HOLLIDAY HAS 4 HITS IN ROUT

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Jun 8, 2008 | by BOB STEPHENS

Matt Holliday was sharp, healthy and productive in giving 6,376 fans a treat Saturday night at Security Service Field.

Holliday was 4-for-4 -- as was right fielder Chris Frey -- while scoring two runs and drilling a tworun double to help the Colorado Springs Sky Sox beat Salt Lake 8-4.

"I got all the tests you could get in one day," said Holliday, who is on a rehabilitation assignment from the Colorado Rockies. "It was fun and I feel good. I'm ready."

Holliday is eligible to return to the Rockies on Monday so he'll play for the Sky Sox today and rejoin the Rockies for Tuesday's game in Denver.

As he did Friday, Holliday left the game after the seventh inning, even though he was the third hitter due up in the eighth.

"Running-wise, he looked great," Sky Sox manager Tom Runnells said. "I had to score him from second and I had to score him from first. He got plenty of running in."

Holliday, who is the Rockies' left fielder, was runner-up in last season's National League Most Valuable Player voting. He flashed that same form Saturday while hitting three balls hard after beating out an infield hit in the first inning as the Sky Sox grabbed a 4-1 lead.

Jayson Nix got the game started right for the Sky Sox, leading off with a home run to center field that hit halfway up the black batter's eye. That extended his hitting streak to 12 games.

Joe Koshansky, who leads the Pacific Coast League with 59 RBIs, had a runscoring single in the first. He has 24 RBIs in his past 15 games.

Frey capped the firstinning rally with an RBI single. He also stole a base and scored in the fourth and said playing with Holliday was an eye-opener.

"It was great for me and a lot of the young guys to be on the field with him and see how he works and prepares between at-bats," Frey said. "He hits the ball where it's pitched and that's always a key for me. He was very impressive. He's a great player."

Franklin Morales pitched poorly in his sixth start with the Sky Sox since being demoted from the Rockies' rotation. The 22-year-old southpaw lasted only four innings and allowed four walks, seven hits and four earned runs.

Morales had surrendered seven hits in 13 innings in his previous two starts.

Cedric Bowers (3-1) pitched three innings of scoreless relief while working out of a bases-loaded jam with one out in the seventh.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0250 or bob.stephens@gazette.com

TODAY

Salt Lake City (Dustin Moseley 1-2, 6.45 ERA) at Colorado Springs (Mark Redman 2-1, 5.73), 1:05 p.m., 1460 AM