Vibes Drop Series Opener to Raptors

Hudson Ridley

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. The Rocky Mountain Vibes came up short against the Ogden Raptors, 5-2 in the series opener on Tuesday.

Former Raptor Christian Day got the call to start. Ogden opted for Brock Gilliam on the mound. 

With how well the Vibes have been pitching as of late and how the Raptors staff have performed thus far, fans at UCHealth Park could expect a pitchers duel. That's exactly what they got. 

Christian Day came out of the gate firing. Despite hitters making contact, Day continued to work quickly, catching hitters off-guard with his rapid pace.

However, that wasn't enough to stop Ogden's bats. 

Juan Teixeira put the Raptors on the board first with an RBI single in the top of the first. 

After that everything seemed to calm down. Day and Gilliam would trade scoreless innings until the top of the fourth. Coleton Horner blasted a double to the right field wall and caught a huge break with two errors pushing him all the way home for an inside the park score.

Day would go on to let up one more run on a Reese Alexiades solo shot in the top of the fifth before being pulled. The righty would finish with a line of 5.0 IP, 8 H, 3ER, 0 BB, 0 SO. 

Rocky Mountain would finally put a run on the board in the bottom of the fifth courtesy of a Brandon Crosby RBI double. That marked his first hit and RBI as a Vibe coming in his debut. Crosby's RBI and some stellar plays in the field earned him the Whataburger Player of the Game.

The Vibes would draw one closer, 3-2 off of an errant throw from right field allowing Brandon Crosby to move from second to home.

With the game in the balance, Rocky Mountain put the ball in the hand of Rafael Kelly. Coming into the ballgame Kelly hadn't allowed a run in four appearances as a Vibe. That trend failed to continue. Ogden piled up three straight hits, followed by back to back hits on two consecutive pitches. When the dust settled the Raptors tacked on two more runs on pushing the lead to 5-2.

With one last chance in the bottom of the ninth, the bottom of the order couldn't rally as the Vibes fall to 7-17 on the season.

Rocky Mountain and Ogden face off again, tomorrow at 6:35 at UCHealth Park.