SKY SOX RETAKE FIRST PLACE IN DIVISION

POSTGAME NOTES
Tuesday, August 28, 2018 vs. Omaha Storm Chasers (KC)
Colorado Springs Sky Sox (70-61) | Omaha Storm Chasers (62-71)
SKY SOX OPEN SERIES WITH WIN; RETAKE FIRST PLACE
More Strong Pitching Secures Series and Division Lead Tuesday Night
 
OMAHA, Nebr. - The Sky Sox secured a 1-0 series lead as well as a division lead Tuesday night with a 4-3 victory over the Omaha Storm Chasers, as the Colorado Springs bullpen continued to pitch well, accruing the 38th win of the season posted by a pitcher in relief. Those 38 relief pitcher wins ties the mark of second-most for a Colorado Springs staff, as the Sky Sox relief corps posted 38 wins in relief last year, and 41 wins in relief in 2016.
In game one of this four-game series (with a scheduled doubleheader set for tomorrow), it was the home team who scored first.  In the bottom of the second inning, Humberto Arteaga hit a one-out single to put one on for Donnie Dewees, who hit his sixth home run of the season to give the Storm Chasers an early 2-0 advantage.
The Sky Sox answered in the very next inning, in the top of the third, with two runs of their own to even the score.  With two outs on the board, Tyrone Taylor became the first baserunner of the inning with a single, followed by a Domingo Santana single to put runners on the corners.  With two on and two out, recent All-PCL Team selection Christian Bethancourt hit an RBI double, scoring both runners to tie up the contest.
In the bottom of the fifth, Omaha regained their lead.  After two quick strikeouts from Jorge Soler and Nicky Lopez, Frank Schwindel belted his 24th homer of the season on the first pitch of the at-bat to give the Storm Chasers a 3-2 lead.
In the top of the seventh frame, the lead changed hands.  Dylan Moore drew a one-out walk for Colorado Springs, advancing to third on a Nate Orf single, with Orf moving up to second on the throw to third. With two runners in scoring position, Tyler Saladino brought them both in with line drive single to right to give the Sky Sox their first lead of the series.
With no further scoring, the Storm Chasers headed into the bottom of the ninth inning still trailing 4-3.  Omaha sent a pinch-hitter to the plate in the first at-bat of the inning in the form of Billy Burns, who was hit by pitch to put the tying run on first with no outs.  However, Burns was left stranded as the Sky Sox recorded three quick outs, giving Colorado Springs a 1-0 series lead as well as a division lead as the Oklahoma City Dodgers lost in Iowa to the Cubs tonight.
The Sky Sox head into the second game of a four-game set and game one of a doubleheader against the Storm Chasers in Omaha tomorrow with a 4:05 p.m. MT first pitch for game one, with game two commencing after the conclusion of game one. 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: The Sky Sox head into the second game of a four-game set and game one of a doubleheader against the Storm Chasers in Omaha tomorrow with a 4:05 p.m. MT first pitch for game one, with game two commencing after the conclusion of the first contest.  In game one, righty Brandon Woodruff will get the start for the Sky Sox as he faces off against fellow righty Ian Kennedy.  In game two, right-handers Bubba Derby and Trevor Oaks will get the nods for Colorado Springs and Omaha, respectively.
Orf Alert:  Nate Orf's single in the seventh inning Tuesday was his 343rd regular season hit with the Sky Sox, passing Jason Bates for sole possession of 9th place all-time in Sky Sox regular season hits. Next up at Tie-7th: Pedro Castellano and Jay Gainer, both at 348 hits each.
