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Four Run First Dooms Sky Sox in 5-3 Loss to Nashville

April 11, 2015 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Colorado Springs Sky Sox News Release


COLORADO SPRINGS, CO - Much like the nickname of their parent club, Nashville came out swinging on Saturday night as they jumped to a quick 4-0 lead against Sky Sox starter Nick Additon in front of 3,778 fans at Security Service Field.

While six hits allowed to his first nine batters faced seems unsightly, Nick Additon (0-1, 10.38) was not nearly as ineffective as one might think when reviewing the game's box score. A high-chop to shortstop Luis Sardinas off the bat of leadoff man Billy Burns set the tone early as Sounds hitters continued to find holes on the strength of a few seeing-eye singles. It seemed that Additon would work his way out of trouble when, with two on and one out, former Sky Sox outfielder Jason Pridie grounded into what looked like an inning-ending 3-6-3 double play. The call never came and Pridie ended up reaching on a fielder's choice, setting up another former Sky Sox outfielder with a chance to give Nashville an early lead. Kent Matthes took full advantage ripping a two-run double down the left field line past the diving reach of third baseman Elian Herrera. A couple of infield singles and a throwing error later created uncertainty for the veteran lefty before striking out Sounds designated hitter Matt Angle to stop the bleeding.

Sounds pitching kept Sky Sox hitters off the board in all but one inning as starter Angel Castro allowed two runs while striking out five in 3.1 innings of work before giving way to a stellar bullpen that gave up just one earned run in 5.2 combined innings of relief. Lefty reliever Ryan Verdugo (1-0, 2.45) made his season debut and gave up just two hits in 3.2 innings pitched, setting three batters down on strikes along the way. Left-hander Eury De La Rosa pitched a scoreless 8th before handing the ball over to closer Chad Smith who earned his first save of the 2015 season.

The Sky Sox offense found life in the bottom of the fourth inning as base hits by Jason Rogers and Pete Orr along with a walk by Ben Guez set up Luis Sardinas for a shot at redemption after committing two errors in the third and fourth innings. Sardinas slapped a two-run single to left field to that cut the deficit to one. The RBIs were Sardinas' 3rd and 4th of the young season. The Sky Sox offense could not find a rhythm from that point on as Sounds relievers would not allow another base hit until a Pete Orr single in the 9th off of Smith.

Orr, playing in his first game of the season after Herrera and Donnie Murphy filled in at second in games one and two, collected two singles in a game where Colorado Springs had no extra-base hits.

Manager Rick Sweet's bullpen performed well in relief of Additon as a combination of lanky right-hander Chris Leroux and opening night winner Brent Leach pitched 4.2 innings of scoreless relief with five total strikeouts and just three hits allowed.

The Sky Sox hope to end the series on a high note on Sunday afternoon as RHP Drew Gagnon (NR) is set to square off against fellow highly-touted right-handed pitching prospect Arnold Leon (NR) in game four. First pitch is slated for 1:35 PM MST at Security Service Field.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from April 11, 2015


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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