Sports stats



PCL1 Nashville Sounds

Hart Homer Caps Comeback; Sounds Win, 8-7 In 10 Innings

July 3, 2005 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Nashville Sounds News Release


NASHVILLE - All-Star outfielder Corey Hart crushed a 2-1 Jimmy Journell offering deep to left for a game-ending home run in the bottom of the tenth inning on Sunday evening at Greer Stadium to cap off a string of seven unanswered Nashville runs over the final three innings of play in the Sounds' 8-7 victory over the second-place Memphis Redbirds in the finale of a four-game series.

With the dramatic come-from-behind victory, Nashville (46-38) re-extended its lead over Memphis to a season-high 4 ½ games in the PCL American Conference Northern Division.

The win was the Sounds' 15 last at-bat win of the year and the club's 14th in a game in which it trailed in the seventh inning or later.

Hart's blast - his eighth of the year - capped off Nashville's incredible comeback. All three Nashville wins in the series against the Redbirds came after the club trailed in the seventh frame or later.

Trailing 7-1, Nashville made a game of it in the eighth by plating four runs against Memphis starter Kevin Jarvis to pull within 7-5. Shortstop Chris Barnwell extended his hitting streak to a season-best five games with an RBI double to bring home Tony Zuniga. Ryan Knox slugged a three-run homer later in the frame, the outfielder's fourth of the season, to pull the Sounds within two.

The Sounds completed their six-run comeback in the ninth with a pair of runs against the Memphis bullpen. With two on and two outs, pinch-hitter Steve Scarborough delivered an RBI single to right to make it a 7-6 game and place runners on the corners for Knox. Before the outfielder could take a hack, Redbirds reliever Josh Kinney uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Julio Mosquera to scamper home from third with the tying run.

Memphis right fielder John Rodriguez put the visitors up 2-0 with a two-out homer off Nashville starter Rick Helling in the top of the first inning. Skip Schumaker, who opened the game with a triple, scored on the blast, which landed on Chestnut Street beyond the right field wall for Rodriguez's tenth of the year.

The Redbirds upped their early lead to 5-0 with three more in the second against Helling, two of which were unearned resulting from a throwing error by the Sounds hurler. Schumacher ripped an RBI double and Rodriguez added his third RBI of the night with a run-scoring single in the frame.

Jarvis was on cruise control early for the Redbirds, allowing no hits and only one baserunner (Knox via a walk) through the first 4 1/3 innings. Sounds outfielder Nelson Cruz broke up his no-hit and shutout bids with one swing of the bat, however, crushing a solo homer to right to put Nashville on the board. The blast, which made the score 5-1, was Cruz's second with the Sounds. He has hit safely in each of his four contests at the Class AAA level this season.

Memphis came calling again in the sixth against Helling, plating two more runs to extend its lead to 7-1. With runners on the corners and one out, the Nashville right-hander balked to plate John Nelson. Schumaker completed the inning's scoring with a two-out RBI double, his third extra-base hit of the evening.

Hart extended his hitting streak to a career-best 12 games with a single in the bottom of the seventh inning. The streak is the third-longest by a Sounds player this season.

Branyan finished 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in his sixth rehab game with Nashville. He played six innings in right field then the final four at third base but did not have a defensive chance at the hot corner for the second straight evening.

Mike Adams (2-1) picked up the victory after fanning two batters during a scoreless inning of work for the Sounds. Journell (1-4) took the loss after giving up Hart's game-ending shot.

The Sounds travel to New Orleans tomorrow to begin a seven-game road trip with the 6:05 p.m. opener of a four-game series against the Zephyrs (AAA-Nationals). The series will be the teams' last of four this season; Nashville has won eight of the 12 meetings between the clubs in 2005.

Nashville right-hander Justin Lehr (7-6, 4.61) will start Monday's series opener and face New Orleans southpaw Ed Yarnall (4-6, 6.38).

Baseball returns to Greer Stadium on Thursday, July 11 following the Triple-A All-Star break, when the Sounds open an eight-game homestand.

Check out the Nashville Sounds Statistics



Pacific Coast League Stories from July 3, 2005


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.

OurSports Central