Sky Sox Bats Stymied in 4-0 Shutout

For the second straight game, the Colorado Springs Sky Sox offense had few answers for the Memphis Redbirds as they were shutout 4-0 at AutoZone Park on Saturday night.

In his season debut, Sky Sox starter Brent Suter (0-1, 6.75) got into early trouble. Two batters after Matt Williams led off the bottom of the first with a double, Anthony Garcia drove him home with a double of his own to give Memphis the early lead.

The next inning, the Redbirds added to their lead. The inning again started off with a leadoff double, this time by Nick Martini. Alex Mejia drove him home with a triple then scored on a sacrifice fly by Alberto Rosario to give the Redbirds a 3-0 lead after two innings.

That proved to be more than enough for the Redbirds. Starter Jeremy Hefner (1-0, 0.00) pitched five scoreless innings, striking out five while allowing just one hit.

Suter pitched four innings for the Sky Sox, allowing three runs while striking out two in his first 2016 appearance.

Fellow southpaw Mitch Lambson relieved him in the fifth and pitched a scoreless inning to keep the Sky Sox deficit at three.

Jim Miller made his first Sky Sox appearance since 2011 in the sixth and struck out three in the inning. In the seventh, pinch-hitter Mike Ohlman homered to left off Miller to give the Redbirds a 4-0 lead.

Sky Sox batters were patient at the plate, drawing six walks off the four Redbirds pitchers. But the Sky Sox bats only produced three singles on the night as their record fell to 1-2 on the season.

Damien Magnifico made his first Triple-A appearance in the bottom of the eighth inning and retired all three batters he faced for a scoreless frame. 

Redbird relievers Heath Wyatt, Justin Wright, and Miguel Socolovich combined with Hefner to get the shutout.

Sky Sox starter Jorge Lopez (NR) will make his Triple-A debut in tomorrow's series finale against Thomas Lee (NR). First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 pm MDT at AutoZone Park.