Nashville Sounds Baseball
Nashville Regains Share Of First Place With Victory Over Memphis
Nashville, TN – First baseman Sean Halton homered and drove in three runs to lead the Nashville Sounds to a 9-4 victory over the cross-state rival Memphis Redbirds on Monday evening at Greer Stadium in the opener of a four-game series.
Nashville (44-41) won its fourth straight game to pull into a first place tie in the PCL American Conference Southern Division.
Halton’s two-run double in the bottom of the sixth inning erased a 3-2 deficit and provided the Sounds with their tenth come-from-behind victory of the year. The slugger went 2-for-4 on the night and is hitting .440 (11-for-25) over his past seven games.Memphis took a 2-0 lead against Sounds starter Mike Fiers in the top of the second inning when Tommy Pham belted a two-out, two-run homer to left-center, the outfielder’s sixth roundtripper of the year.
Halton halved the Redbirds’ lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the second when he slugged a solo homer to left-center off Boone Whiting. The blast was Halton’s fourth of the year and first in his last 126 at-bats.
The Redbirds stretched the lead to 3-1 with an unearned run in the fourth, stemming from a fielding error by Sounds shortstop Hector Gomez.
Fiers took a no-decision in his first start for the Sounds since June 1st. He allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits in four innings of work, tossing 81 pitches.
Nashville rallied to grab a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Sounds loaded the bases to open the frame by drawing three straight walks from Whiting. After Joey Donofrio took over on the Memphis hill, the right-hander committed a balk to force in Logan Schafer to make it a 3-2 contest, then Halton delivered again for Nashville, roping a two-run double down the left field line to put the home team in front.
Right-hander Johnnie Lowe (1-3) was the beneficiary of the Nashville rally and picked up his first win of the year after tossing 2 2/3 scoreless frames of relief, fanning a season-high four. Whiting (0-6) drew the loss for Memphis after being tagged for four runs in his five innings of action.
The Sounds put the game out of reach by plating five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning against Redbirds reliever Seth Blair. Pete Orr, who is hitting .323 (20-for-62) over his last 21 contests, delivered the big knock for Nashville, drilling a two-out, two-run double to center to cap the five-run outburst. Four of the five runs were unearned following a pair of errors charged to Memphis shortstop Pete Kozma in the frame.
The teams continue the series with another 7:05pm matchup. Right-hander Ariel Pena (4-6, 4.72) will toe the slab for the Sounds to face rehabbing Memphis right-hander Joe Kelly (0-0, 9.00).
Box Score
June 30, 2014
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Memphis Redbirds | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 2 |
Nashville Sounds | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | x | 9 | 6 | 2 |
Memphis | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Garcia, G, 2B | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | .248 |
Grichuk, LF-CF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .278 |
Moore, S, 3B-LF | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .246 |
Piscotty, RF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .312 |
Scruggs, 1B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .255 |
Kozma, SS | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .236 |
Wyatt, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .400 |
Easley, C | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .240 |
Pham, CF | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .311 |
Curtis, 3B | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .264 |
Whiting, P | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .000 |
Donofrio, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Feliciano, P, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Blair, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Mateo, L, SS | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .198 |
Totals | 33 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 14 | .273 |
BATTING 2B: Moore, S (18, Lowe). HR: Pham (6, 2nd inning off Fiers, 1 on, 2 out). TB: Moore, S 3; Scruggs; Pham 5; Easley. RBI: Pham 3 (21). 2-out RBI: Pham 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Scruggs; Grichuk 2; Piscotty. SAC: Kozma; Whiting. Team RISP: 2-for-9. Team LOB: 8.FIELDING E: Kozma 2 (8, fielding, throw). |
Nashville | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Orr, 2B | 5 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .295 |
Schafer, L, RF | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | .182 |
Rogers, J, 3B | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .214 |
Hermida, LF | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .263 |
Halton, 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .282 |
Gindl, CF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .264 |
Hand, D, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
a-Velez, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .313 |
Leon, Ar, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Gomez, H, SS | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .242 |
Pagnozzi, C | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .229 |
Fiers, P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .083 |
Lowe, P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 |
Mattison, CF | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .194 |
Totals | 31 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 10 | .259 |
a-Singled for Hand, D in the 8th. | ||||||||
BATTING 2B: Halton (15, Donofrio), Orr (15, Blair). HR: Halton (4, 2nd inning off Whiting, 0 on, 1 out). TB: Velez; Pagnozzi 2; Orr 2; Halton 6. RBI: Halton 3 (33), Orr 2 (24). 2-out RBI: Orr 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Fiers; Pagnozzi; Schafer, L. Team RISP: 2-for-8. Team LOB: 5.BASERUNNING SB: Velez (16, 2nd base off Blair/Easley).FIELDING E: Gomez, H (11, throw), Orr (5, fielding). PB: Pagnozzi (3). |
Memphis | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Whiting (L, 0-6) | 5.0 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 4.59 |
Donofrio (BS, 2) | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.50 |
Feliciano, P | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6.91 |
Blair | 0.2 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 5.40 |
Wyatt | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5.13 |
Totals | 8.0 | 6 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 4.35 |
Nashville | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fiers | 4.0 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2.64 |
Lowe (W, 1-3) | 2.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5.63 |
Hand, D (H, 6) | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5.40 |
Leon, Ar | 1.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4.73 |
Totals | 9.0 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 1 | 3.59 |
WP: Blair 2.
Balk: Donofrio.
HBP: Curtis (by Lowe).
Pitches-strikes: Whiting 92-51, Donofrio 14-10, Feliciano, P 11-6, Blair 32-15, Wyatt 6-5, Fiers 81-49, Lowe 32-22, Hand, D 19-14, Leon, Ar 22-11.
Groundouts-flyouts: Whiting 9-2, Donofrio 0-1, Feliciano, P 1-0, Blair 1-1, Wyatt 0-0, Fiers 6-3, Lowe 1-1, Hand, D 0-1, Leon, Ar 3-0.
Batters faced: Whiting 22, Donofrio 4, Feliciano, P 3, Blair 8, Wyatt 1, Fiers 20, Lowe 10, Hand, D 4, Leon, Ar 5.
Inherited runners-scored: Donofrio 3-3, Wyatt 1-0, Hand, D 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Stu Scheurwater. 1B: Chris Segal. 2B: Adam Schwarz. 3B: Ramon DeJesus.
Weather: 92 degrees, clear.
Wind: 6 mph, R to L.
T: 3:11.
Att: 3,398.
Venue: Herschel Greer Stadium.
June 30, 2014