Nashville Drops Season-High Fourth Straight Game
Published on April 29, 2007 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Nashville Sounds News Release
OMAHA - Justin Huber gave the Omaha Royals a 5-4 victory and four-game sweep over the Nashville Sounds with a one-out solo home run off Dennis Sarfate in the bottom of the tenth inning on Sunday afternoon at Rosenblatt Stadium.
Omaha trailed late in the game before tying the contest against Sarfate in the bottom of the ninth and rallying for the win an inning later.
The season-high four consecutive Sounds losses immediately follow a string of seven straight wins for the club, which remains in first place in the PCL American Conference Northern Division.
Nashville (13-10) was swept in a series for the first time since June 2005 and in a road series for the first time since August 2004.
The loss was the Sounds' first last at-at defeat of the season and came in the team's second extra-inning affair (1-1).
Both teams exchanged three runs in the fourth inning. Nashville got the scoring started with a two-out rally against former Sound Ben Hendrickson in the top of the frame. Andy Abad doubled and scored on Vinny Rottino's two-out RBI two-bagger. Shortstop Ozzie Chavez followed with his first home run in 152 at-bats, a two-run shot to right that extended the lead to 3-0.
Omaha came back to tie the score in the bottom of the fourth against Nashville starter Chris Oxspring on a Fernando Cortez RBI double, a run-scoring Paul Phillips single, and a Joey Gathright infield groundout that plated Cortez to make it 3-3.
Abad (2-for-5) pushed the Sounds back in front by a 4-3 count in the fifth with a two-out RBI single off Royals reliever Billy Buckner that scored JD Closser, who had proceeded him with a double.
Neither team scored again until the bottom of the ninth when Sarfate suffered his first blown save in four opportunities. Gathright opened the frame with a single and was sacrificed to second by Richard Lewis. Shane Costa followed with a deep fly ball to center, which was caught by a running Callix Crabbe. The speedy Gathright hustled home from second and was safe on a close play as he collided with Rottino, the Sounds' catcher.
Omaha reliever Jason Standridge (1-0) was the beneficiary of Huber's tenth-inning heroics as he was awarded the victory after working one scoreless inning.
Sarfate (1-1) took the loss after allowing the game-tying and game-winning runs in his 1 1/3 frames of work.
Steve Bray and Luther Hackman provided solid relief work for the Sounds behind Oxspring, combining for four scoreless innings and only one hit allowed between them.
Nashville third baseman Ryan Braun (0-for-3) became the first Sound ejected from a game in 2007 when he was tossed by the home plate umpire after being called out on strikes in the fifth inning.
The Sounds travel to Des Moines following today's game and will conclude their road trip with a four-game series against the division-rival Iowa Cubs beginning tomorrow. Nashville swept Iowa in the teams' first series of the year earlier this week.
Right-hander Yovani Gallardo (3-1, 2.35) will start Monday's 7:05 p.m. series opener and face Iowa right-hander Carlos Marmol (2-1, 2.91).
Pacific Coast League Stories from April 29, 2007
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