Hirsh turns back the clock as Sky Sox win again

Excuse Jason Hirsh if he felt like a time traveler Monday. But it's a feeling he wants to keep.

Hirsh flashed the brilliance of his youth in a 5-1 victory for the Sky Sox at chilly Security Service Field while handcuffing Tacoma on three hits in seven innings.

Eric Young Jr. led off the first inning with a homer while Dan Ortmeier and Matt Murton added solo shots and RBI singles to support Hirsh's gem.

"That's probably the best I've thrown in a couple of years," said Hirsh, who has battled injuries and inconsistency since being traded to Colorado from Houston in December 2006.

"I had command of all my stuff. It felt like it used to."

Hirsh, 27, was the Pacific Coast League's Pitcher of the Year in 2006 with a 13-2 record and a league-best 2.10 earned run average. He was the Texas League Pitcher of the Year in 2005.

Perhaps all of that promise exhibited by the 6-foot-8, 250-pound right-hander is about to be fulfilled.

"I told him for the first half of his performance tonight it was a major league effort," manager Tom Runnells said. "If he'd been pitching in a major league game, he would've gotten outs. He had a major league slider."

Hirsh has been frustrated the past two seasons - he started 19 games for the Rockies in 2007 but 17 with the Sky Sox last year - by his combined 10-13 record. He had a badly sprained ankle in 2007 and a right shoulder strain to begin last season.

"My arm is still getting stronger," Hirsh said. "My slider has always been my ‘out' pitch and I'm getting more confidence in it again. I seemed to lose it while trying to develop my change-up the last few years."

He had the Rainiers waving at it ineffectively while striking out nine, his highest total since whiffing 12 on June 24, 2006, while pitching for Round Rock in the Astros organization.

"I liked his aggressiveness," Runnells said. "I liked his temp and his pace. He's gotten better each start."

Sky Sox catcher Sal Fasano, 37, a veteran of nine major league teams, also was impressed.

"I'm not going to say he dominated, but he was tough," Fasano said. "He got ahead 0-1 a lot and that made it easy to pitch."

Hirsh said he's not worrying about his future but surely the pitching-starved Rockies will notice his improvement.

Notes
Murton, who has a 13-game hitting streak, is expected to miss today's game as his wife is scheduled to give birth to their first baby. ... Kenny Perez (.380) extended his hitting streak to eight games.