Olympics: Dexter Fowler discusses what's been going on lately with the team in his journal.

The Springs, W 9-0: Oscar Villarreal made his Sky Sox debut, walking five and striking out four in four innings. He did not allow a hit. Thirty-three of the his 66 pitches went for strikes. Mark Redman held Salt Lake to no hits, but did walk three. Matt Daley allowed a hit in the eighth, but that was the only hit Salt Lake managed in the game. Cedrick Bowers struck out two in the ninth.

Humberto Cota accounted for most of the offense last night, going 3-for-5 with two homers and five RBI. The homers were both of the two-run variety. Scott Podsednik went 2-for-3 with an RBI, a SB, and was picked off.

Tulsa, L 9-12: The Drillers had been leading 9-4 before a disaster of an eighth inning occurred. Andrew Johnston had pitched in the seventh and came back out for the eighth. He allowed three runs and Edward Valdez allowed five more in the inning.

Keith Weiser, who started, went six innings and allowed four runs.

Chris Nelson collected three hits (including a double), scored twice, and drove in two runs. He stole his sixth base, and EY Jr. (who scored three times) stole bases 40 and  41. The other Nelson, Justin, had two doubles and two RBI. Daniel Carte also recorded two hits and an RBI. Tony Blanco added three more RBI to his total, now at 84.

Tulsa begins its final homestand of the season tonight.

Modesto, L 3-5 in 10 innings: Tommy Baumgardner allowed a homer to Andrew Locke in the top of the 10th and an RBI double later in the inning to end the tie. Aneury Rodriguez went 6 1/3 innings, allowed two runs, and struck out six. Andy Graham finished the seventh inning, but David Patton wound up allowing an unearned run after a throwing error (that, had it not been, would have ended the inning) and an RBI ground-rule double.

Lino Garcia had three of Modesto's 11 hits. Kane Simmons and Mike Paulk had two hits each. Simmons stole his first base for Modesto.

Asheville, W 7-6: Shane Lindsay got one of those "quality starts" by allowing three runs in six innings. Those three runs all came in the fourth on a homer. He allowed four hits, walked two, and struck out six. Randall Taylor had a tough go last night, as he allowed two runs on four hits. He only recorded one out. Matthew Reynolds picked up his second save.

Brian Rike's RBI double in the fourth, Mike Mitchell's RBI single in the fifth, Kevin Clark's two-run double in the sixth, a run-scoring wild pitch in the sixth, and Helder Velazquez's two-run double in the eight led the Tourists to victory. Mitchell stole his 52nd base and Kevin Clark took two to reach 21.

Tri-City: Off.

Casper, L 3-7: Tyler Massey hit his first professional homer, and Zack Murry collected two hits and two RBI.

Edwar Cabrera pitched a stong five innings, allowing an unearned run on five hits and striking out five. Brandon Dill and Brandon Walker then allowed three runs each in the sixth and seventh innings. Walker allowed those three runs on two homers.

Colorado Springs, W 21-5: At least some team knows how to score runs, and lots of them. Joe Koshansky hit a three-run homer for his 26th, scored five times, and, oh, he hit for the cycle (again); Mike McCoy had two solo homers, three total hits, and drove in a total of five runs; Christian Colonel had a two-run homer for his ninth of the season and three total hits; Matt Miller had four hits and drove in six runs; Humberto Cota had two RBI; and Sean Barker, Chris Frey, and Adam Melhuse (as a PH) each had an RBI. Doug Bernier and Jeff Dragicevich were the only non-pitchers to not drive in a run. They combined for 24 hits.

Josh Hall allowed one run on seven innings, but Cedrick Bowers allowed four runs in two innings.

Tulsa: No games scheduled.

Modesto, L 6-7: The Nuts led 5-4 entering the top of the ninth, but David Patton allowed an RBI single and a two-run homer to blow the save. Esmil Rogers left after five innings and four earned runs. Chris Malone allowed only one hit over the next three innings.

Kane Simmons and Nelson Robledo combined to drive in three runs in the sixth inning, the latter with two on a double. In the bottom of the ninth, the Nuts attempted a comeback. Nick Haley scored on a Victor Ferrante RBI single (his second of the night), and it appeared Mike McKenry drove in the tying run, but the ball was ruled a double. That stopped Ferrante from scoring. Lino Garcia promptly struck out for teh third and final out.

