Hirsh puts halt to win drought
The following are updates on area athletes playing minor league baseball.
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Jason Hirsh (St. Francis High, 2000) Colorado Springs Sky Sox starting pitcher: Hirsh picked up his first win since April 27 on Tuesday, pitching six strong innings in a 4-3 road win over the Sacramento Rock Cats.
The Sky Sox, the Triple-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies, scored two runs in the top of the fourth and another in the fifth to stake Hirsh to a 3-0 lead before the former Golden Knight gave up the only two runs he allowed on the day in the bottom of the fifth.
Hirsh yielded a leadoff home run to Anthony Recker and then loaded the bases with one out on a single, a double and a walk before giving up another run on a Travis Buck sacrifice fly.
Tuesday’s effort was a nice reversal of recent struggles for Hirsh, who allowed six earned runs in five innings on May 30 and gave up five earned runs in four innings in his previous start on June 4.
Hirsh is now 3-2 on the season with a 5.88 earned-run average and the Sky Sox were in first place in the Pacific Coast League Pacific North Division by a half a game with a record of 36-26, as of Sunday.
Trevor Bell (Crescenta Valley High, 2005) Arkansas Travelers starting pitcher: Bell took the loss, his first since May 16, against the visiting San Antonio Missions, 4-2, on June 8 despite allowing just one earned run. He entered the fourth inning with a 2-0 lead, but four hits, a walk and a costly error in the frame derailed the outing quickly. The Missions put up four runs in the top of the fourth, the first coming on a double by Kellen Kulbacki that scored Craig Cooper, who had singled.
A fielding error by Travelers third baseman Wilberto Ortiz extended the inning.
Bell’s record is now 4-3 for Arkansas, the Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and he has an ERA of 1.98 with 50 strikeouts to 19 walks. Bell was coming off a strong June 3 outing in which he limited the Corpus Christi Hooks to one run over seven innings in a 4-1 victory. The Travelers are currently in last place in the Texas League North Division with a record of 23-37, as of Sunday.