Archer in Relief:  Tristan Archer's relief appearance Tuesday night was his 92nd career regular season appearance with the Sky Sox, tying him with Heath Bost and Jeff Kaiser for 14th place in career regular season games pitched. Next up in 13th: Andrew Johnston, 93 games.  With the win by Tristan Archer, he collects his 11th career relief win for the Sky Sox, passing the late Steve Olin for 6th place all-time on the career relief wins list. Olin, who tragically died in 1993, racked up 10 relief wins with the Sky Sox from 1989-1991.
Strong Pen: Of the Sky Sox 70 wins this season, 38 of the 70 wins have been posted by a pitcher in relief. Those 38 relief pitcher wins ties the mark of second-most for a Colorado Springs staff, as the Sky Sox relief corps posted 38 wins in relief last year, and 41 wins in relief in 2016.
Pitching By the Numbers:  Heading into Tuesday, the Sky Sox team ERA at 4.52 was tied for the fourth best season of Team ERA in franchise history. The 1989 Sky Sox squad (Indians affiliate) also had a 4.52 ERA. Last year's Sky Sox pitching squad finished with a 4.54 ERA.  With the 12 strikeouts on offense Tuesday night, that put their season total to 1,073 strikeouts, second most in team history. The single season high was 1,106 K in the 2013 season.
Series Summary: Over 13 games accrued over the 2018 season with Omaha, the Sky Sox hold a 10-3 overall record on the Storm Chasers. On the road, Colorado Springs is 4-1, while they compiled a 6-2 record at home. In eight of the 13 meetings, the games have been decided by two runs or less.
The Hunt For First: The Sky Sox continue the hunt for their second-consecutive playoff run, battling it out with other top contender of the American North - the Oklahoma City Dodgers. Currently, the Sky Sox hold a half-game lead over the Dodgers with eight regular season games left in 2018. Last season, the Sky Sox broke one of the longest postseason droughts in professional sports - taking the American North division for the first time and breaking their 20-year absence.
Career Night: Right hander Adrian Houser had a career night on Monday in front of family and friends in his home state of Oklahoma, tossing his best outing of the season with the Sky Sox: 7.0 IP, 0 R, 5 H, 1 BB, 5 K. Offensively, he went 1-for-3 with a double.
Good Company: With Christian Bethancourt being selected to the Sky Sox All-PCL team this season, Bethancourt becomes the first Sky Sox catcher to ever get All-PCL team honors. Here is the full list of the Sky Sox All-PCL team over the years: 1988 - Luis Medina (OF), Rod Allen (DH), 1989 - Paul Zuvella (SS), Steve Olin (Relief P), Mike Hargrove (MGR), 1991 - Geronimo Berra (OF), Luis Medina (DH), 1992 - Alvaro Espinoza (SS), Wayne Kirby (OF), Denis Boucher (LHP), Charlie Manuel (MGR), 1994 - Jason Bates (SS), 1995 - Trenidad Hubbard (OF), Harvey Pulliam (DH), 1996 - Neifi Perez (SS), Bob Goughan (Executive), 1997 - Todd Helton (1B), Neifi Perez (SS), 1998 - Derrick White (OF), 1999 - J.R. Phillips (1B), David Wainhouse (Relief P), 2000 - Phil Hyatt (1B), 2003 - Rene Reyes (OF), 2004 - Clint Barmes (SS), Garrett Atkins (3B), 2006 - Jeff Baker (OF), Nate Field (Relief P), 2007 - Joe Koshansky (1B), Ryan Speier (Relief P), 2008 - Joe Koshansky (1B), 2009 - Eric Young, Jr. (2B & PCL Rookie of the Year), Matt Miller (OF), 2012 - Matt McBride (1B), Andrew Brown (OF), 2013 - Ryan Wheeler (3B), Corey Dickerson (OF), 2015 - Domingo Santana (OF), 2016 - Orlando Arcia (SS).
50-10:  Through Saturday, the Sky Sox had lost an even 60 games.  In 50 of those 60 losses, their opponents had scored four or more runs.  In only 10 of those losses had their opponents scored three or fewer runs.
Blanco Comes Up Big:  Andres Blanco hit a two-run homer in game two against the Dodgers Saturday night for his ninth longball of the season.  His two RBI were the only two the Sky Sox offense produced in the game.
Seven Straight: The Sky Sox marked their seventh straight win with Friday night's 6-5 victory. It was the Sky Sox' longest winning streak since the 2007 season (May 7-13, 2007).
