PCL1 Nashville Sounds

Gamel Homers Twice, Sounds Down 'Hawks 8-3

Published on May 28, 2011 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Nashville Sounds News Release


NASHVILLE, Tenn. - First baseman Mat Gamel belted a pair of home runs to power the Nashville Sounds to an 8-3 victory over the Oklahoma City RedHawks in front of 8,411 fans on Saturday evening at Greer Stadium.

Nashville (20-28) recorded its third win in a row overall and its seventh victory in the club's last nine home contests.

Gamel posted the Sounds' fourth two-homer effort of the year and drove in four runs on the night to continue his recent hot hitting. The infielder has hit safely in 15 of his last 22 games at a .378 clip (31-for-82).

The Sounds took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning when George Kottaras ripped a two-out double to right off Oklahoma City starter Gustavo Chacin then scored when Taylor Green (3-for-4) followed with an RBI single to left-center.

Kottaras went 2-for-4 on the night to extend his longest hitting streak of the year to eight games.

Gamel upped the Nashville advantage to 4-0 in the third when he belted a homer for the second straight night, slugging a three-run bomb to right to greet new RedHawks reliever Wesley Wright. Brett Carroll (single) and Erick Almonte (walk) also scored on Gamel's blast, the first baseman's seventh of the year.

The Sounds added another tally in the fourth when Caleb Gindl's opposite-field single to left plated Green from second, as the infielder just beat Brian Bogusevic's throw to the plate to extend the lead to 5-0.

Oklahoma City broke up the Sounds' shutout bid in the eighth when left fielder Brian Bogusevic launched a three-run homer to left off reliever Robert Hinton to make it a 5-3 contest.

Gamel struck again in the home half of the frame, drilling a line drive solo homer to right off Francis Beltran for his eighth big fly of the year to up the Nashville lead to 6-3.

The Sounds tacked on two more runs later in the inning. Pinch-hitter Brandon Boggs lined an RBI single up the middle in his first appearance for Nashville since mid-April. He had spent the previous five weeks with Milwaukee. With the bases loaded and two outs, Brett Carroll hit an RBI single to short to plate Green but Boggs was thrown out at the plate on the play to end the inning with the Sounds ahead by an 8-3 count.

Sounds starter Josh Butler (3-3) picked up the victory by working six innings of scoreless, two-hit ball. It was the right-hander's second quality start of the year.

Chacin (1-2) drew the loss in his first start of the year for the RedHawks. The southpaw was charged with three runs on four hits over 2 2/3 innings, coming out of the game in the middle of an at-bat in the third frame after reaching his pitch count limit.

The teams continue the series with a 2:05 p.m. matinee on Sunday afternoon. Left-hander Chase Wright (1-4, 6.23) will toe the rubber for Nashville to face ex-Sound Nelson Figueroa (2-0, 2.63). The Oklahoma City right-hander spent the 2003 & 2004 seasons in Music City and ranks 8th in club history with 28 wins in those two years. Left-hander Zach Braddock is scheduled to make the first appearance of his rehabilitation assignment for the Sounds in the contest.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from May 28, 2011


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