Jon Gray earned his sixth win for Tulsa and David Dahl homered in Asheville's loss to Kannapolis as the Rockies affiliates won a pair and lost three on Thursday.
AAA - Colorado Springs Sky Sox 6, Iowa Cubs 2
A five-run outburst by the Sky Sox in the first two innings, highlighted by Angelys Nina's first home run of the season, would be all Colorado Springs starter Pedro Hernandez would need as he cruised to a 6-2 win over Iowa. Hernandez allowed just a run on four hits in 5 2/3 innings with a walk and four strikeouts. The only run the Cubs scored on him came via a solo home run from Arismendy Alcantara in the sixth.
The Sky Sox opened with a pair of runs in the top of the first when Kyle Parker (No. 5 PuRP) singled home Rafael Ynoa and scored later in the inning on a base hit from Ben Paulsen. Ynoa drove in a run in the second when his bunt scored Evan Frey and moved Drew Garcia to third, setting up Nina's two-run home run that gave Colorado Springs a 5-0 lead which they would not look back from.
AA - Tulsa Drillers 6, Northwest Arkansas Naturals 4
Despite not having his best outing, Jon Gray (No. 1 PuRP) got his sixth win of the season as the Drillers took a 6-4 victory at Northwest Arkansas. Gray was a bit erratic with his control in his 5 1/3 innings of work, allowing three runs, all earned, on five hits with three walks and three strikeouts. He threw 91 pitches, 50 for strikes.
The Drillers offense staked Gray to an early lead, taking advantage of a pair of walks and a trio of wild pitches from Naturals pitcher Tim Melville along with three hits to score four runs in the top of the third to take a 4-0 lead. Northwest Arkansas got on the board in the bottom of the fourth when Orlando Calixte led off the inning with a home run against Gray.
Northwest Arkansas got another tally in the fifth, cutting the Drillers lead to 4-2 before Tulsa got a pair of insurance runs in the top of the sixth thanks to three singles and an error, taking a 6-2 lead, which would be enough for Gray and the Drillers' bullpen.
High-A - Lake Elsinore Storm 6, Modesto Nuts 2
Like Colorado Springs and Tulsa, the Nuts also jumped out to an early lead when Rosell Herrera (No. 4 PuRP) singled home Chris O'Dowd and Patrick Valaika (No. 21 PuRP) in the bottom of the first to give Modesto a 2-0 lead. However, the Nuts failed to score in the next innings and starting pitcher Ryan Kulik could make the lead stand up as the Nuts dropped a 6-2 game to Lake Elsinore.
Kulik gave up four runs on seven hits, four of which were doubles, in six innings of work with three walks and six strikeouts, but was outdone by Lake Elsinore's Bryan Rodriguez, who allowed just the pair of runs on Herrera's single in seven innings as the Storm got the win.
A - Kannapolis Intimidators 5, Asheville Tourists 3
David Dahl's (No. 3 PuRP) leadoff home run was one of a dozen hits for the Tourists on the night, but they managed just three runs in a 5-3 home loss to Kannapolis. In fact, each team led off the first inning with a home run, with Kannapolis' Hunter Jones going deep against Tourists starter Zach Jemiola to lead off the first and Dahl launching his tenth long ball of the season to lead off the bottom of the first against the Intimadators' Robinson Leyer to even the score at one.
However, Kannapolis would score runs in the next two innings, including Jones' second home run of the game in the third, to take a 3-1 lead, while Leyer held the Tourists scoreless over the next six innings, leaving the game with his team leading 4-1 after seven innings. A pair of runs for the Tourists in the ninth was not enough to overcome their four-run deficit.
DSL - DSL Mets1 7, DSL Rockies 4 (10 innings)
Like several of their stateside counterparts, the DSL Rockies jumped out to an early lead against the DSL Mets, opening the scoring with a four-run rally in the fourth inning, highlighted by a two-run double by Anderson Jimenez.
However, the Mets crawled back against the Rockies pitching staff, sending the game to extra innings and scoring three in the 10th against Rockies' reliever Luis Guzman to take the 7-4 win.