Bats were not needed for an unlikely finish on Thursday night — it was all about eyes, speed and Alcides Escobar’s arm.

Nashville topped the Sky Sox 8-7 after a flurry of a final inning and a half at Security Service that featured three runs scored without putting a ball in play.

But it was all about to go for naught until Escobar, from his knees after lunging to his right to field a ball from his shortstop position, threw out catcher Paul Phillips at the plate to prevent the Sky Sox from tying the game in the bottom of the ninth.

Phillips wasn’t lifted for a pinch runner after a leadoff double because the Sky Sox had exhausted their bench in a flurry of substitutions.

“A fast runner and I couldn’t have thrown to the plate, I would have had to go to first,” said Escobar, Milwaukee’s top-rated prospect who also homered in the game. “But that was exciting, man, that run meant the difference.”

Before that, runs were coming pretty cheep.

The Sky Sox rallied from two runs down with back-to-back bases loaded walks in the bottom of the eighth and then surrendered the go-ahead score in the top of the ninth on a Scott Munter wild pitch that scored Sounds centerfielder Jason Bourgeois from second base — though he was running on the pitch.

Colorado Springs was fighting uphill throughout the game after starting pitcher Esmil Rogers struggled yet again. Rogers, the Rockies’ top-rated pitching prospect in the minor leagues according to Baseball America, gave up seven runs — all earned — on nine hits and three walks in four innings.

Called up from Double-A on July 9, Rogers saw his ERA jump to 7.18 in six Triple-A starts.

The top prospect on the other field had no such struggles. Escobar, who was asked to bunt twice — “I’m going to be a leadoff or No. 2 man, so I’ve got to be able to do that” — drew a walk and put a Rogers pitch over the wall in right center.

Noted as major-league ready with his glove, he did nothing to dispel the notion that he could be an Alfonso Soriano or Hanley Ramirez in the making — both of whom carry a strong resemblance to the 22-year-old Venezuelan.

“I hear that all the time,” Escobar said. “People say I look like Soriano or Hanley Ramirez, but I’ve just got to work, work, work to get up there with them like that.”

Nashville’s Alcides Escobar stole second ahead of the tag from Sky Sox shortstop Mike McCoy during the first inning Thursday night at Security Service Field. Escobar is the top-rated prospect in the Milwaukee farm system. Photo by KEVIN KRECK, THE GAZETTE