PCL1 Nashville Sounds

Sounds Open Road Trip With 8-5 Win

Published on June 26, 2008 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Nashville Sounds News Release


ROUND ROCK, Texas - The Nashville Sounds began their road trip on a positive note, scoring an 8-5 victory over the Round Rock Express on Thursday evening at The Dell Diamond in the opener of a four-game series.

Five Sounds players turned in multiple-hit efforts on the evening, led by Brendan Katin's 3-for-4, two-RBI effort.

Round Rock took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning against rehabbing Nashville starter Eric Gagne. With one out, Edwin Maysonet was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a single by ex-Sound J.R. House (3-for-5). Gagne followed by walking Mark Saccamanno and the Express plated the game's first run when the fourth ball eluded catcher Vinny Rottino, allowing Maysonet to score on the wild pitch. Nick Gorneault doubled the advantage with a two-out RBI single to left.

Gagne worked two-thirds of an inning and allowed two runs on two hits, walking one batter and striking out two. He threw 29 pitches (17 strikes).

Randy Choate followed Gagne with 2 1/3 hitless relief innings, stranding a pair of inherited runners in the process. The veteran southpaw has worked 6 1/3 scoreless frames, allowing only two hits, in his three Nashville appearances on his rehab stint.

Nashville rallied to take a 3-2 lead with a trio of runs in the third against Express starter Ron Chiavacci.

Brad Nelson opened the frame with a walk before being erased on a Rottino forceout. After Adam Heether and Katin walked to load the bases, shortstop Chris Woodward put the Sounds on the board with an RBI single to left. Pinch-hitter Callix Crabbe followed with a 13-pitch at-bat that included fouling off seven two-strike offerings before lifting a game-tying sacrifice fly to left to bring home Heether.

Hernan Iribarren gave the visitors their first lead of the night when he delivered a double to left that plated Katin, but Gorneault combined with second baseman Jonathan Ash to throw out Woodward at the plate to end the inning as he attempted to score on the knock.

Round Rock evened the game in the bottom of the frame against Sounds left-hander Sam Narron. Ray Sadler led off with a triple to right and scored one batter later on a Gorneault sacrifice fly.

The back-and-forth scoring continued in the fourth when Nashville grabbed a 6-3 lead against Chiavacci after loading the bases with none out on singles by Tony Gwynn and Laynce Nix followed by a Nelson walk. Rottino broke the three-all tie with an RBI single to left before Heether plated Nix with a sacrifice fly for a 5-3 advantage. Katin stepped into the box and chased Chiavacci with a run-scoring single to center.

Kyle Middleton took over on the Express hill and escaped the inning without further damage by inducing an inning-ending fly ball double play from Woodward that saw Rottino doubled off second.

Round Rock got a run back in the home half of the fourth on a two-out House RBI single.

The Sounds continued to pile on the runs in the seventh, sending two more men plateward against Middleton to increase their advantage to 8-4. Katin ripped a two-out double that brought home Nelson, who had opened the frame with a single. After Woodward was intentionally walked, Narron helped his own cause with an RBI single up the middle.

New Sounds reliever Joe Bateman made his career Triple-A debut when he took over on the hill in the eighth and worked a scoreless first frame before running into trouble in the ninth.

With one out in the game's final frame, Tommy Manzella ripped a double to right and moved to third when Tomas Perez singled to put runners on the corners. Pinch-hitter J.R. Towles followed with a run-scoring groundout to make it an 8-5 game before Bateman fanned House to end the contest.

Narron (4-3) picked up the win after allowing two runs on five hits over four innings of work behind the two rehab pitchers.

Chiavacci (1-2) took the loss after surrendering six runs on nine hits while issuing five walks in his 4 1/3 frames of action.

The teams continue the series with another 7:05 p.m. meeting on Friday evening. Left-hander Lindsay Gulin (3-4, 2.99) will toe the rubber for the Sounds to face an undetermined Round Rock starter.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from June 26, 2008


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