Versatile slugger and self-proclaimed antihero Cody Decker kept his hot streak alive Wednesday night in El Paso's 5-1 win over the Colorado Springs Sky Sox. He hit his third homer in as many days, bringing his season total up to a quarter-century. This total leads the inaugural Chihuahuas, as do his 73 RBI.
Second baseman Jace Peterson, right fielder Jeff Francoeur, and shortstop Tyler Greene all had two-hit games, with Peterson and Greene each driving in one run. Outdoing all of them was catcher Adam Moore, who singled four times and drove in El Paso's fifth run. Young left fielder Yeison Asencio added a double, and everyone in the starting lineup collected at least one hit, save for third baseman Alex Castellanos. Normally the starting pitcher collecting a hit would be noteworthy, but since Jason Lane was on the hill for the pups, it's kind of ho-hum. His single in three at-bats actually dropped his batting average; Lane is presently sitting at a Gwynnian .362.
Lane brought his A-game to the mound, too. He allowed one run over seven innings on five hits -- two doubles and three singles -- and two walks. The eventual Disney movie subject struck out eight Sky Sox batters while throwing 100 pitches, 63(%) of which went for strikes. The win pushed his record even to 9-9 and the sole earned run lowered his ERA sixteen points, down to 4.51. Donn Roach took over and pitched a scoreless eighth inning, working around a pair of free passes. Jerry Sullivan came in and nailed down a 1-2-3 save, as he is wont to do.
The Chihuahuas return home Thursday to begin the final series of their season, a five-gamer against the Salt Lake Bees. After that, it's just a matter of seeing who gets called up to the big club to witness in person the beauty that is the Selig Hall of Fame Plaza brought to you by Brawndo, the thirst mutilator.