth win.

Unfortunately for Cravy and Colorado Springs, Memphis righty Zach Petrick was equally impressive. Petrick shut down the Sox offense over eight innings, allowing just four hits while striking out two.

Having cruised through seven frame with just one hit against him, Cravy took the mound to start the eighth. He would give up two singles and record two out in the inning before being pulled in favor of lefty Michael Kirkman with the dangerous Dan Johnson coming to the plate in the scoreless ballgame. Kirkman induced a groundout by Johnson to end the eight inning threat, sending the nail-biter to the ninth.

Sam Tuivailala (3-0, 1.95) took over in the top of the ninth to keep the Sox off the board and give the home team a shot at a second consecutive walk-off win. The flame-throwing reliever gave up two singles in the ninth to make things interesting but would ultimately work out of trouble to keep the Sox off the board, sending the game to the last of the ninth.

David Goforth (0-3, 2.93) came in to face the heart of the Redbirds order in hopes of achieving the same result as Tuivailala in the frame prior. Outfielder Tommy Pham led off the ninth with a base hit before advancing to third on an attempted stolen base throwing error by Robinzon Diaz. Stephen Piscotty followed with a groundout that kept Pham at third, giving the Sox confidence that they could wiggle out of the jam. Goforth intentionally walked Cody Stanley in the following at-bat to set up a potential inning-ending double play. The pitcher's best friend would not be however as Alex Mejia reached first on a fielder's choice out that saw Pham gunned down at home by Elian Herrera. Now with runner on first and second with two out, Goforth stared down Rafael Ortega in the game's most critical at-bat. Goforth's nerves got the best of him as a wild pitch put both runners in scoring position, prompting the right-hander to walk Ortega to get to Matt Williams with the bases loaded. Williams drew a walk to win the 1-0 ballgame for Memphis in surprisingly calm, walk-off fashion.

With the win, Memphis improves to 41-37 on the season and clinches the four-game set against the Sox who fall to 30-45. This is the second consecutive start in which Cravy has not earned a decision after starting the season having been charged with an win or loss in 12 straight starts.

The offense will look to pick up the slack on Tuesday as the Sky Sox travel to Nashville to begin a new four-game series with the Sounds. Tyler Thornburg (1-4, 4.76) looks to continue a string of strong Colorado Springs pitching when he faces off with Sounds lefty Brad Mills (3-7, 3.21) at First Tennessee Park. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 PM MDT.