Will To Win: The Sky Sox, who entered Friday night with a 6-37 record when trailing after six innings, improved their record to seven wins with a three-run comeback in the top of the seventh to take a hold the lead for the eventual victory.
Third One-Run W: The Sky Sox completed their third one-run victory against the Dodgers this season in Friday night's 6-5 win. The team earned wins on back-to-back occasions on May 12 and May 13 with 2-1 and 4-3 wins respectively.
Sweet Makes Franchise History: With the two wins on Wednesday night, manager Rick Sweet's overall win count improved to 277 total overall with the Sky Sox, surpassing former manager Brad Mills' for most overall club wins as Sky Sox manager. After Friday's win, he is now at 278 wins overall.
Yet Another Quality from Brooks: Aaron Brooks tossed another quality outing Thursday night, marking his fourth consecutive quality start and fifth overall in his last seven bids.  Through seven innings, Brooks allowed just one run on three hits with a sole walk and five strikeouts.
Welcome to Triple-A:  Clint Coulter made his Triple-A debut with the Sky Sox Thursday night, notching a number of "firsts".  He collected his first Triple-A hit with a single in the third inning, and his first Triple-A home run and RBI with a 2-run shot to straight center in the seventh inning that bounced off the batter's eye.  Coulter finished the night going 3-for-4 with a homer, two runs, and two RBI.
Home Sweep Home:  With the completion of the three-game sweep of the Cubs Thursday night, the Sky Sox swept both series of a homestand for the first time ever in the Brewers era.  They had swept the Omaha Storm Chasers in a three-game series earlier in the homestand.
The Roster Grows:  With the addition of Clint Coulter on Friday, he becomes the 63rd player to play for the Sky Sox this season (31 position players, 32 pitchers), which marks the third most players used in one season for the Sky Sox. The single season mark is 67 players that played for the Sky Sox in the 2005 season (34 position players, 33 pitchers). In the 2012 season, the second most used was 64 players for the Sky Sox that year (25 position players, and 39 pitchers). With the addition of Clint Coulter, he becomes the 1,092nd player to play in a game in the 31-year history of the Sky Sox (516 position players, 576 pitchers), regular season OR postseason. Currently, 828 of those 1092 players (75.8%) have played at least one game in Major League Baseball. There have been seven additional players that were called up to the Sky Sox during the Rockies era (between 1993 and 2006), but did not appear in a game, including the aforementioned Pedro Strop.  The all-time roster could expand some more, in the event the Sky Sox makes the playoffs. Three players made their Sky Sox debut in the postseason last year, including Jacob Nottingham.
This Week's Preview: The Sky Sox are on their final road trip to Oklahoma City and Omaha to play a four-game set against the Dodgers and a four-game set against the Storm Chasers, including a doubleheader on Wednesday.
 
NEXT GAME: Wednesday, August 29 at 4:05 p.m. MT vs. Omaha Storm Chasers @ Werner Park
Game 1: RHP Brandon Woodruff (3-2, 4.02) vs. RHP Ian Kennedy (NR, -.--) - Broadcast on XTRA Sports 1300
Game 2: RHP Bubba Derby (5-5, 4.78) vs. RHP Trevor Oaks (8-7, 2.82) - Broadcast on XTRA Sports 1300
NEXT HOME GAME: Friday, August 31 at 6:40 p.m. MT vs. Oklahoma City Dodgers @ Security Service Field
 
                     
COS TOP PERFORMERS
 Tyler Saladino (2-for-4, 3B, 2 RBI, 1 BB)
 Christian Bethancourt (2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI)
 Tristan Archer (W, 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K)
 
  OMA TOP PERFORMERS
 Humberto Arteaga (2-for-4, 1 R)
 Donnie Dewees (2-for-4, HR, 1 R, 2 RBI)
 Frank Schwindel (2-for-4, HR,  1 R, 1 RBI)