Nashville, TN – The Nashville Sounds avoided a sweep at the hands of the Albuquerque Isotopes with a 4-2 victory on Thursday evening at historic Greer Stadium in the finale of a four-game series.
Nashville (52-46) wrapped up its eight-game homestand with a 4-4 record.
Right-hander Marty McLeary (4-6) picked up his fourth victory in six starts for Nashville after holding the ‘Topes to two runs (one earned) on three hits in five innings of work. He walked five batters and struck out five as he lowered his ERA to 4.40 during his Sounds tenure.
Albuquerque grabbed an early 1-0 lead against McLeary. Former Sound Trent Oeltjen led off the contest with a double to right, his 29th two-bagger of the year. After advancing to third on a passed ball charged to Sounds catcher Martin Maldonado, Oeltjen scored the night’s first run in unearned fashion on Elian Herrera’s sacrifice fly to left.
Oeltjen plated the visitors’ second run of the evening in the top of the third when he legged out a leadoff triple to right then scored on a Herrera RBI single off McLeary.
The Sounds produced a two-out rally to take a 3-2 lead in the fifth against Albuquerque starter Claudio Vargas. Ray Olmedo led off with a single, stole second, and moved to third on a groundout. After Adam Stern drew a two-out walk to put runners on the corners, Norris Hopper (3-for-4) ripped a game-tying, two-run double down the left field line to plate both baserunners. Hopper proceeded to steal second before putting the Sounds in front by a run when he scored on Mat Gamel’s RBI single to center.
The Sounds tacked on an insurance run in the eighth against Isotopes reliever Josh Lindblom. Hopper led off with his second double of the night and scored later in the frame on Joe Koshansky’s two-out RBI single to make it a 4-2 contest.
Nashville closer Chris Smith worked around a two-out walk in the ninth to nail down his league-leading 19th save of the season by striking out pinch-hitter John Lindsey.
Rehabbing reliever LaTroy Hawkins made his second appearance for the Sounds and tossed a scoreless innings, allowing one hit while throwing 11 pitches (eight strikes). He induced one groundout and a pair of flyouts.
Vargas (2-4) absorbed the loss after he gave up three runs on five hits over five innings of work, walking two batters and fanning four.
Maldonado singled in the home half of the second to extend his hitting streak to 11 games, matching the best effort by a Sounds batter this season. Erick Almonte grounded out as a pinch-hitter for Nashville to snap his season-best hit streak at seven games.
Both teams fly to Albuquerque in the morning to play a four-game series at Isotopes Park. Left-hander Sam Narron (5-3, 2.79) will start Friday’s 8:05pm CT series opener for the Sounds. Albuquerque will counter with right-hander John Ely (3-1, 3.24).
Baseball returns to Greer Stadium on Tuesday night, when the Sounds open an eight-game homestand with a 7:05pm contest against the division-rival Omaha Royals.
Nashville Sounds (52-46) 4, Albuquerque Isotopes (51-46) 2
July 22nd, 2010
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Albuquerque | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
Nashville | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | x | 4 | 7 | 0 |
Albuquerque | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Oeltjen, T, RF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .312 |
Herrera, 2B | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .241 |
c-Lindsey, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .378 |
Mitchell, R, 3B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .311 |
Gibbons, 1B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .327 |
Hoffmann, CF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .309 |
Restovich, LF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .288 |
May, C | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | .298 |
Sellers, J, SS | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .250 |
Vargas, C, P | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .143 |
Perez, Ju, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
a-De Jesus, I, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .293 |
Lindblom, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .400 |
b-Closser, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .242 |
Totals | 30 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 16 | .300 |
a-Flied out for Perez, Ju in the 7th. b-Struck out for Lindblom in the 9th. c-Struck out for Herrera in the 9th. | ||||||||
BATTING
2B: Oeltjen, T (29, McLeary). 3B: Oeltjen, T (5, McLeary). TB: Oeltjen, T 5; Herrera; Gibbons; Restovich. RBI: Herrera 2 (5). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Vargas, C; Hoffmann; May. SF: Herrera. Team RISP: 1-for-10. Team LOB: 9.BASERUNNING SB: Hoffmann (14, 2nd base off McLeary/Maldonado, M). PO: Gibbons (1st base by Maldonado, M). FIELDING E: Gibbons (3, fielding). DP: (Sellers, J-Herrera-Gibbons). |
Nashville | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Stern, LF | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .301 |
Hopper, CF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .283 |
Gamel, 3B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .271 |
Katin, RF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | .255 |
Koshansky, 1B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .244 |
Cruz, L, SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .284 |
Olmedo, 2B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .267 |
Maldonado, M, C | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .197 |
McLeary, P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .125 |
a-Almonte, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .330 |
McClendon, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
b-Waters, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .100 |
Hawkins, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Smith, C, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Totals | 31 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 12 | .265 |
a-Grounded out for McLeary in the 5th. b-Struck out for McClendon in the 7th. | ||||||||
BATTING
2B: Hopper 2 (11, Vargas, C, Lindblom). TB: Hopper 5; Gamel; Koshansky; Olmedo; Maldonado, M. RBI: Hopper 2 (29), Gamel (31), Koshansky (54). 2-out RBI: Hopper 2; Gamel; Koshansky. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Koshansky. GIDP: McLeary. Team RISP: 3-for-10. Team LOB: 5.BASERUNNING SB: Olmedo (7, 2nd base off Vargas, C/May), Hopper (17, 3rd base off Vargas, C/May). FIELDING PB: Maldonado, M 2 (2). Pickoffs: Maldonado, M (Gibbons at 1st base). |
Albuquerque | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Vargas, C (L, 2-4) | 5.0 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 5.23 |
Perez, Ju | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.09 |
Lindblom | 2.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6.46 |
Totals | 8.0 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 5.40 |
Nashville | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
McLeary (W, 4-6) | 5.0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 8.13 |
McClendon (H, 4) | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2.30 |
Hawkins (H, 1) | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
Smith, C (S, 19) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3.66 |
Totals | 9.0 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 3.90 |
Balk: McLeary.
Pitches-strikes: Vargas, C 99-57, Perez, Ju 15-9, Lindblom 30-23, McLeary 92-53, McClendon 35-21, Hawkins 11-8, Smith, C 19-11.
Groundouts-flyouts: Vargas, C 8-2, Perez, Ju 3-0, Lindblom 2-1, McLeary 3-6, McClendon 2-2, Hawkins 1-2, Smith, C 0-1.
Batters faced: Vargas, C 22, Perez, Ju 3, Lindblom 8, McLeary 22, McClendon 8, Hawkins 4, Smith, C 4.
Umpires: HP: Dixon Stureman. 1B: Eric Loveless. 2B: . 3B: Shaun Francis.
Weather: 95 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 8 mph, R to L.
T: 3:05.
Att: 6,871.
Compiled by MLB Advanced Media