After a 13-1 Colorado Springs rout over El Paso Tuesday night, the Chihuahuas bit back to even the series with a 9-1 victory over the Sky Sox on 12 hits, including a two-home run game by Chihuahuas veteran infielder Allen Craig while also going 5-for-5 with five RBI. El Paso arm Walker Lockett, who came into the day with three wins and nine losses, marked his first win since June 24 while tying for a season-low in hits allowed with four. Orlando Arcia highlighted the Sky Sox low-hit affair with an RBI double to break the shutout in the sixth and plate the home squad’s only run.
After plating just one run a night before, the Chihuahuas turned the tables and got their offensive momentum going early in game two on a warm Colorado Springs afternoon. In the top of the first, two consecutive singles by leadoff Forrestt Allday and Luis Urias followed by a bases-clearing double by Craig manufactured the first two runs.
In the visiting second and third frames, El Paso continued with solo runs to extend to a 4-0 advantage. In the second, Auston Bousfield knocked a leadoff double to centerfield while a sacrifice bunt combined with a throwing error by Sky Sox starter Paolo Espino would allow the run to score. In the third, Craig tallied his third RBI on his 11th home run of the season.
The Sky Sox would come around, finally marking their first hit of the contest in the bottom of the fourth thanks to a single by Tyrone Taylor, breaking up Lockett’s short no-hit bid. Then, in the bottom of the sixth, the home team came around to plate their first run and minimize the deficit to three on Orlando Arcia’s RBI double to plate Jake Hager, who singled an at-bat prior.
El Paso, however, came back and extended the lead to 8-1 in the top of the seventh within the first six batters of the half. Allday led off with his third triple of the year while Urias was hit by a pitch to put runners on the corners. After Francisco Mejia knocked a sacrifice fly ball to left field to plate Allday, Craig came up and powered his second home run of the day, marking his fourth and fifth RBIs. Then, following Shane Peterson’s walk, Diego Goris brought home the eighth run on his RBI double to bring in the final eighth run.
El Paso capped off their day’s scoring in the top of the eighth with two outs after Urias scored from second base on Shane Peterson’s dropped fly ball in left field, resulting in an error with no RBI, bringing the score to 9-1.
The Sky Sox continue into the final game against the El Paso Chihuahuas tomorrow with a 6:40 p.m. first pitch. Following this series, the Sky Sox will welcome into town the Albuquerque Isotopes for a four-game set at Security Service Field.
