Vibes Squander Early Lead, Lose 10-9

By Tyler Petersen

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – As the old proverb goes, there's no such thing as a safe eight-run lead in the Pioneer League.

A night after coming back down seven to beat the Rockies, the Rockies came back to beat the Vibes after trailing 8-0.

Everything was going the Vibes way – a Grand Slam in the first inning by Andrew Hanson, another four-run inning in the third. Gaylon Viney was pitching one-run ball through five innings.

Grand Junction was chipping away though. They scored two in the sixth off a two-run single. In the seventh things got going with an RBI triple and an RBI single. It was a 9-5 game at that point, within a grand slam. Pete Bayer was doing his best to get out of the inning, but still allowed two more to score when Joe Johnson hit a sac fly and Joe Encarnacion at shortstop made an error that would have ended the inning. It was just a 2-run lead going to the eighth.

The Rockies still wouldn't go away. In the eighth, a walk, single, and hit by pitch loaded the bases. There were two outs in the inning and Vibes manager Joe Mikulik went to Miguel Pozo for the save. Pozo walked Hubbard which cut the lead to one, then, on a two-strike pitch, Shawn Ross singled to left to drive in two. It was 10-9 Rockies, their first lead of the game.

The Vibes never say never and were able to get the tying run to second base with one out. But a strikeout and groundout later, that's where the baserunner would be left.

The Vibes are once again 6.5 games back of the Rockies. If these two games are any indication, the final four games of this series promise to be dramatic. Rocky Mountain at the very least must go 3-1 in the final four games to give themselves a shot at the playoffs in the final three weeks.