Asheville, L 3-5: Brian Rike went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI, but it was David Christensen who flailed four times last night. Robinson Fabian allowed five runs (two earned) over five innings. He struck out five. Matt Reynolds and Ethan Katz threw scoreless innings of relief.

Tri-City, W 12-4: Jonnathan Aristil allowed three runs (one earned) in four innings before giving way to David Parker. He allowed a run in the fifth, but Sean Jarrett for the sixth and seventh innings and struck out four.

Ryan Peisel, hitting ninth, had the biggest hit of the night. As part of a six-run fourth inning, Peisel connected with a ball for a three-run triple. From the Tri-City Herald:

"That triple was big; it's what got us going," said manager Fred Ocasio, who got his 100th win with the Dust Devils. "Of late, (Peisel's) been getting some quality at-bats; they just hadn't been hits."

Charlie Blackmon, who had three hits and stole his 11th base, doubled in Peisel. Erik Wetzel brought Blackmon home after a passed ball and a sac fly. Austin Rauch earlier scored on a fielder's choice.

The Dust Devils scored five runs in the eighth that included an Austin Rauch two-run single, a Scott Robinson RBI single, a run scored on a throwing error, and a Thomas Field RBI single.

Casper, L 3-8: Orlando Sandoval went 4-for-4 and drove in a run. Nick Valdez stole home plate. Jeff Fischer saw four runs score over his five innings on the mound, Ronny Lopez saw two runs touch home plate in his two innings, and Andres Marrero also witnessed two guys round the bases.

Colorado Springs, L 9-10 in 11 innings: The Sky Sox rallied for five runs in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game at nine, only to ultimately lose. Joe Koshansky hit his 20th home run to lead off the inning; Kenny Perez had an RBI double; Chris Frey drove in a run on a single; Mike McCoy had an RBI triple (and a two-run homer earlier in the game); and Doug Bernier reached first base on a throwing error and saw McCoy score.

Steven Register pitched the last two innings and allowed a Chris Shelton RBI double to become the winning run. Sean Smith started the game and did all right over six innings: 3 R/1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K. The troubles came with Juan Morillo, who recorded no outs in the seventh inning. He faced five batters, allowed four of them to get a hit, and walked the other. Four of them scored while Morillo was on the mound while the other scored when Cedrick Bowers came in to relieve. Bowers himself walked four and one run scored that way. Josh Towers, oddly enough, didn't allow a run in his two innings of work.

Tulsa, L 6-9: It was a good night to hit  home runs . . . if  you were on NW Arkansas. Alan Johnson surrendered three homers, all multi-run homers. Johnson left after five innings and eight runs. Tomas Santiago struck out five over the next three innings.

Jeff Kindel hit a two-run homer, his 10th, in the seventh to bring the game to 6-9. Daniel Carte had two hits and two runs, and Corey Wimberly stole three bases to have 52 on the season.

Modesto, L 6-11: Simon Ferrer allowed five runs on nine hits over 4 1/3 innings, and Chris Malone saw four runs score in 1 2/3 innings. Mike McKenry hit his 12th home, a solo shot in the sixth. Anthony Jackson went 3-for-4 with two doubles, an RBI, and two runs scored. Chris Nelson went 0-for-5 and is hitting .192 after seven games.

Kane Simmons and Radames Nazario received promotions from Tri-City to Modesto yesterday. Esmil Rogers and Keith Weiser will be temporarily on the inactive list.

Asheville, L 2-4: The Tourists ran into some tough pitchers, namely Carl Pavano and Phil Hughes. Pavano allowed only a hit in two innings and struck out four. Phil Hughes held the Tourists to two hits over three innings. A wild pitch and a Bo Bowman single scored the two runs in the seventh inning. Bruce Billings allowed three runs on six hits in seven innings and struck out six in his start after throwing a no-hitter.

Tri-City, W 4-2: In the bottom of the first, Thomas Field started with a called strike out, but the next three Dust Devils walked. Patrick Rose reached base on an error, which scored two runs. In the sixth inning, two runs scored on two wild pitches. The Dust Devils only had three hits.

