After two years beset by injury interruptions, Eric Byrnes is finally starting to feel back at home on a ballfield.

In that regard, the boos at Security Service Field helped.

“It’s just so nice to be playing baseball again and be back in Colorado here where the fans love me,” said Byrnes, whose leadoff home run gave Reno a lead it never relinquished in a 6-3 win over the Sky Sox on Sunday afternoon.

After several steady seasons with Oakland and brief stops in Baltimore and Colorado, Byrnes put up his best season in 2007 when he hit .286 with 50 stolen bases and 83 RBIs. That was also the year he ignited a feud with the Rockies fan base with comments about the organization on its run to the World Series.

As it turns out, that was also the last year he was able to play a complete season.

“It’s been two years since I’ve had an opportunity to play on an every day basis with the hamstrings last year and the broken hand this year,” Byrnes said. “It’s been frustrating.”

Byrnes’ line-drive homer to left set the tone against Jhoulys Chacin, who was making his first home start for the Sky Sox after throwing the first 5 1/3 innings of a no-hitter in his Triple-A debut on Tuesday in Oklahoma City.

The Rockies’ top pitching prospect’s line was abysmal: 2-plus innings, five earned runs, three hits, five walks one strikeout. Of his 63 pitches, just 29 went for strikes.

“It was the first time he’s pitched at this altitude,” pitching coach Chuck Kniffin said. “The breaking ball wasn’t breaking the way he’s accustomed to.”

In 7 2/3 innings at Coors Field and in Colorado Springs, Chacin has walked 12 batters and given up 10 runs. At lower elevations he has a 2.92 ERA and just 40 walks in 110 2/3 innings.

“He’s got great stuff,” Byrnes said. “He’s got a live fastball with a lot of movement. I think what got him in trouble later on was just that he was having some issues throwing strikes.”

Down 5-1 after three innings, Colorado Springs pulled within two runs before Reno added a run in the sixth off newly acquired reliever Russ Ortiz – it marked the first earned run given up by the Sky Sox bullpen in a span of 28 innings.

Note

As reports continued to swirl that Jason Giambi would sign with the Rockies and play for the Sky Sox until big-league rosters expand on Sept. 1, the Sky Sox continued to be in the dark. “I still don’t know,” manager Stu Cole said. “When he’s here, I’ll have some news.”

MAJOR LEAGUE MOMENTEric Young Jr. electrified the crowd with an inside-the-park home run in the fifth inning on a ball into the right-field corner that Reno’s Cole Gillespie managed to corral rather quickly after a tricky hop. The Sky Sox second baseman slid home just ahead of the relay throw.

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