Team Effort Leads Sky Sox To 9-4 Win

Behind a solid start from one of their newer pitchers and a strong offensive night from their newest infielder, the Colorado Springs Sky Sox defeated the Oklahoma City Dodgers 9-4 on Monday night at Security Service Field.

With two outs in the bottom of the first, Nate Orf rebounded from an 0-2 count to draw an 11 pitch walk against Oklahoma City starter Sam LeCure (5-2, 4.26). Garret Cooper followed with a towering two-run home run to left field, his first career Triple-A home run, to give the Sky Sox an early 2-0 lead.

Sky Sox starter Aaron Wilkerson (1-3, 5.55) was sharp from the start. Over the first three innings, he worked around a few baserunners to pitch scoreless innings and keep the Sky Sox ahead.

The Dodgers came back to tie the game at two off Wilkerson in the fourth on back-to-back solo home runs from Rob Segedin and O'Koyea Dickson. In the fifth, the Dodgers put a runner on second with two outs, but the Sky Sox righty struck out Charlie Culberson to end the threat.

A pair of walks got Wilkerson into a jam in the sixth. With runners on first and second and one out, Wilkerson struck out Corey Brown and Brandon Hicks to end the sixth with the game tied at two.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Dodgers turned to Rob Rogers out of the bullpen, ending LeCure's night. The Sky Sox offense wasted little time in getting the lead back off the Dodgers bullpen. After Orf reached on a walk, Cooper doubled off the center field wall to score Orf and put the Sky Sox back in front. Michael Reed drove in Cooper with a triple, and then Reed came home to score on a double from Yadiel Rivera to give the Sky Sox a 5-2 lead after six.

Tyler Cravy came in out of the Colorado Springs bullpen in relief of Wilkerson in the seventh. Wilkerson pitched six strong innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits while walking three and striking out eight to earn his first Sky Sox victory.

Oklahoma City got one back in the seventh off Cravy to cut the Sky Sox lead to 5-3. In the eighth, a double and walk put runners on first and second with nobody out. The Sky Sox then turned to Michael Kirkman. A sacrifice fly from Zach Walters cut the Sky Sox lead to 5-4, but Kirkman kept the Sky Sox in front by striking out Jack Murphy with a runner on second to end the inning.

In the bottom half, the Sky Sox loaded the bases with nobody out for Rivera. The Sky Sox shortstop came through, lining a triple to center to score all three base runners to increase the Sky Sox lead to four. The next batter, Rene Garcia, singled to center to score Rivera and give the Sky Sox a 9-4 lead going to the ninth.

Rob Scahill came in for the Sky Sox in the ninth and pitched a scoreless frame to finish the win for Colorado Springs.  

Offensively, Cooper and Reed each had three hits, while Rivera drove in four runs in the win.

The series between the Sky Sox and Dodgers concludes with a 7:05 p.m. matchup on Tuesday night at Security Service Field. July Pitcher of the Month Brent Suter (4-5, 3.56) is scheduled to start for the Sky Sox.