Kenny Durst started and allowed no runs on three hits in four innings. He struck out six. Austin Chambliss picked up his 10th save.

James Sims and Andy Goff have taken the places of Simmons and Nazario.

Casper, W 5-0: Ethan Hollingsworth allowed no runs in five innings and struck out eight, his best start of the season. Isaiah Froneberger struck out three in two innings, and Kurt Yacko struck out two in the ninth.

Carlos Martinez had two hits (one for a triple) and two RBI. Wilin Rosario also had a triple and an RBI. Forty-sixth round pick Jimmy Cesario made his debut, had a hit, and struck out three times.

Colorado Springs, W 6-5 - Poor Chris Frey was lonely yesterday, as he was the only starter to not have a hit. Even Frankie Morales, who we know was originally an outfielder, had a hit and an RBI. Most of the damage was done on singles, but Christian Colonel had a solo shot in the fifth. In fact, the first six batters all had at least two hits, with Adam Melhuse collecting three.

On the pitching side of things, Morales allowed only two runs on three hits, but he also walked five batters. Of his 103 pitches, 53 went for strikes. Matt Daley allowed three runs, allowing one hit and walking three. Cedrick Bowers actually saw two of those runs score before Alberto Arias and Steven Register closed out the game. Register picked up his 15th save.

Tulsa, L 5-6 - Jeff Kindel two-run homer in the eighth inning was part of a four-run ininning that tied the game at five. Alas, Darren Clarke put some men on in the bottom of the eighth and then saw Ryan Mattheus allow the go-ahead run to cross home plate.

Xavier Cedeno allowed two unearned runs over five innings. Justin Nelson hit a homer earlier in the game and Dexter Fowler walked three times.

Modesto, L 4-5 - Victor Ferrante and Mike McKenry each had a two-run homer in the contest, and that was about it for the offense. Keither Weiser allowed four runs on nine hits in six innings.

Asheville, L 3-4 in 11 innings - Gotta give a whole lot of credit to Riordan last night despite allowing a run in the ninth to tie the game. Riordan went nine innings and allowed three runs on 10 hits. He struck out eight. Craig Baker allowed a leadoff homer in the 11th. 

Helder Velazquez, Kevin Clark, and Beau Seabury each had an RBI, and David Christensen had two hits. Mike Mitchell stole his 41st base. Brian Rike continued to pileup the strikeouts, collecting three more.

Tri-City, W 5-4 - Austin Rauch's second homer of the season was a big one since it won the game for the Dust Devils. Down 3-4 in the ninth, Rauch stepped to the plate with ne out and hit the ball out of the park. Erik Wetzel had two hits and drove in two runs. Charlie Blackmon had two hits and stole his sixth base.

Christian Friedrich had a good start, striking out eight over five innings and allowing one run on two hits. Sean Jarrett, who's on his way back from injury and surgery, allowed three runs, but saw two of them score while Austin Chambliss was on the mound.

Casper, L 11-19 - Casper gave it a go in the ninth for a comeback, but only five runs scored. Dan Houston went three innings, allowing four runs on three hits. Alan Deratt allowed seven runs in two-thirds of an inning, and Andred Marrero saw five score in 1 2/3 innings.

Carlos Martinez, Wilin Rosario, and Shane Lowe led the offense with two hits each, but Lowe failed to drive in a run like the the other two. Almost everyone had an RBI, including the pinch-hitters, and it's too long to list.

Well, according to our fearless leader, at least, who sees a lot of similarities between the Lions of aught seven and the Rockies of aught six. A key difference that Hurdle somehow left out was that the Lions -according to a Google search, since I really don't know much about it- had cleaned house in their coaching ranks before what had been a sorry franchise was able to turn around. I mean, just a minor detail

As good as Aaron Cook has been for us in the past, I was somewhat surprised to find out that yesterday was his first career shutout. If he continues to pitch like he has for us this season, it shouldn't be his last. Hurdle indicated that Cookie will be going to Yankees Stadium for the Rox, which was probably a no-brainer even if somebody else was the All-Star manager.

