Nashville, TN – The Nashville Sounds had their three-game winning streak halted on Saturday evening at Greer Stadium as the visiting Sacramento River Cats scored a run in the top of the ninth inning to post a 3-2 victory in the opener of a four-game series.
The loss was the eighth last at-bat defeat suffered this season by Nashville (12-23). The teams combined for only nine hits on the night and went just 1-for-14 combined with runners in scoring position in the game.
In the decisive ninth, Jai Miller led off by drawing a walk from Sounds reliever Donovan Hand and scored the eventual winning run one batter later when River Cats catcher Josh Donaldson followed with an RBI double off the base of the center field wall.
Willie Eyre (3-1) was awarded the win for the River Cats despite suffering a blown save in the contest. Hand (0-2) took the loss for the Sounds after allowing the game-winning run in his lone inning.
Sounds first baseman Mat Gamel broke a scoreless deadlock the hard way in the bottom of the third inning, taking a pitch from Sacramento starter Travis Banwart off the elbow with the bases loaded to force home Taylor Green.
Nashville had loaded the bases with one out by drawing three walks from the River Cats right-hander, but netted only one run as Brendan Katin struck out for the second out then Edwin Maysonet followed Gamel by grounding out to end the inning.
Sounds starting pitcher Amaury Rivas cruised through the first six innings in scoreless fashion, retiring 14 straight Sacramento batters from the second through the sixth innings. It matched the longest such stretch by a Sounds hurler this season (Rivas on April 7th vs. New Orleans).
The right-hander ran into trouble in the seventh as Sacramento took advantage of a pair of errors by third baseman Taylor Green to grab a 2-1 lead.
The River Cats loaded the bases to start the inning. Steve Tolleson led off with a single and advanced to second when Green misfired to the second base bag after fielding a Matt Carson grounder, then Michael Taylor walked to fill the bags. After a strikeout, Green committed his second gaff of the frame when he failed to handle a Josh Donaldson grounder, allowing a pair of runs to cross home to give the visitors the lead.
Rivas re-loaded the bases by walking Shane Peterson and was replaced on the Nashville hill by Sean Green. The sidewinding right-hander escaped the bases-loaded jam with no further damage as he induced Wes Timmons, the first batter he faced, to ground into an inning-ending double play.
Rivas, who recorded a season-high eight strikeouts in the contest, took a hard-luck no-decision after allowing two unearned runs on two hits over his 6 1/3 innings. The right-hander tossed 107 pitches on the evening, the most by a Nashville hurler all season.
The Sounds rallied to tie the score at 2-2 in the bottom of the frame with an unearned run off Banwart.
The Sacramento right-hander had recorded 11 straight outs, including the first two of the Nashville seventh, before left fielder Michael Taylor dropped Green’s fly ball, allowing him to reach second on the play. Caleb Gindl then greeted Eyre with an RBI double off the base of the left field wall to even the contest.
Green kept the game tied as he worked out of a jam in a scoreless eighth. After Sacramento placed a runner on third with one out, he struck out Tolleson and Taylor for the final two outs of the frame.
Gamel had the Sounds’ longest hit streak of the year snapped at eight games with an 0-for-3 effort. Maysonet went 1-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to eight.
The teams continue the series with a 2:05pm matinee on Sunday afternoon. Right-hander Mark Rogers (0-2, 9.45) makes his first start since April 23rd when he mans the bump for the Sounds. Sacramento will counter with right-hander Yadel Marti (1-0, 5.46).
Box Score
Sacramento River Cats (25-12) 3, Nashville Sounds (12-23) 2
May 14th, 2011
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sacramento | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | |
| Nashville | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 2 | |
| Sacramento | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks, 2B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .330 |
| Sogard, SS | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .281 |
| Tolleson, 3B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .277 |
| Carson, CF-RF | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .272 |
| Taylor, M, RF-LF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | .125 |
| Cardenas, LF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .361 |
| Miller, Ja, CF | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | .313 |
| Donaldson, C | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .188 |
| Peterson, S, DH | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .324 |
| Timmons, 1B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .362 |
| Banwart, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Eyre, W, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Devine, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Totals | 30 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 18 | .279 |
| BATTING
2B: Donaldson (6, Hand), Peterson, S (4, Hand). TB: Sogard; Tolleson; Donaldson 2; Peterson, S 2. RBI: Donaldson (12). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Taylor, M. GIDP: Timmons. Team RISP: 0-for-7. Team LOB: 7.FIELDING E: Donaldson (5, throw), Taylor, M (1, fielding). DP: (Weeks-Sogard-Timmons). |
||||||||
| Nashville | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gindl, CF | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .274 |
| Farris, 2B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .248 |
| Reed, RF | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .219 |
| Katin, DH | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | .263 |
| 1-Carroll, B, PR-DH | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .230 |
| Gamel, 1B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .316 |
| Maysonet, SS | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .325 |
| Brown, J, LF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .296 |
| Rivera, Mi, C | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .265 |
| Green, T, 3B | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .229 |
| Rivas, A, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .100 |
| Green, S, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Hand, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Totals | 31 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 13 | .247 |
| 1-Ran for Katin in the 8th. | ||||||||
| BATTING
2B: Gindl (4, Eyre, W). TB: Gindl 2; Reed; Katin; Maysonet; Brown, J. RBI: Gamel (21), Gindl (8). 2-out RBI: Gamel; Gindl. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Katin; Maysonet 3; Farris. SAC: Farris. GIDP: Rivera, Mi. Team RISP: 1-for-7. Team LOB: 7.BASERUNNING SB: Reed (3, 2nd base off Banwart/Donaldson). FIELDING E: Green, T 2 (3, throw, fielding). Outfield assists: Gindl (Donaldson at 3rd base). DP: 2 (Maysonet-Farris-Gamel, Gamel). |
||||||||
| Sacramento | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Banwart | 6.2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 2.92 |
| Eyre, W (BS, 1)(W, 3-1) | 1.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.32 |
| Devine (S, 2) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 3.52 |
| Nashville | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rivas, A | 6.1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 4.03 |
| Green, S | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7.94 |
| Hand (L, 0-2) | 1.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3.52 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 0 | 4.54 |
WP: Eyre, W, Green, S 2.
HBP: Gamel (by Banwart), Cardenas (by Rivas, A).
Pitches-strikes: Banwart 103-64, Eyre, W 28-20, Devine 14-9, Rivas, A 107-68, Green, S 28-15, Hand 20-8.
Groundouts-flyouts: Banwart 6-5, Eyre, W 3-0, Devine 0-1, Rivas, A 9-1, Green, S 2-0, Hand 0-0.
Batters faced: Banwart 27, Eyre, W 6, Devine 3, Rivas, A 26, Green, S 6, Hand 5.
Inherited runners-scored: Eyre, W 1-1, Green, S 3-0.
Umpires: HP: Dixon Stureman. 1B: Stephen Barga. 2B: . 3B: Clint Fagan.
Weather: 57 degrees, cloudy.
Wind: 4 mph, R to L.
T: 2:55.
Att: 7,199.
Compiled by MLB Advanced Media
