The Oakland Ballers Treymayne Cobb had lots of reasons to be thrilled after his ninth inning walk off home run against the Colorado Springs Sky Sox at Raimondi Park in Oakland on Sat Jul 26, 2025 (Oakland Ballers X photo)

Colorado Springs (2nd half:6-5;2025:15-43) 212 020 001 8 14 1

Oakland Ballers (2nd half:6-5;2025:44-15) 430 000 101 9 13 1

Time: 3:15

Attendance: Not announced

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–Baseball, especially as it’s been practiced at 18th and Woodin West Oakland this last week, is the damndest calling. Just when you think you’ve witnessed every variety of the ineluctable modality of the visible, it bites you in the ass with a new one.

Take, for example, the variation wrought Saturday afternoon and evening on the array of improbabilities with which the Colorado Springs Sky Sox and Oakland Baller have been regaling us since Tuesday night.

The outcome of Saturday’s game, a 9-8 Ballers win, decided on a one out, full count pinch hit home run by Tremayne Cobb, thrilling as it was, also was the final exclamation point to a three and a quarter hour textbook example of revised expectations.

For all my literary allusions, words fail me. Still, putting real, surreal, and deja vu together a shot may be made at what this hybrid actually was like to look at.

Oakland logged ten plate appearances, resulting in four runs in the first and put another three tallies on the board in the second. Sounds like another Baller breakout, like the one that led to the blowing of a six run lead in the eighth in the series opener.

Cobb’s last pitch homer echoed Wednesday’s failed heroics that ended with a knock out inning defeat. Tuesday and Wednesday’s crowds grew progressively apprehensive as they saw their team’s prospects fade away like a Christy Mathewson screwball.

Saturday night’s audience also began to fidget as the sky darkened, the temperature dropped, and the score remained locked at seven. The fans’ moodlightened when Oakland pulled ahead, 8-7 in the seventh, and spirits remained buoyant even when Colorado Springs once again tied the score in the top of the ninth.

The possibility of failure lurked, but that seemed only to whet the home town partisans’ appetite to see their team confront and surmount that possibility, After four games we were sensing a situation worthy of being called dramatic. The drama was intensified when Cobb was announced a pinch hitter when failure could have sent us into another knock out inning crap shoot. But there was no failure. Cobb came through, and for a few minutes, all seemed right in the world.

Colorado Springs used seven pitchers. Starter Jacob Norris lasted an inning and threw 50 pitches, which resulted in four runs, all earned, on four hits, including a three run dinger by Cam Bufford. Eldrige Armstrong was more economical; it took him only 32 pitches to get through the second frame, and he surrendered only three runs,—like those charged to Norris, all earned—on three hits and a walk.

Joe Kinsky and Maykol López hurled a couple of scoreless frames each to allow the Sky Sox to hold on while the offence knotted the score at seven, Ryan Velásquez replaced López when we’d taken our seats after we sang our request to root, root, root for the Ballers.

A bad throw by TJ McKenzie allowed Jake Allgeyer, who was advancing to third on Esai Santos’ single to right, to score an unearned run that gained the Ballers a tie in their half of the seventh. In spite of a walk and a wild pitch, Velásquez got out of the seventh without allowing Oakland advance beyond a tie when Ethan Ross replaced him with one down in the home eight.

It took him two pitches to preserve the tie until the bottom of the ninth. It took his replacement, Alain López 12 pitches to dispose of Lou Helmig on a line drive to second and serve the game winning blast to Cobb.

Here’s a summary, courtesy of the Ballers, of how their five moundsmen fared: IP H R ER BB SO HR WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO NP

B. Eglite 2.2 6 5 5 3 4 1 0 0 0 0 13 16 2 1 71

Adam Bogosian 2.1 4 2 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 10 11 1 4 45

Dylan Matsuoka 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 3 4 0 2 14

James Colyer 1.0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 0 0 13

Caleb Franzen (W, 3-0) 2.0 2 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 9 9 3 2 30

Totals 9.0 14 8 8 3 9 2 1 0 1 0 38 43 6 9 173

Dillon Tatum was the only batter in the B’s starting lineup who did get at least one hit, going 0-3. No matter; Cobb pinch hit for him. Oakland batters connected for four extra base hits; Nick Leehey and Gelmig, for doubles; Cam Bufford and—I can’t say this enhough—Cobb for home runs.

The first pitch of the final game of this confounding six game series is scheduled for 1:05pm PT Sunday, afternoon. I have no idea what to expect at the game, but before it you can celebrate Halloween in July, and, if you bring kids, you can watch them run the bases after hostilities have ceased, when you and the kids can talk with the players and get their autographs.

The team will depart for a six game visit to the Yuba-Sutter High Wheelers this coming Tuesday through Sunday and then return for six home games against those same division rivals on Tuesday, August 5.

Whether you’re pre-gaming with the Kings or celebrating an A’s win, Cyprus Grille at the Holiday Inn Sacramento Downtown – Arena is your downtown go-to.

⚡Craft cocktails? Check.
🔥Game-day bites? Oh yeah.
🏟️Steps from Golden 1 Center? You bet.

Open daily, Cyprus Grille is serving up local flavor with a front-row seat to the action. Stop by before or after the game—or make it your new downtown hangout.

Cyprus Grille—where fans fuel up.

📍Located inside the Holiday Inn Sacramento Downtown – Arena @ 300 J Street

Happy Hour – 4pm-6pm

Show your ticket for additional discounts when dining in.