12th-Inning Nelson Slam Lifts Sounds Over 'Birds
Published on May 25, 2008 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Nashville Sounds News Release
MEMPHIS - Brad Nelson belted a two-out grand slam in the top of the twelfth inning, his second home run of the evening, and the Nashville Sounds withstood a three-run Memphis rally in the bottom of the frame to post a dramatic 8-7 victory over the first-place Redbirds on Sunday evening at AutoZone Park.
Nelson, who hadn't homered in a month entering the contest, drilled former Sound John Wasdin's first offering over the right field wall for his eighth home run of the year and Nashville's second slam of 2008. Ozzie Chavez, who opened the twelfth with a double, and Adam Heether and Laynce Nix, who each drew a walk, all scored on the game-winning blast.
Memphis didn't go down without a fight, however, as Josh Phelps made it a one-run contest in the bottom of the inning when he belted a towering one-out, three-run homer to left off Sounds reliever Erasmo Ramirez, his eighth longball of the season. Ramirez recovered to retire the next two hitters in order to preserve the victory.
The teams had exchanged a pair of tenth-inning runs earlier in the extra frames. The contest was the fourth extra-inning affair for Nashville this season (2-2).
The Sounds (21-28) took their second straight from the Redbirds after losing four in a row to the division frontrunners.
Redbirds right fielder Joe Mather gave the home team a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when he belted a two-out solo homer to left-center off Sounds starter Lindsay Gulin. The roundtripper was his team-leading 12th of the year and third in the last three games.
Memphis starting pitcher Anthony Reyes helped his own cause in the third when he slugged a one-out solo homer to straightaway center off Gulin, doubling the Redbirds' lead to 2-0.
The Sounds broke through in the fifth as an inning-opening walk to Eric Munson came back to haunt Reyes. Ozzie Chavez halved the Memphis lead to 2-1 when he plated the third baseman with a one-out RBI single to right, only the second hit in the shortstop's last 18 at-bats.
After recording only two hits over the first six innings against Reyes, the Sounds took immediate advantage of the right-hander's departure in the top of the seventh.
Nelson ended a month-long homerless drought when he led off the seventh inning with a solo blast to right that greeted Memphis reliever Ron Flores and knotted the score at 2-2. The longball was his seventh of the year.
The Sounds took their first lead of the evening later in the frame against Flores. Eric Munson and Vinny Rottino followed Nelson's homer with back-to-back singles before Brendan Katin ripped an RBI double off the base of the left field wall.
Memphis worked out of the frame with no further damage after having runners on second and third and no outs. Flores struck out Chavez before Mark Worrell took over on the hill and fanned pinch-hitter Steve Sollmann then induced an inning-ending flyout from Callix Crabbe to keep the Redbirds within a run.
The Redbirds tied the contest with an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh against Sounds reliever Jason Shiell, who made his first appearance since rejoining the club from Double-A Huntsville on Friday.
Jarrett Hoffpauir and Colby Rasmus started things with a pair of singles before Rottino, the Nashville catcher, misplayed Bryan Anderson's sacrifice bunt in front of the plate to load the bags with none out. Hoffpauir crossed home when Shiell induced a double-play grounder from pinch-hitter David Freese, knotting things at 3-3, before the right-hander retired Brian Barden on a groundout to escape the frame without further damage.
With one out in the tenth, Crabbe ripped a double down the right field line off Wasdin and moved to third on Hernan Iribarren's infield single before scoring the go-ahead run on Laynce Nix's RBI single.
Memphis quickly responded against Nashville closer Luis Pena, snapping a string of eight straight scoreless outings (7.1 IP) for the fireballer. Freese led off with a triple off the wall in right-center then scored the tying run one batter later when Crabbe couldn't handle a Barden grounder at second.
Pena worked out of further damage in the tenth after walking the bases full with only one out, inducing a popout from D'Angelo Jimenez before fanning Wasdin to close the frame.
Ben Howard (2-1) earned the win following Nelson's heroics after working a scoreless inning of relief for the Sounds.
Wasdin (4-5) took the loss after giving up five runs on five hits in his three innings of work for the Redbirds.
Neither starting pitcher factored in the decision despite a pair of solid efforts.
Gulin turned in his second quality start of the year, holding Memphis to two runs on four hits while walking four batters and striking out five in a season-high-tying six frames. Both of his runs allowed came via the longball.
Reyes took a no-decision for the Redbirds following a solid outing. He allowed one run on two hits while fanning six over his six innings of action.
The teams wrap up the four-game set with a 1:05 p.m. Memorial Day matinee on Monday afternoon, the last of eight consecutive meetings between the clubs. Right-hander Jeff Weaver (1-2, 6.52) will toe the rubber for the Sounds to face Memphis right-hander P.J. Walters (2-0, 4.91).
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