Sounds Drop Homestand Finale To Sky Sox
Published on August 5, 2003 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Nashville Sounds News Release
NASHVILLE â The Sounds dropped the finale of their nine-game homestand, losing 11-3 to the Colorado Springs Sky Sox on Tuesday evening at Greer Stadium. Nashville finished the stand with a 5-4 mark.
The loss proved costly as New Orleans gained at least a half-game in the PCL East Division with a win over Las Vegas in the opener of a doubleheader earlier in the evening. Game two was in progress at press time. The Sounds will open their season-long 13-game road trip on Thursday with a minimum of a 5 1/2 game lead over the Zephyrs.
Two bad innings doomed Nashville starter Matt Bruback. His first bad inning was the top of the first. With two down, Bruback plunked Brent Butler and Kit Pellow consecutively, the 16th and 17th times the right-hander has hit a batter, placing him second among all the minor-league hurlers. The inning got worse when Mark Sweeney doubled to right-center, plating both runners to give the visitors a 2-0 lead.
The Sounds would level the score at two in the last of the third. Leadoff man Aaron Holbert was hit by a Scott Elarton pitch, Brad King followed with a walk, and both advanced on a Bruback sacrifice. Holbert later scored on a Tomas de la Rosa ground out and King came plateward with the tying run on a Dave Doster single.
The Sky Sox would take the lead for good in the top of the fifth. After Bruback had retired the leadoff man, Butler homered to deep left, off the light fixture, for his fifth longball this season. Colorado Springs added two more runs with a two-out rally. David Newhan doubled in Mark Sweeney, who had walked, and Wendall Magee, who singled.
Nashville tried to mount a rally in the bottom of the seventh. The Sounds loaded the bases with one out but could only muster one run via a Rich Thompson groundout that scored Rob Mackowiak, who had walked with one out in the frame. Sky Sox hurler Matt Whiteside fanned de la Rosa to escape the jam.
Colorado Springs silenced any more thoughts of a Sounds comeback by plating six insurance runs in the top of ninth after two men were out in the inning. Pascual Matos delivered the knockout blow by blasting his first home run of the year, a three-run shot over the wall in left, off of Sounds reliever Frank Brooks to complete the night's scoring.
Elarton (4-6) went 6 1/3 innings, surrendering all three Nashville runs, while striking out five for the win, while Bruback (7-10) suffered his third loss to the Sky Sox on the year after allowing five runs in his five innings of work.
The Sounds and Sky Sox join the entire PCL for an off day Wednesday before the "series" between the clubs shifts to Colorado Springs for the start of a five-game, four-day set. In Thursday night's 8:05 p.m. CDT opener, Nashville right-hander Justin Reid (3-4, 4.79) will take the mound to face Sky Sox southpaw Randy Flores (7-6, 4.91).
Nashville travels on to Portland and Tacoma to complete the trip before returning to Greer Stadium on Tuesday, August 19th to open their final homestand of the 2003 season against the division-rival Oklahoma RedHawks at 7:00 p.m.
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