PCL1 Nashville Sounds

Gulin, Sounds Dominate Express In 9-0 Shutout

Published on August 23, 2008 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Nashville Sounds News Release


NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Nashville Sounds starting pitcher Lindsay Gulin didn't need a lot of run support, but he sure got it.

The Sounds managed to combine a dominant pitching effort with a breakout offensive performance to beat the Round Rock Express, 9-0, in front of a crowd of 9,414 on Saturday night at Greer Stadium.

Gulin and reliever Richie Gardner combined to pitch a three-hitter, the first shutout for Nashville since June 5 against Albuquerque. Gulin (7-7) pitched seven shutout innings and struck out eight batters while only giving up two hits to pick up his eighth quality start of the season for the Sounds.

Prior to tonight's game, the Nashville offense only managed to score an average of two runs in Gulin's starts, but a pair of three-RBI nights for Brad Nelson and Joe Dillon and multiple-hit efforts from four different Sounds players gave Gulin plenty of cushion to work with.

The Sounds got off to a quick start and plated three runs in the bottom of the first inning off a three-run homer to left field by Dillon. The longball was Dillon's fifth of the year and scored Hernan Iribarren (double) and Tony Gwynn (single). The three runs in the first inning gave Nashville a 24-4 edge in first-frame scoring over its last eight matchups against Round Rock.

Nashville added two more runs in the bottom of the third inning when Dillon scored on a double from Nelson. The two-bagger was Nelson's team-leading 35th of the season, which ranks him 9th on the Sounds all-time list. Jay Gibbons then singled in the next at-bat to score Nelson and extend the Sounds' lead to five.

Nelson's big night continued in the bottom of the fifth inning when he belted a solo home run to right field off Round Rock starter Jack Cassel. The longball was Nelson's 17th of the year and added to his team-leading total of 73 RBIs. Nashville added another run in the inning when Gibbons scored from third base on a groundout from Chris Woodward, who now leads the team with 22 RBIs in August. He also extended his hitting streak to a season-high eight games after going 1-for-3 on the night.

The runs kept coming for the Sounds in the bottom of the sixth inning when Ozzie Chavez knocked an RBI triple and then scored on a sacrifice fly from Nelson. With the hit, Chavez is now 6-for-his-last-7 with a home run and four RBIs.

Cassel (8-5) took the loss for the Express after giving up seven earned runs in just five innings of work.

Gardner pitched two innings and only gave up one hit in relief for the Sounds.

Callix Crabbe went 0-for-1 and snapped his season-high 10-game hitting streak, which was only the second double-digit streak for the Sounds this season. Vinny Rottino's streak of 24 games is the longest of the season for Nashville.

It was a pretty good crowd for a Saturday as more than 9,400 fans saw the Sounds play their final Purity Faith Night and Saturday night game of the season.

The teams will close out their five-game series with their ninth consecutive meeting at 6 p.m. on Sunday night at Greer Stadium. Lefty Sam Narron (8-4, 4.83) will man the bump for the Sounds against right-hander Runelvys Hernandez (7-7, 4.81) for the Express.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from August 23, 2008


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