Jason Hirsh is a jokester between starts, offering hammed-up, spot-on impressions of every Sky Sox on-field promotion as he’s charting pitches in the press box.

But as he showed on Friday in Sacramento, he does pay a little attention on his off days.

Hirsh followed the lead of teammates Brandon Hynick and Adam Eaton, in throwing up zeroes against the River Cats.

Hirsh threw 6 2/3 scoreless innings, helping extend a streak that reached a Sky Sox record 28 2/3 before an unearned run in the ninth.

“It’s not all fun and games up, most of the time it’s fun and games” said Hirsh, who has been a hot-and-cold 5-4 with a 6.06 ERA this season. “Ah, it is all fun and games.”

Still, he must have learned something while watching.

“Well, it helps not being the first guy,” he said. “If it’s a lineup we haven’t seen, we’ll definitely be paying attention.”

The first guy was Adam Eaton, exiled in Triple A after being released by Baltimore earlier this season, who threw six scoreless innings Wednesday on the way to his third win in three starts for the Sky Sox.

Brandon Hynick followed Eaton and copied his blueprint.

“I just took the same gameplan that he used,” said Hynick, who has been Colorado Springs most consistent starter at 6-5 with a 3.80 ERA. “They were struggling with the fastball, so I just kept throwing them and they weren’t doing anything with them.”

Then came Hirsh’s turn, and he applied the lessons he learned while watching.

“It’s like a game of oneupsmanship,” Hirsh said.

The starting performances were necessary, as the Sky Sox won the three games by the tallies of 2-0, 3-0 and 3-2.

“That’s the other thing about it,” Eaton said. “The bullpen was coming in and keeping it going in some close games. They weren’t trying to keep a streak going, they were just trying to keep the tying runs from scoring. And you’ve also got to give credit to the catchers for calling the games.”

Eaton has allowed just two runs in his 19 innings with the Sky Sox, quite a departure from the 8.56 ERA he posted in eight starts with the Orioles this year.

“They call it the big leagues for a nothing,” Eaton said. “And that’s nothing against Triple-A, but the hitters just aren’t quite as seasoned as they are at the next level. But when you’re throwing well it’s going to translate wherever you are.”

The scoreless innings streak ended Friday, but a 30 1/3 run without allowing an earned run carried into Franklin Morales’ start on Saturday against Portland.

Hynick, for one, can’t wait until his next time out to see if the overall trend of solid pitching can continue.

“When you’re struggling those five days seem really long,” Hynick said. “When you’re throwing well they go so much shorter because you just want to get back out there.”

After 37 years, Rene Lachemann still loves to go to work every day. Photo by MARK REIS, THE GAZETTE