Sky Sox Shutout 2-0 In Nashville

The Colorado Springs Sky Sox were on the wrong end of a pitcher's duel on Wednesday afternoon, as they fell to the Nashville Sounds 2-0 at First Tennessee Park in the second game of their four game series.  

Both starting pitchers looked good from the start. For the Sky Sox, Aaron Wilkerson (0-3, 6.38) retired the first nine batters he faced in three scoreless innings.

Nashville starter Raul Alcantara (1-0, 0.00) was also sharp, but needed some help from his defense. In the third, the Sky Sox had runners on first and second with two outs. Orlando Arcia lined a single to right. Trying to score the first run of the game, Brandon Macias rounded third looking to score, but was thrown out at the plate on a strong throw by Sounds right fielder Jacob Brugman to end the third inning with the game still scoreless.

Leading off the fourth, Billy Burns singled for the Sounds' first hit of the afternoon. After stealing second and advancing to third on a ground out, Burns came home to score on a sacrifice fly to center from Renato Nunez to give the Sounds a 1-0 lead in the fourth.

After allowing the single to Burns, Wilkerson retired the next nine batters he faced to get through the sixth with the Sky Sox down just a run.    

The Sky Sox put a pair of runners on base with two infield singles in the seventh, but they could not score as Alcantara worked around the runners to pitch a scoreless inning to keep his team ahead 1-0.

Alcantara pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing seven hits while striking out five to earn his first win of the season for Nashville.

Brugman and Nunez started the seventh with singles off Wilkerson to put runners on the corners with nobody out. The Sky Sox turned to Michael Kirkman out of the bullpen, ending Wilkerson's day. After Kirkman struck out the only batter he faced, Rob Scahill entered out of the Colorado Springs bullpen. The first batter he faced, Matt McBride, lined a single to left to score Brugman and give the Sounds a 2-0 lead after seven.

Wilkerson finished his start with two earned runs against on three hits while striking out six in six plus innings pitched. He suffered his third loss with the Sky Sox.

Ryan Brasier entered for Nashville in the eighth and pitched a scoreless inning to keep the Sounds in front by a pair going to the ninth.

In the ninth, Patrick Schuster entered for Nashville and retired the Sky Sox in order to earn his seventh save of the season.

Kyle Wren reached base three times with a pair of hits and a walk as the Sky Sox winning streak was snapped at five games.

In the third game of the series on Thursday night, Brent Suter (4-4, 3.63) is scheduled to get the start for the Sky Sox. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. MDT at First Tennessee Park.