PCL1 Nashville Sounds

Beavers Outlast Sounds In Slugfest, 12-8

Published on July 29, 2008 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Nashville Sounds News Release


NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Portland Beavers outlasted the Nashville Sounds, 12-8, in a slugfest on Tuesday afternoon at Greer Stadium in the final contest of a four-game series and eight-game homestand.

The teams combined for 32 hits in the contest, including 13 extra-base knocks.

With the loss, Nashville (42-68) dropped three of four to Portland and finished its homestand with a 2-6 mark.

Beavers left fielder Paul McAnulty led the visitors with a 4-for-4, four-RBI afternoon that included a double and home run. Catcher Vinny Rottino homered, doubled, and drove in a team-best three runs to pace the Nashville attack.

Portland struck first, manufacturing a pair of first-inning runs against Sounds starter Richie Gardner. Craig Stansberry led off with a single and stole second before Peter Ciofrone drew a walk. Max Venable followed with a grounder to first and Brad Nelson tossed the ball behind Gardner as he covered first, allowing Stansberry to score the game's first run. The Beavers added an unearned run when McAnulty followed with a sacrifice fly.

The Sounds got a run back with a two-out rally in the bottom of the frame. After the first two batters were retired, Joe Dillon singled off Beavers starter Justin Germano before coming around to score on Brad Nelson's RBI double into the right field corner, the slugger's fifth two-bagger in his last eight contests.

Rottino gave the home team a 3-2 lead in the second when he belted his first home run in 263 at-bats, a two-run shot to center off Germano that scored Adam Heether (single). The longball was Rottino's sixth of the year and first since April 30th against Colorado Springs.

The Beavers reclaimed the lead in the top of the fourth with a pair of roundtrippers of their own. Ciofrone tied the game at 3-3 when he led off the frame by mashing a 2-0 Gardner offering over the right field wall for his 11th home run of the year. The blast extended the longest hitting streak in the PCL in 2008 to 26 games. Two batters later, McAnulty hit his second homer in two games against the Sounds, belting a solo shot to right off Gardner to put the visitors in front by a 4-3 count.

Nashville rallied back in the bottom of the frame to keep the see-saw battle going, plating three runs to take a 6-4 lead. Dillon and Nelson opened the inning with consecutive singles off Germano before Laynce Nix ripped an RBI double off the batter's eye in center to plate Dillon with the tying run. After Adam Heether put the Sounds back in front with a sacrifice fly that brought in Nelson, Rottino continued his solid day with a run-scoring double into the right field corner.

Portland jumped back in front in the fifth with a four-run inning, knocking Gardner out of the game in the process. With one out, the visitors loaded the bases with a pair of single and a Brett Dowdy walk to prompt Sounds skipper Frank Kremblas to replace Gardner with left-hander Randy Choate. The southpaw was greeted by a first-pitch, two-run single off the bat of Luke Carlin, which tied the game at 6-6. Matt Antonelli put the visitors back into the lead with an RBI groundout before pinch-hitter Shawn Wooten ripped a run-scoring single to center for a two-run cushion.

Sounds shortstop Ozzie Chavez made it a one-run game in the home half of the fifth, swatting a one-out home run to right-center off Beavers reliever Enrique Gonzalez. The blast, which made it an 8-7 game, was his second of the year and first since April 22nd.

Portland tacked on four insurance runs in the seventh against Choate to stretch the lead to 12-7, highlighted by McAnulty's two-out, two-run double.

The Sounds wrapped up the afternoon's scoring in the bottom of the eighth when Gibbons produced his first RBI since joining the Sounds, driving in Hernan Iribarren with a single to center.

Gonzalez (5-5) picked up the win for Portland after allowing one run on one hit in his two innings of relief work behind Germano.

Gardner (6-5) was saddled with a loss for his third straight start after giving up seven runs (six earned) on seven hits over 4 1/3 frames of action.

The Sounds travel to the West Coast on Wednesday for an eight-game road swing that includes stops in Sacramento and Fresno. Left-hander Sam Narron (6-3, 4.52) will man the bump for Nashville in Wednesday evening's 9:05 p.m. CT opener of a four-game series in Sacramento against the defending PCL champion River Cats, who will counter with left-hander Dan Meyer (10-5, 4.58).

Baseball returns to Greer Stadium on Friday, August 8th, when the Sounds open an eight-game homestand that features visits from Omaha and Oklahoma.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from July 29, 2008


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