With their new manager watching from the dugout, the Sky Sox displayed the components that have them in first place.

Carlos Gonzalez clubbed a pair of two-run homers, Matt Miller homered and tripled, Eric Young Jr. stole a base on the way to creating a run and the bullpen controlled things for five innings in a 12-4 trouncing of Tacoma in Stu Cole’s managerial debut in Colorado Springs.

“The guys swung the bats just like I’ve been hearing about,” Cole said. “Having guys steal bases and get two-out hits, those things play out to be huge.”

The longtime minor-league manager made his Triple-A debut by sending a major-league pitcher – Franklin Morales – to the mound in a rehab start. Morales, working on a pitch count as he recovers from a left shoulder strain, set the tone with five strikeouts in four innings. He left after 72 pitches with a 6-2 lead.

Five relievers combined to hold Tacoma to two runs over the next five frames.

“I was totally relying on (pitching coach Chuck Kniffin) for all the pitching today because I haven’t seen these guys throw and I don’t know what they can do,” Cole said.

The skipper needed no such help with the offense.

Gonzalez hit the first of his home runs over the right-field wall in the first inning. The second traveled farther in the eighth. The four RBIs gave Gonzalez 55 for the season and helped atone for a hitless performance in Saturday’s loss when he stranded the tying run at second to end the game.

“When you go 0-for-5, you just have to take your cap off to their pitchers because they did a great job,” Gonzalez said. “But today was my day, so I can enjoy it now.”

The Sky Sox (30-19) improved to 8-0 when scoring 10 or more runs. They scored in every inning but the second as they took a 2-1 advantage in the series against Tacoma (27-23).

“I’ve had teams I played on in the past where we’ll have like a big inning in the second inning and seventh and we’ll pretty much go down in order the rest of the way,” said Miller, who has 43 RBIs. “We’re consistently, day-to-day, putting pressure on the other team and I think that’s something unique about us.”

Tacoma gave the Sky Sox a scare in the eighth with four singles to open the inning, but Ryan Mattheus came on and limited the damage to a pair of runs.

Gonzalez answered with his second homer as Cole wrapped a hectic, travel-filled 48 hours with a win.

“I think that’s got to relieve some of the pressure off him,” Miller said. “He’s coming into a difficult situation and we showed him what we can do. That’s got to help him relax a little.”

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