Nashville Sounds Baseball
Hunter Morris Hits First Homer Of Year For Nashville
Nashville, TN – The cross-state rival Memphis Redbirds belted three home runs en route to an 8-4 victory over the Nashville Sounds on a chilly Tuesday evening at Greer Stadium.
Nashville (5-7) dropped its seventh game in the last 10 contests and fell to 1-3 in series openers this season.
Catcher Robinzon Diaz went 2-for-3 to extend the Sounds’ longest hitting streak of the young season to six games, while first baseman Hunter Morris homered as part of a 2-for-4 evening for Nashville.
Memphis left fielder Joey Butler (3-for-4) spotted the visitors a 2-0 first-inning advantage when he belted a two-out, two-run homer to right off Sounds starter Johnny Hellweg. The blast was the slugger’s third of the year.The Sounds halved the deficit to 2-1 in the home half of the initial frame. Elian Herrera led off with a double to left against Redbirds starter Tim Cooney and later scored on a two-out single off the bat of Sean Halton, who has hit safely in his last six starts at a .375 clip (9-for-24).
Memphis extended its lead to 4-1 in the fifth with a two-out rally against Hellweg. With a runner on first and two down, Oscar Taveras and Butler posted consecutive singles to plate one run. After Scott Moore drew a walk to load the bases, Xavier Scruggs followed with a single to right that plated Taveras to extend the Redbirds’ lead to three.
On the play, right fielder Caleb Gindl gunned down Butler at the dish as he also attempted to score. It marked the third outfield assist of the night for Nashville, one by each outfielder.
Morris pulled the Sounds back within one in the sixth when he belted his first home run of the year, a two-run blast to right off Cooney that also plated Diaz (walk).
Cooney (3-0) won for his third time in three starts for the Redbirds, holding Nashville to three runs in his 5 1/3 innings while striking out five.
Hellweg (1-2) suffered his second loss for the Sounds after allowing four runs on six hits in six innings of work.
Memphis center fielder Randal Grichuk made it a two-run lead for the visitors in the top of the seventh when he connected for a one-out solo homer to left off Sounds reliever Brent Leach.
Ed Easley tacked on the Redbirds’ third roundtripper of the night in the eighth with a two-out solo shot to left off Dustin Molleken and Memphis closed out its scoring in the ninth with a two-run Scruggs double against Alfredo Figaro.
The teams continue the series with an 11:05am. Education Day contest on Wednesday, when thousands of area school children will attend the game as a reward for reaching their goals in the Nashville Sounds Reading Club program.
Milwaukee Brewers top prospect Jimmy Nelson (1-1, 3.00) will make the start for the Sounds and face Memphis southpaw Tyler Lyons (1-0, 4.50).
Box Score
April 15th, 2014
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Memphis Redbirds | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 11 | 1 |
Nashville Sounds | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 1 |
Memphis | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Garcia, G, SS | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .227 |
1-Kozma, PR-SS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Grichuk, CF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .295 |
Taveras, O, RF | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .289 |
Fornataro, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Rondon, J, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Butler, Jy, LF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 |
Moore, S, 3B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .324 |
Scruggs, 1B | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .279 |
Easley, C | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .259 |
Curtis, 2B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .263 |
Cooney, P | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .200 |
Almarante, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Freeman, S, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
a-Piscotty, PH-RF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .357 |
Totals | 37 | 8 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 14 | .275 |
a-Grounded out for Freeman, S in the 8th. 1-Ran for Garcia, G in the 8th. |
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BATTING 2B: Moore, S 2 (5, Hellweg, Figaro), Scruggs (1, Figaro). HR: Butler, Jy (3, 1st inning off Hellweg, 1 on, 2 out), Grichuk (2, 7th inning off Leach, 0 on, 1 out), Easley (2, 8th inning off Molleken, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Grichuk 4; Moore, S 4; Garcia, G; Scruggs 3; Taveras, O; Butler, Jy 6; Easley 4. RBI: Butler, Jy 3 (10), Scruggs 3 (6), Grichuk (8), Easley (7). 2-out RBI: Butler, Jy 3; Scruggs. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Scruggs 2; Grichuk; Taveras, O; Piscotty. Team RISP: 4-for-12. Team LOB: 10.FIELDING E: Moore, S (3, throw). PB: Easley (2). Pickoffs: Cooney (Gomez, H at 1st base). |
Nashville | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Herrera, CF | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .250 |
Falu, 2B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .185 |
Gindl, RF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | .189 |
Halton, LF | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .286 |
Diaz, R, C | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .296 |
Morris, H, 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .262 |
Gomez, H, SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .200 |
Green, T, 3B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .304 |
Hellweg, P | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .000 |
a-Velez, PH | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .433 |
Leach, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Molleken, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
b-Mattison, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .083 |
Figaro, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Totals | 35 | 4 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 22 | .242 |
a-Walked for Hellweg in the 6th. b-Struck out for Molleken in the 8th. | ||||||||
BATTING 2B: Herrera (2, Cooney), Diaz, R (1, Cooney), Gindl (1, Almarante). 3B: Herrera (2, Rondon, J). HR: Morris, H (1, 6th inning off Cooney, 1 on, 0 out). TB: Falu; Herrera 5; Diaz, R 3; Halton; Morris, H 5; Gindl 2. RBI: Halton (1), Morris, H 2 (4), Falu (2). 2-out RBI: Halton. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Morris, H 3; Hellweg; Halton; Falu. SAC: Falu. SF: Falu. Team RISP: 1-for-13. Team LOB: 9.BASERUNNING CS: Gomez, H (2, 2nd base by Cooney/Easley). PO: Gomez, H (1st base by Cooney).FIELDING E: Morris, H (3, fielding). Outfield assists: Halton (Garcia, G at 2nd base), Herrera (Grichuk at 2nd base), Gindl (Butler, Jy at home). |
Memphis | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cooney (W, 3-0) | 5.1 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2.04 |
Almarante (H, 2) | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.42 |
Freeman, S (H, 1) | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9.00 |
Fornataro (H, 1) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
Rondon, J | 1.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 |
Totals | 9.0 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 4.02 |
Nashville | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hellweg (L, 1-2) | 6.0 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 4.96 |
Leach | 0.2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 13.50 |
Molleken | 1.1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3.38 |
Figaro | 1.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6.43 |
Totals | 9.0 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 3.99 |
WP: Cooney.
HBP: Garcia, G (by Molleken).
Pitches-strikes: Cooney 93-61, Almarante 21-15, Freeman, S 4-3, Fornataro 11-7, Rondon, J 13-9, Hellweg 93-54, Leach 21-9, Molleken 26-14, Figaro 22-15.
Groundouts-flyouts: Cooney 4-7, Almarante 1-1, Freeman, S 0-0, Fornataro 2-0, Rondon, J 2-1, Hellweg 13-0, Leach 0-1, Molleken 1-0, Figaro 0-0.
Batters faced: Cooney 27, Almarante 5, Freeman, S 1, Fornataro 3, Rondon, J 4, Hellweg 27, Leach 5, Molleken 7, Figaro 6.
Inherited runners-scored: Almarante 2-0, Freeman, S 1-0, Molleken 2-0.
Umpires: HP: Nick Bailey. 1B: Jeff Morrow. 3B: Ryan Goodman.
Weather: 46 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 5 mph, L to R.
T: 3:07.
Att: 1,231.
Venue: Herschel Greer Stadium.
April 15, 2014