PCL1 Nashville Sounds

Sounds drop regular season finale, 10-4

Published on September 4, 2006 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Nashville Sounds News Release


NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The American Conference Northern Division Champions Sounds closed out the season with a 10-4 loss to the Round Rock Express on Monday afternoon in front of 5,165 fans at Greer Stadium.

With the loss, Nashville finished the 2006 regular season with a 76-68 record, one win better than last season's championship club.

Both Tony Gwynn (2-for-5) and Chris Barnwell (1-for-2) ended the season with a .300 batting average for Nashville after entering the game just shy of the mark at .299 each. It was the second time that Barnwell has been able to end the season at the .300 mark; the infielder batted .307 in rookie ball during his first pro campaign in 2001. This was the first time in Gwynn's professional career that he has ended the season with .300 or better average.

After clinching the Northern Division Sunday night, manager Frank Kremblas decided to give first baseman Graham Koonce the day off. Outfielder Dave Krynzel took Koonce's spot at first base, making his first career appearance at any position outside of the outfield.

Express starter Ezequiel Astacio (8-4) worked five innings of two-hit baseball en route to picking up his eighth win of the season.

Sounds starter Ben Hendrickson (9-8) took the loss, failing in his sixth consecutive attempt to record his 10th win of the season. He hurled four innings and allowed five Round Rock players to cross home on eight hits. Hendrickson earned his most recent win on August 3rd at Fresno.

Round Rock jumped on the board first, etching a run of the game in the second inning. With Hector Gimenez on second, Derek Nicholson doubled off the base of the left field wall. Nicholson's RBI double was his first two-base hit of the season.

The Express increased their lead to five runs, plating runs in both the third and fourth innings. In the third inning, with runners on first and second, former Sound J.R. House singled to center to plate Royce Huffman from second. With one out, Brooks Conrad advanced 90 feet, from third to home, on a Gimenez sac fly to center.

In the fourth frame, the Express notched two more runs with one swing of the bat. With Brian Gordon on first, Nicholson hit his third home run of the year, giving the Express a 5-0 lead.

The Sounds plated two runs in the sixth inning to climb within three. Gwynn led off the inning with his team-leading fifth triple of the year down the right field line. With one out, Drew Anderson hit a ball over the center field fence, plating himself and Gwynn. Anderson's roundtripper was his first career Triple-A home run.

Chris Demaria came on in relief of Hendrickson in the fifth and worked three innings of shutout baseball to lower his ERA to a final 2.96 on the year.

Reliever Mitch Stetter followed Demaria and gave up four runs on three hits in the eighth inning. After walking House to load the bases, Stetter gave up a sac fly to Gimenez and then a pair of two-out RBI hits. Cody Ransom singled to center, scoring Conrad from second, and Gordon hit a bases-clearing double. Both House and Ransom scored on the two-bagger.

The Sounds answered back, plating two runs of their own in the home half of the eighth. With Jermaine Clark on first, Anderson doubled to center, allowing Clark to cross home. In the next at-bat, Krynzel singled to center field, scoring Anderson.

The Express etched out one more run in the top of the ninth to bring the score to its final 10-4.

The Sounds and the Express enjoy a day off on Tuesday before beginning the American Conference Finals, a best-for-five series with the first two games being played Wednesday and Thursday at Greer. The final three games will be played in Round Rock starting on Friday.

The Sounds and Express face off for game one of the American Conference Finals on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Greer Stadium. The Sounds will give the starting nod to Carlos Villanueva (7-1, 2.71) and the Express will send Taylor Buchholz (1-3, 4.91) to the bump.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from September 4, 2006


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