DiFelice, Sounds Dominate Isotopes In 13-3 Win
Published on April 22, 2008 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Nashville Sounds News Release
ALBUQUERQUE - Right-hander Mark DiFelice turned in an outstanding outing in his 2008 debut and four Nashville home runs lifted the Sounds to a 13-3 victory over the Albuquerque Isotopes on Tuesday afternoon at Isotopes Park in the finale of a four-game series.
With its largest win of the season, Nashville (4-15) snapped a four-game skid and avoided a series sweep.
DiFelice (1-0) made his first start of the season after missing the first three weeks while recovering from off-season knee surgery. He got off to a solid start, facing the minimum 15 batters through the first five innings, including eight strikeouts. The lone batter to record a hit over that span, Paul Hoover, was caught stealing by catcher Vinny Rottino.
He departed after six innings due to a planned pitch count, allowing one run on three hits and fanning 11 batters over six innings of work while throwing 78 pitches, 59 for strikes.
Seven Sounds batters produced a multiple-hit effort on the afternoon, led by three-hit days from Hernan Iribarren and Tony Gwynn. Gwynn went 3-for-4 with one run scored in his fourth rehab contest for the Sounds and batted .538 (7-for-13) in the series.
The 13 runs were the most scored by the Sounds since they plated 14 last May 1 at Iowa.
Nashville grabbed an early lead for the fourth time in the series when Rottino belted a two-out, three-run homer off Isotopes starter Gaby Hernandez. The blast, which scored Gwynn (single) and Joe Dillon (double), was the backstop's third of the season.
The Sounds extended the lead to 5-0 in the third on another longball, a two-run Dillon shot to deep left. It was the veteran's first homer of the year in his second game with Nashville. Iribarren, who opened the frame with a single, also scored on the longball.
Right fielder Brendan Katin upped the advantage to 6-0 in the fourth when he belted his first career Triple-A home run off the scoreboard in left-center field.
The Sounds chased Hernandez from the contest later in the frame after Adam Heether followed Katin's homer with a double and Iribarren and Gwynn rapped back-to-back two-out singles, the second of which extended the lead to seven.
Hernandez (1-3) took the loss after being touched for seven runs on nine hits over just 3 2/3 innings of action.
Rottino turned in one of the Sounds' finest plate appearances of the season in the top of the fifth, turning a 13-pitch at-bat into a single against Albuquerque reliever Marcos Carvajal after fouling off seven two-strike offerings.
The Isotopes finally broke through against DiFelice in the bottom of the sixth. Hoover led off with a single and former Sound Chris Barnwell followed with an RBI double off the hill in deep center field to plate the first Albuquerque run and make it a 7-1 contest.
Albuquerque added a second run in the seventh in the first inning of work by Sounds reliever Richie Gardner. With one out, Dallas McPherson singled and stole second. Pinch-hitter John Gall, who took over mid at-bat due to an undetermined injury to Tagg Bozied, followed with an RBI single to center to reduce the Nashville lead to 7-2.
The Sounds got those two runs right back in the next half-inning as shortstop Ozzie Chavez drilled a two-run homer to right off Scott Nestor, his first roundtripper of the year.
Nashville put the game on ice with four runs in the top of the ninth against Isotopes reliever Chris Mobley to bring the score to its final 13-2 tally. Katin tripled and scored on a Chris Mobley wild pitch. J.R. Hopf added an RBI single and Iribarren produced a run-scoring triple before Gardner helped his own cause with an RBI single.
Albuquerque tacked on the game's final run in the bottom of the ninth on a Gall RBI single.
Gardner earned a three-inning save for the Sounds, the club's first of the year. He allowed two runs on four hits while fanning four batters in his 52-pitch outing.
After joining the entire Pacific Coast League for an off day on Wednesday, the Sounds continue their road trip on Thursday evening in Omaha, where they'll take on the division-rival Royals in the 6:35 p.m. CT opener of a four-game series.
Right-hander Nic Ungs (1-2, 10.32) will attempt to rebound from a shaky outing in Albuquerque when he mans the bump for the Sounds to face Omaha left-hander Tyler Lumsden (1-1, 6.39), who defeated Nashville last week at Greer Stadium.
Pacific Coast League Stories from April 22, 2008
- Beavers-Bees Postponed Tuesday Due To Rain - Portland Beavers
- Isotopes Fall To Sounds 13-3 - Albuquerque Isotopes
- Z's fall in Omaha - New Orleans Baby Cakes
- Bees Open Series At Quad Cities With A Victory - Salt Lake Bees
- DiFelice, Sounds Dominate Isotopes In 13-3 Win - Nashville Sounds
- Sidewinders Rally Late For 7-6 Victory - Tucson Sidewinders
- Iowa 5, Oklahoma 1 - Iowa Cubs
- Oklahoma RedHawks Game Notes - Oklahoma City Comets
- Royals Game Notes - Omaha Storm Chasers
- Weekly Sports League and Franchise Update - OSC Original by Dan Krieger
- Hungry Isotopes Fans Satisfy Hankering For Hot Dogs - Albuquerque Isotopes
- Isotopes Come Back on Sounds in 12-6 Win - Albuquerque Isotopes
- Sidewinders Lose in Extras to Fresno 5-4 - Tucson Sidewinders
- Beavers lead early, but Salt Lake keeps cruising - Portland Beavers
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