Eric Young Jr. may be the most dangerous runner in the minor leagues right now, and Allen Craig might be the most feared slugger.

So far in this series, Craig’s power is trumping the speed.

Craig hit three home runs in a doubleheader Tuesday, helping Memphis sweep the Sky Sox 4-2 and 3-1, spoiling Young’s latest record-setting performance in front of 8,322 at Security Service Field.

Craig is hitting .446 with 13 home runs in 30 games since the All-Star break, a run the 25-year-old Cardinals’ prospect can’t explain.

“I really can’t,” said Craig, who drove in three runs with a couple of homers in the first game, the completion of Monday’s suspended game. “I’m just trying to play the game and be smart and not do too much.”

All of Craig’s home runs came against different pitchers and two went to the opposite field.

What Craig has been to power, Young has been to the running game.

The Sky Sox second baseman scored his 107th run in the second game, breaking the Sky Sox single-season record of 106 set by Phil Hiatt in 2000. He helped set up the run by extending his team stolen base mark with No. 55.

His run was the Sky Sox’s only tally in the nightcap as they dropped their fifth game in the past six. They haven’t won a series since taking a three-game set from Salt Lake in the first week of July.

“We’ve still got that lead in first place,” said Young. The Sky Sox lead Salt Lake by 3½ games in the Pacific Coast League Pacific North. “You want to win as many games as you can to build that cushion, but at the end of the day, it’s all about being in first place and being there at the end of the season.”

Memphis starting pitcher P.J. Walters handcuffed the Sky Sox running game in the first game, picking off a pair of runners and contributing to two others caught trying to steal. With so many lost baserunners, the Sky Sox lost despite outhitting the Redbirds 10-5.

The second game turned into a strikeout contest between Sky Sox spot starter Kurt Birkins (eight strikeouts in five innings) and Memphis’ Oneli Perez (seven punchouts in four innings). Of the 42 outs in the seven inning game, 20 came by strikeout.

A bright note to a disappointing day for Colorado Springs — and the Rockies for that matter, who saw a rough first start from Jhoulys Chacin — was a solid performance from Esmil Rogers, the organization’s second-rated pitching prospect behind Chacin.

Rogers went six innings in the first game, giving up three runs on four hits in his best Triple-A start. He struck out seven, walked one and registered radar-gun readings in the upper 90s.

Sky Sox left fielder Paul McAnulty couldn’t make the catch on a double off the bat of Brian Barden in the second inning of a 4-2 loss against Memphis Tuesday. The game was a continuation of Monday’s suspended contest. Photo by Kevin Kreck