PCL1 Nashville Sounds

Helling, Koonce lead Sounds past Royals

June 15, 2006 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Nashville Sounds News Release


NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Rehabbing pitcher Rick Helling twirled seven strong innings and Graham Koonce belted two home runs, including a grand slam, to lead the Nashville Sounds to a 6-2 victory over the division-rival Omaha Royals in front of 7,062 fans on Thursday evening at Greer Stadium in the finale of a four-game series.

With the victory, Nashville (37-30) notched its sixth winning home series in nine Greer Stadium sets after defeating Omaha in three of four this week. The Sounds are 24-12 at home this season.

Helling (1-0) was impressive in his second rehab start for Nashville as he recovers from a right elbow sprain. He allowed a game-opening single to Kerry Robinson, who finished 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles, then retired 17 consecutive batters before allowing a Robinson two-bagger to lead off the seventh. Helling allowed one run on three hits and struck out five over seven innings of work. He threw 83 pitches, 53 for strikes.

The Milwaukee Brewers had several key baseball operations staff members in attendance to watch Helling's rehab outing: Executive Vice President & General Manager Doug Melvin; Assistant General Manager Gord Ash; Jack Zduriencik, Special Assistant To The G.M. / Director of Amateur Scouting; and Dan O'Brien, Special Assistant To The G.M.

Sounds first baseman Graham Koonce, who drove in all six Nashville runs on the evening, broke a scoreless tie in a big way in the bottom of the sixth inning. The left-handed slugger belted a mammoth grand slam to right field off Royals reliever Donovan Osborne to put Nashville in front by a 4-0 margin. Tony Gwynn (double), Dave Krynzel (walk), and Brent Abernathy (hit by pitch) scored on the slam.

The grand slam was Nashville's fourth of the year and second of this series. Vinny Rottino belted a grannie in Monday's opener against Omaha.

Omaha got on the board in the top of the seventh when Robinson led off with a double and scored two batters later on a Ruben Gotay RBI bloop double to right off Helling.

Koonce, who finished with a personal season-high three hits to go along with his Sounds season-high six RBIs, slammed his second longball of the evening in the bottom of the eighth, a two-run shot off Joe Nelson. Nelson Cruz, who had legged out his team-leading 17th double of the season one batter earlier, scored on the blast, Koonce's fifth of the year.

The two-homer contest was Koonce's second of the season and the Sounds' fifth multiple-homer effort of the campaign. Koonce's six RBIs were one shy of the Nashville single-game record.

Omaha closed out the evening's scoring with a run against reliever Chris Mabeus in the ninth. Alejandro Prieto singled before Robinson ripped his second two-bagger of the evening to put runners on second and third with no outs. Chris Clapinski's sacrifice fly brought in Prieto to make the score 6-2 before Mabeus retired Ruben Gotay and Aaron Guiel to end the contest.

Royals reliever Shane Loux (0-3) took the loss after loading the bases before Osborne surrendered Koonce's grand slam. The right-hander gave up three runs in his 1 2/3 frames.

Omaha starter J.P. Howell matched Helling's strong effort early on, allowing one hit and striking out five batters over four scoreless innings before being removed from the contest due to a pitch count.

The Sounds continue their homestand on Friday evening by welcoming the Oklahoma RedHawks (AAA-Rangers) to town for a four-game, three-day series that includes a doubleheader on Saturday.

Right-hander Dennis Sarfate (5-2, 2.85), a winner in his last three starts, takes the hill for Nashville in Friday's 7 p.m. series opener. Oklahoma will counter with right-hander Nick Masset (1-3, 7.50).

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Pacific Coast League Stories from June 15, 2006


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