As could usually be expected this time of season, despite Brian Fuentes' fiasco Monday night, the Rockies reliever is actually getting more interest from teams wanting to make a trade. The Cedrick Bowers call-up from yesterday should be a sign that the Rockies are seriously considering divesting themselves of their current closer, as if Bowers is successful the Rockies would have that security blanket of a lefty in the pen that every manager seems to demand.

Colorado Springs, L 2-4 - Not much was done offensively last night, but Seth Smith had two hits (his double being the only extra-base hit for the Sky Sox). Glendon Rusch allowed four runs and walked four in 4 2/3 innings. Half of those runs came on a third inning home run. Cedrick Bowers, Juan Morillo, and Josh Newman held Tacoma to one hit (Bowers) and two walks (Morillo) over the final 3 1/3 innings. Newman struck out three.

Tulsa, W 4-3 in 11 innings - David Parrish's first homer was an important one since he hit it in the top of the 11th to give Tulsa the lead. Earlier in the game, Dexter Fowler had three singles and an RBI, Eric Young Jr. had two singles and an RBI, and Tony Blanco hit his 14th homer.

Chaz Roe went six innings, allowed two runs, and walked three. Ryan Mattheus, Adam Bright, and Darren Clarke held San Antonio to two hits over the next two innings. Casey Weathers blew the game in the ninth, allowing a run on a HBP, a walk (his second one, an IBB, came after the run scored), and a single. Jarrett Grube held San Antonio to a hit over the final two innings.

Modesto, L 4-5 in 10 innings - Mike McKenry went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI, and Jay Cox had a solo homer (3) in th eighth inning to tie the game at four. Brandon Durden started the game, went four innings, and allowed foru runs on a solo homer and a three-run sho. Chris Malone struck out four over his three innigs of relief.

David Patton took the loss after pitching 2 2/3 innings. Michael Massaro, the leadoff batter for the inning, reached base on a single and then advanced to second on a throwing error by Patton on the pickoff attempt. After a strikeout, the next batter appeared to single in Massaro, but Anthony Jackson gunned him down with his throw to McKenry at the plate. The batter advanced to second and scored on a single by the next batter.

Asheville, W 9-3 - Robinson Fabian went six string innings, allowing only two runs. Joey Williamson pitched the final three innings to pick up his first save. He allowed one run on a homer and struck out three.

Everth Cabrera fell a homer short of the cycle, drove in two, and stole his 51st base; Kevin Clark drove in three on a ground out, a sac fly, a and a single; Darin Holcomb drove in two on a sac fly and a double; and Jeff Cunningham (13) and Helder Velazquez (6) each had a solo shot.

Tri-City, W 5-3 - Charlie Blackmon went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI, while Chris Vasami and Thomas Field each had a triple (and an error) Field and Patrick Rose accounted for the other two RBI.

Jonnathan Aristil yielded three runs over six innings to Boise. He walked two and struck out four. Bobby Paschal allowed three hits in two innings, but Boise was unable to do anything else. Austin Chambliss picked up his fifth save.

Casper - Off.

Ubaldo Jimenez beat his childhood hero, Pedro Martinez, last night:

"He's been my hero ever since I was little," Jimenez said. "I loved the way he pitched; I tried to never miss his games. He was aggressive and you could just see it in his face. It didn't matter who he faced, he was going to get them out."

And in beating his hero, Jimenez not only won his first game since April 8, but he also pushed the Rockies back out of last place and into a tie for third place with the Giants. The Giants lost to our next opponent, the Royals, last night. The Giants send TIm Lincecum to the mound to oppose the Royals' Kyle Davies. Winner takes the series.

Troy Renck mentions that Cedrick Bowers will be considered for a call-up this week when the Rockies look to add a left-hander. At this point, we've already seen what the others have done for the Rockies (Rusch, Redman, and Bowie), so taking a look at Bowers may not be a bad thing. There's also a quote there from Dan O'Dowd about Franklin Morales: 

"Franklin's not even on the radar right now," Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd said. "He can't help us right now. And he might not be able to help us this season."

Todd Helton believes he's over "a little issue" he had, and Kip Wells pitched in a simulated game yesterday in preparation for a rehab start later this week.

Clint Hurdle still wants Willie Randolph coaching in the All-Star Game after the Mets fired him.