PCL1 Nashville Sounds

Sounds Swept By RedHawks In Doubleheader

Published on July 8, 2010 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Nashville Sounds News Release


Craig Gentry's fifth hit of the game gave Oklahoma City a 5-4 victory in a 13-inning marathon nightcap as well as a doubleheader sweep of the Nashville Sounds early Thursday morning at AT&T Bricktown Ballpark.

The teams played 20 innings of baseball on the night over their two contests, with Gentry's game-winning knock bringing a conclusion to play shortly after 1:00 a.m. CT.

The Sounds held leads in both contests, including a brief one-run advantage in extra frames in the nightcap, but were unable to record a win on the night as they fell to 2-6 in doubleheader play on the year.

After Oklahoma City hung an 11-6 defeat on the Sounds in the opener, the teams battled to a 4-4 tie through 13 innings in the nightcap before Gentry (5-for-7) blooped Mitch Stetter's 0-1 offering for a two-out, game-ending single in front of a hard-charging Lorenzo Cain in shallow center field to plate ex-Sound Hernan Iribarren to saddle Nashville with a heartbreaking 5-4 defeat.

Gentry's effort was the first five-hit game against Nashville since New Orleans' Mike Vento produced six hits versus Sounds pitching in a PCL record-tying, 24-inning contest on May 5-6, 2006 at Greer Stadium.

In the nightcap, the Sounds left a season-high 18 runners on base and were just 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position.

Nashville second baseman Johnny Raburn (2-for-6) spotted the visitors a 1-0 lead in the second frame with a two-out RBI double to center off Oklahoma City starter Elizardo Ramirez.

After the Sounds left the bases loaded during a scoreless top of the third, the RedHawks struck in the home half of the frame, registering three runs against Chuck Löfgren to take a 3-1 lead. All three runs came via the longball as Gentry belted a one-out solo shot to left, his third of the year, before Chris Davis swatted a two-out, two-run bomb to right, his tenth roundtripper.

Catcher Ben Johnson, who went 3-for-6 in his first game for the Sounds since May following a month on the disabled list, tied the contest at 3-3 in the top of the sixth when he slugged his second home run of the season, a two-out, two-run shot to right off RedHawks reliever Wille Eyre.

Nashville had a chance to pull in front in the top of the seventh but Gentry, the RedHawks' center fielder, threw out Brendan Katin at the plate as he attempted to score from second on Erick Almonte's single.

Raburn put the Sounds in front by a 4-3 count in the top of the ninth inning when his two-out RBI single to right off Zachary Phillips plated Katin, who opened the frame with a walk.

In the bottom of the frame, Brandon Kintzler inherited a first-and-third, one-out jam from Mike McClendon and uncorked a two-strike, two-out wild pitch to allow Gentry to scamper home from third with the tying run to make it a 4-4 game.

Neither team scored over the next four frames until Gentry's two-out game-winner off Stetter (2-2), who took the loss.

Michael Ballard (5-5) picked up the win for Oklahoma City after working one scoreless inning of relief in the nightcap.

After rallying from an early four-run deficit to take a third-inning lead in the opener, the Sounds surrendered six late runs to the RedHawks in suffering an 11-6 loss.

Nashville took a short-lived 1-0 lead in the opener against Oklahoma City starter Tanner Scheppers. Lorenzo Cain (3-for-4) tripled in the top of the first frame and scored when Mat Gamel followed with an RBI single to right.

Oklahoma City responded immediately in the home half of the initial frame, scorching Sounds starter Chris Waters for five two-out runs to grab a 5-1 advantage. Chad Tracy's team-leading 17th home run of the year, a three-run shot, was the big hit of the frame. Former Sound Hernan Iribarren plated the other two runs with a two-run single off Waters.

Cain continued his solid night in the second when he drove home Ray Olmedo with an RBI single to make it a 5-2 contest. Olmedo had opened the inning by drawing a walk from Scheppers.

Nashville stormed back into the lead at 6-5 in the third with a four-run frame against Scheppers. After Katin led off with a single, Almonte (3-for-3) ripped a one-out RBI double to right to pull Nashville within 5-3. After a Luis Cruz single, Almonte came around to reduce the deficit to one when RedHawks left fielder Matthew Brown mishandled Olmedo's fly ball. Cruz tied the game when he hustled home on a Scheppers wild pitch before catcher Anderson De La Rosa lifted a go-ahead sacrifice fly to center to bring home Olmedo.

The RedHawks pulled back in front in the fifth against Waters. After Davis led off with a double to center, Cruz booted Ryan Garko's grounder to short, allowing Davis to come plateward with the game-tying run on Nashville's third error of the evening. Jarrod Saltalamacchia (3-for-4) followed with a go-ahead RBI double to the wall in left.

Later in the frame, with runners on the corners, reliever Tim Dillard struck out Kevin Richardson but Oklahoma City executed a double steal on the play, with Saltalamacchia swiping home to increase the lead to 8-6.

Oklahoma City put the game out of reach in the sixth with three more runs against the Sounds' bullpen, stretching the lead to 11-6. Saltalamacchia's two-run single off David Johnson highlighted the frame.

Reliever Warner Madrigal (1-0) worked 2 2/3 scoreless innings behind Scheppers to pick up his first win for Oklahoma City.

Waters (5-5) took the loss for the Sounds after giving up eight runs (four earned) on eight hits in his 4 1/3 innings of action. It marked just the third time in 16 starts that the left-hander surrendered more than three runs.

The Sounds continue their road trip tomorrow night in Memphis when they take on the cross-state rival Redbirds in the 7:05 p.m. opener of a five-game series. Left-hander Chase Wright (6-4, 3.89) will start the contest for Nashville to face Memphis southpaw Evan MacLane (5-7, 4.47).

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Pacific Coast League Stories from July 8, 2010


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