Sky Sox's rally falls short against Las Vegas

Come to Security Service Field these days and you're likely to see two things - a Sky Sox rally and a bone-chilling rain.

Sunday brought both, and both came too late to help the home team.

Las Vegas starter David Purcey kept Colorado Springs hitters perplexed through 72/3 innings, striking out nine and giving up just four hits and two runs in helping the 51s to a big enough cushion to withstand a four-run Sky Sox rally in a 6-4 win in front of 4,689.

The rains came when the Sky Sox finally knocked Purcey out, delaying action for 65 minutes and killing any momentum.

"That's just Mother Nature, you can't do anything about it," said Sky Sox manager Stu Cole, whose team has routinely dealt with wet fields and delays. "I'm not going to sit here whining and complaining about it because it won't do me any good."

But it was Purcey's left arm - not the rain - that was the problem as he kept the Sky Sox at bay while the 51s scored five runs off Colorado Springs starter Matt Belisle.

Purcey's performance made it difficult to imagine how he struggled the way he did in five starts with Toronto this year (0-2, 7.01 ERA).

"When I was up there I kind of resorted to relying on my fastball and slider," Purcey said. "They wanted me to come down and work on all my pitches, get my changeup and curveball working and mix it up."

The 27-year-old retired three of the first five Sky Sox hitters on called third strikes and didn't allow a hit until the fifth inning.

"I feel like if I go out and pitch like I did today, no matter what level I'm at I'll have some success," he said.

The 51s won three of five in the series - sending left-handed starters to the mound every time.

"(Purcey)'s got good stuff," said third baseman Mike McCoy, who had two of the Sky Sox eight hits. "He throws hard for a lefty with a pretty decent changeup and he mixes his pitches, but sometimes during day games if a lefty is throwing it will make it a little tougher to see."

The issue of picking up the ball out of lefties' hands with the Security Service Field backdrop was a recurring theme, mentioned by Matt Miller on Saturday and echoed by Cole following Sunday's defeat.

"I'm not looking to make excuses, and I don't want to take anything away from him," McCoy added. "We still should have been able to scrap out more than two hits or whatever we had against him."

The Sky Sox - who have built a reputation with their late comebacks - looked like they might do it again when Miller's two-run double capped a four-run rally in the eighth and brought the tying run to the plate. They also threatened in the ninth when Mark Bellhorn singled with one out. But closer Jeremy Accardo, who had faced one batter in the eighth inning before the delay, got Kenny Perez to ground into a double play after a lengthy at bat.

Notes: Matt Murton legged out an infield hit in the eighth inning to extend his hitting streak to 22 games. ... Franklin Morales, sent down last week by the Rockies, is schedule to start in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, but has yet to officially be added to the Sky Sox roster, so someone will have to be moved to make room for him.

MAJOR LEAGUE MOMENT
Las Vegas catcher J.P. Arencibia, rated by Baseball America as Toronto's second-best prospect, showed some big-league hustle in the sixth inning when he decided out of the batter's box that he'd turn a likely single in left center into a double. He did, then stole third and scored when a ground ball leaked through a pulled-in infield. If he had been on first it likely would have been a double play.