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PCL1 Nashville Sounds

Late Rally Nets Sounds 6-5 Win Against Iowa

June 1, 2006 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Nashville Sounds News Release


NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Nashville Sounds scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to record a come-from-behind 6-5 victory over the division-rival Iowa Cubs on Thursday evening in front of 5,054 fans at Greer Stadium.

The game was the sixth consecutive one-run contest between Iowa and Nashville (30-24). Ten of the teams' 15 meetings this season have been one-run decisions.

Trailing 5-3 entering the decisive eighth, the Sounds produced their game-winning rally against Iowa reliever Kerry Ligtenberg. Graham Koonce walked and Jermaine Clark reached on a dropped fly ball by Cubs left fielder Luis Montanez before Chris Barnwell plated both baserunners with a triple to left-center to tie the contest at 5-5. After pinch-hitter Vinny Rottino was retired on a pop-up for the second out of the inning, Tony Gwynn gave the Sounds the lead with a run-scoring double into the right field corner.

Gwynn went 2-for-5 with two doubles for the second consecutive night for Nashville to extend his hitting streak to seven games and increase his average to .333, its highest point of the season.

The Cubs didn't go down without a fight in what turned out to be an interesting top of the ninth. After Ryan Theriot opened the frame with a single off Jason Kershner, Iowa second baseman Buck Coats was called out on strikes, prompting four Cubs ejections. Kershner was ejected later in the frame as he exited the mound after being replaced by Alec Zumwalt, who retired Casey McGehee (3-for-5) on a lineout to end the game with Iowa runners standing on first and third.

Mike Meyers (2-3) was the beneficiary of the late Nashville comeback and picked up the win after allowing one run in his two innings of work. Ligtenberg (1-1) took his first loss of the year after suffering a blown save. Zumwalt recorded the final two outs for the Sounds to record his second save of the year.

The seesaw contest included four lead changes as well as two Iowa rallies that tied the score. The win was Nashville's 15th come-from-behind win of the year and the sixth time the Sounds have scored the game-winning run in their final turn at the plate.

Nashville took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Zach Sorensen, who had singled, scored when Coats, the Iowa second baseman, threw a ball into the stands while attempting to throw out Brent Abernathy at first.

The Cubs tied it in the second when center fielder Felix Pie ripped an RBI single to center to plate McGehee. The knock was the prospect's first ever at Greer Stadium after going hitless in his first 18 at-bats in Music City.

Brent Abernathy gave the home club a 3-1 lead with a two-strike, two-out, two-run single up the middle off Iowa starter Les Walrond in the bottom of the second. Clark, who stole two bases in the frame to pull back into the PCL lead with 18 thefts on the year, and pitcher Justin Lehr scored on Abernathy's knock. Both players had reached on walks.

Iowa tied the contest again at 3-3 in the fifth on Micah Hoffpauir's two-run triple to left. Abernathy, the Sounds' left fielder, slammed into the wall on the play and left the game.

The Sounds missed an opportunity to retake the lead in the bottom of the frame after placing runners on second and third with no outs. Nelson Cruz led off with a single and moved to third on Koonce's double, the first baseman's first hit as a member of the Sounds, before being thrown out at home while trying to score on Mike Rivera's grounder to shortstop Ryan Theriot. Clark followed with an inning-ending double play groundout.

Pie, who finished 3-for-4 on the evening, continued his strong night in the sixth when staked the visitors to a 4-3 lead with an RBI single to right. The hit scored McGehee, who had opened the inning with a triple off Lehr.

The Cubs tacked on an insurance run against Meyers with a two-out rally in the eighth that made the score 5-3. With two down, Pie doubled into the right field corner and scored a batter later on Geovany Soto's RBI single.

The teams wrap up the four-game series with a 7 p.m. meeting on Friday evening. Knuckleballer Jared Fernandez (1-1, 3.45) mans the bump for Nashville to face Iowa right-hander Jae-Kuk Ryu (2-3, 3.16).

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