PCL1 Nashville Sounds

Sounds Split Doubleheader But Eliminated from Playoff Contention

Published on August 30, 2014 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Nashville Sounds News Release


ROUND ROCK, Texas - The Nashville Sounds were eliminated from playoff contention as they split a doubleheader against the Round Rock Express on Saturday evening at The Dell Diamond.

Facing an elimination number of one, the Sounds defeated the Express in the opener to keep their postseason hopes alive before falling 3-1 in the nightcap, making the Memphis Redbirds the PCL American Conference Southern Division champions.

In the opener, shortstop Hector Gomez returned from the disabled list and went 3-for-4 to lead the Sounds to a 5-2 victory.

Billy Buckner (1-1) twirled a quality start to pick up his first victory in four outings since joining the Sounds. The right-hander held Round Rock to two runs on three hits in six frames of action.

Matt Clark (2-for-4) homered for the second straight game to give the Sounds a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning. The blast, off Express starter Edwar Cabrera, was Clark's 15th of the year, which ties the slugger with Gomez and Jeremy Hermida for the team lead.

Round Rock rallied to grab a 2-1 lead in the fourth against Buckner when Luis Sardinas delivered a two-out, two-run single to center to plate J.R. Towles (walk) and Corey Patton (single).

The Sounds tied the game at 2-2 in the fourth but missed a chance at a bigger output after loading the bases with no outs. With the bags full following a pair of walks and a Gomez bunt single, Cabrera retired the next two batters before Logan Schafer delivered a game-tying, two-out single to center.

Gomez, who was activated from the disabled list prior to the game, continued his solid contest in the fifth when he pushed the visitors back in front by a 3-2 margin with a two-out flare to center that plated Sean Halton.

Nashville padded its lead in the sixth against Round Rock reliever Nate Adcock. After the right-hander hit a batter, the Sounds drew consecutive walks to load the bases for Jason Rogers (2-for-4), who made it a 4-2 game with an RBI single to center. Halton later contributed a sacrifice fly to up the lead to three.

Rob Wooten closed out the win with a scoreless seventh to nail down his 14th save of the year.

In the nightcap, Round Rock snapped a 1-1 tie with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to hang a 3-1 defeat on the Sounds, which eliminated Nashville from the playoff race.

The teams were quiet in the early going before Round Rock broke through for a run in the bottom of the fourth against Eric Marzec, who was called up from Double-A Huntsville to make a spot start for the Sounds.

Jared Hoying blooped a one-out single to center then raced around to score when Brett Nicholas followed with a line-drive RBI double into the right field corner to give the Express a 1-0 lead.

Nashville stranded runners in scoring position in each of the first three frames but finally got a run across in the fifth by taking advantage of a fielding error by Express third baseman Josh Wilson. After Eugenio Velez reached on a single and stole second, Wilson was unable to handle a Jason Rogers one-out grounder, allowing Velez to race home in unearned fashion to knot the score at 1-1.

Marzec, who took a no-decision, turned in a solid outing, limiting Round Rock to one run on three hits over five innings of work.

Jose De La Torre took over on the Nashville hill in the sixth and was immediately touched up by the Round Rock offense. Jared Hoying led off with an infield single before hustling to third on a Nicholas single to right, which put runners on the corners with no outs. After fanning Jason Donald for the first out, Drew Robinson lofted a soft floater to shallow left field that plated both runners to give the Express a 3-1 lead.

Round Rock closer Spencer Patton allowed a leadoff single to Pete Orr in the seventh, which extended the infielder's hitting streak to a season-best seven games, before striking out Velez, Hermida, and Rogers in succession to close out the win.

The teams continue the series with a 6:05 p.m. contest on Sunday evening. Right-hander Taylor Jungmann (8-6, 4.10) will toe the slab for the Sounds and face Round Rock southpaw Lisalverto Bonilla (3-2, 4.39).

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Pacific Coast League Stories from August 30, 2014


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