Baseballs aren’t flying over the fences as much. Pitchers sometimes look in control. The humidor has had such a stabilizing effect, the Sky Sox record book might get rewritten.

Through the first two months, the Sky Sox have seen the power sucked out of their bats and their pitchers rejuvenated with confidence – an aberration coming Tuesday in a 9-5 defeat against the Tucson Padres that created a series split at Security Service Field.

Tucson (21-38) overcame a 4-0 deficit during a nine-run fourth inning that saw 12 Padres come to the plate, five of whom walked, with a three-run home run by Yasmani Grandal off Rob Scahill (3-7) then a grand slam by Jedd Gyorko off Kennil Gomez. It marked the second win in nine starts for Colt Hynes (2-6) as he limited the damage during a three-run third, when the Sky Sox (28-31) got RBIs from Chad Tracy, Brandon Wood and Scahill.

The first humidor in the minor leagues is a climate-controlled chamber almost identical to the one the Rockies have possessed at Coors Field since 2002, in which balls are stored to prevent them from shrinking and becoming harder at altitude. Balls are kept at 70 degrees and 60 percent humidity, transported from a locked unit next to the Sky Sox clubhouse.

Because of the humidor, hitters have experienced less recoil off their bats, while pitchers have gained more grip on the ball, with a rise in groundballs as a result of increased depth on breaking balls and sharper cuts on sinkers. In essence, Security Service Field is now a lot more like a sea-level ballpark, albeit with frequent thunderstorms and swirling winds.

“The scores of the games are down, and the times of the games are down, so it must be doing something,” Sky Sox outfielder Tim Wheeler said. “It’s good for pitchers, I guess.” Recovered from an injured hand, Wheeler struck a ball Monday “that I hit good enough, a lot of parks, it would have been a homer,” he said. “But the wind was howling in, too.”

Sky Sox pitchers have relinquished 40 homers, the least in the Pacific Coast League, and the Sky Sox have hit 31 homers, also the least in the PCL. The Sky Sox have the fourth-worst batting average in the PCL at .269, as well as the fourth-worst slugging percentage (.385) and on-base percentage (.327) in the league. On the flip side, their ERA of 4.36 is the fifth-best in the PCL – and a vast upgrade over their PCL-worst 6.41 ERA last season.

By comparison, the Rockies have a nearly identical batting average at .264, and their on-base percentage is almost the same at .331, although their slugging percentage is higher at .448 and their ERA is worse at 4.97. Minus the humidor, the Sky Sox hit .305 last season, with a .489 slugging percentage and a .366 on-base percentage. If the season ended today, the Sky Sox would record franchise lows in batting average, slugging percentage and on-base percentage, and their ERA would be their lowest since they had a 4.38 ERA in 1992.

SKY SOX REPORT

Tracy coming around: Chad Tracy has batted .346 with seven RBIs, seven runs and two doubles over a season-high, seven-game hitting streak. He has raised his average to .225.

Short hops: Andrew Brown leads the Sky Sox with 42 RBIs and seven home runs. … Tommy Field is hitting .375 with seven RBIs and 11 runs since he moved to the leadoff spot. … Tyler Chatwood (0-2) starts Thursday against Brad Peacock (6-3) of Sacramento.

Contact Brian Gomez: 719-636-0256 or brian.gomez@gazettedev.gazette.com. Facebook: Brian Gomez. Twitter: @gazetteskysox. Google+: Brian Gomez. For the Sky Sox homepage, visit http://www.gazettedev.gazette.com/sections/roxsox. For the Sky Sox blog, visit http://skysox.freedomblogging.com.