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PCL1 Nashville Sounds

Sounds Open Road Trip With 8-3 Win Over Z's

April 24, 2010 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Nashville Sounds News Release


METAIRIE, La. - Nashville left-hander Chuck Lofgren turned in a solid five-inning start on the hill and drove in three runs at the plate to lead the Sounds to an 8-3 win over the New Orleans Zephyrs on Saturday evening at Zephyr Field in the opener of a four-game series.

With the victory, Nashville (11-6) picked up its third win in the last four contests and improved to 8-1 on the road this season.

Lofgren (3-1) allowed three runs on five hits over five innings to notch his third win in four starts to begin the year for Nashville. The southpaw added a 2-for-3, three-RBI effort at the plate; all three of the hurler's RBIs came with two outs.

The eight runs scored marked the highest scoring output for Nashville this season. Lofgren led a group of five Sounds batters who recorded two-hit efforts as the visitors rapped out a season-high 12 hits on the evening

Sounds third baseman Adam Heether (2-for-5) got the scoring started with a two-out solo homer to left in the top of the first inning. The blast, Heether's team-leading fifth of the year, came against Z's starter Rick VandenHurk.

New Orleans quickly answered in the home half of the frame against Lofgren. Emilio Bonfacio led off with a triple to right and scored to make it a 1-1 contest when Bryan Peterson followed with an RBI single to center.

Lofgren, who handles the lumber well, helped his own cause in the second by ripping a two-out, two-run double to center off VandenHurk to give Nashville a 3-1 advantage. Jonathan Lucroy (2-for-4), who singled to open the frame, and Johnny Raburn, who drew a two-out walk, scored on the two-bagger.

The Z's pulled back within a run at 3-2 in the bottom of the second when catcher Brad Davis slugged his first home run of the year, a leadoff solo shot to left off Lofgren.

Nashville added to its lead in the fourth, plating a pair of two-out runs to make it a 5-2 game. Lofgren again helped his own cause when his single to center brought Norris Hopper plateward, and Eric Farris followed with an RBI knock of his own to right.

A pair of two-out walks came back to haunt Lofgren in the bottom of the fourth as pinch-hitter Alejandro Machado pulled the home team back within two at 5-3 with a two-out RBI single to center.

The Sounds tacked on three insurance runs in the eighth against New Orleans reliever Jose Veras to extend the lead to 8-3. Joe Koshansky led off with a walk and moved to third on a Lucroy double before both players scored on Hopper's two-run double to right. Hopper later scored on pinch-hitter Erick Almonte's RBI fielder's choice to third.

Nashville had the bases loaded with only one out later in the frame but Zephyrs reliever Adalberto Mendez stifled any further rally by inducing an inning-ending, line drive double play from Luis Cruz.

The Sounds' bullpen continued its impressive early-season performance, as three hurlers combined for four scoreless frames to keep New Orleans off the board in the late innings.

David Johnson followed Lofgren to the hill and worked a pair of hitless frames, fanning two batters. John Axford added a scoreless eighth, retiring the side on 13 pitches including a pair of strikeouts, before left-hander A.J. Murray closed out the win by working around a pair of baserunners in a scoreless ninth, leaving two men on board as he struck out the game's final two batters.

VandenHurk (1-1) lasted only four frames for the Z's, allowing five runs on six hits in absorbing his first loss of the year.

The teams continue the series with a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday afternoon. Right-hander Marco Estrada (0-0, 2.50) will man the bump for the Sounds to face New Orleans right-hander Ryan Tucker (0-0, 3.38).

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Pacific Coast League Stories from April 24, 2010


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