De La Cruz Dominates Again For Nashville In No-Decision
Nashville, TN – Johnny Giovatella’s two-out RBI single off Sounds reliever Justin James in the top of the ninth inning gave the visiting Omaha Storm Chasers a 2-1 victory over the Sounds on Monday evening at Greer Stadium.
The loss, the Sounds’ third in a row to their division rivals, was the league-leading seventh one-run defeat suffered by Nashville (8-11) this season.
In the top of the ninth, Eric Hosmer (3-for-4) led off with a single to right. After a pair of flyouts, Hosmer stole second and then scored when Giovatella laced his game-winning single into the gap in right-center, resulting in the first run allowed by James all season. The right-hander opened the year with 8 2/3 scoreless frames of relief for Nashville.
James (0-1) drew the loss after permitting the game-deciding run in his two frames of work.
Both starting pitchers turned in quality starts for their respective clubs and were on cruise control early, as the teams played scoreless baseball through the first 5 ½ innings.
Nashville struck first, plating a two-out run against Omaha starter Everett Teaford in the home half of the fifth. Caleb Gindl (2-for-3) delivered an RBI single to left to bring home Taylor Green for a 1-0 Sounds lead.
The Storm Chasers evened the contest with an unearned run in the next half-inning against Sounds starter Frankie De La Cruz. David Lough reached on a one-out infield single and advanced to second on the play as De La Cruz overthrew first base. After advancing to third on a wild pitch, Lough came plateward with the tying run on an Eric Hosmer single to left.
De La Cruz twirled his third quality start of the year for the Sounds, holding the Storm Chasers to one unearned run on five hits while fanning seven batters in his seven innings. With the solid effort, the right-hander lowered his ERA to 1.85 through 24 1/3 innings of work on the year.
Teaford also turned in a quality start for Omaha, allowing one run on three hits while striking out three batters in his six frames of action.
Milwaukee Brewers right fielder Corey Hart went 0-for-3 with a strikeout in the contest and is now hitting 2-for-15 through five games with the Sounds during his rehab assignment.
The teams wrap up the series on Tuesday morning with an 11:05am finale that will feature thousands of participants in the Nashville Sounds Reading Club in attendance as a reward for reaching their educational goals.
Left-hander Sam Narron (0-0, 6.14) will make the start for Nashville on Tuesday to face Omaha southpaw Danny Duffy (0-0, 1.29).
Box Score
Omaha Storm Chasers (12-7) 2, Nashville Sounds (8-11) 1
April 25th, 2011
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Omaha | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 0 | |
| Nashville | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | |
| Omaha | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cain, CF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .238 |
| Lough, RF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .296 |
| Hosmer, 1B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .380 |
| Moustakas, 3B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .225 |
| Robinson, C, DH | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | .373 |
| Giavotella, 2B | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .290 |
| Zawadzki, SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .158 |
| Blanco, G, LF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .231 |
| Pina, C | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .139 |
| Teaford, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Mendoza, L, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Totals | 34 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 11 | .258 |
| BATTING
2B: Giavotella (3, James). TB: Lough; Hosmer 3; Giavotella 3; Pina. RBI: Hosmer (10), Giavotella (13). 2-out RBI: Giavotella. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Zawadzki. Team RISP: 2-for-3. Team LOB: 5.BASERUNNING SB: Hosmer (2, 2nd base off James/Rivera, Mi). FIELDING DP: (Hosmer-Zawadzki-Mendoza, L). |
||||||||
| Nashville | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Farris, 2B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .300 |
| Carroll, B, CF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .227 |
| Gamel, 1B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .310 |
| Hart, C, RF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .133 |
| Katin, DH | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .217 |
| Green, T, 3B | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .239 |
| Rivera, Mi, C | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .353 |
| Gindl, LF | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .250 |
| Machado, An, SS | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .113 |
| De La Cruz, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| James, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Totals | 30 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 4 | .239 |
| BATTING
TB: Katin; Rivera, Mi; Gindl 2. RBI: Gindl (1). 2-out RBI: Gindl. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Machado, An. GIDP: Machado, An. Team RISP: 1-for-2. Team LOB: 2.FIELDING E: De La Cruz (2, throw). |
||||||||
| Omaha | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teaford | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2.65 |
| Mendoza, L (W, 1-0) | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1.80 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3.02 |
| Nashville | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| De La Cruz | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1.85 |
| James (L, 0-1) | 2.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1.00 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 3.73 |
WP: De La Cruz.
Pitches-strikes: Teaford 95-54, Mendoza, L 36-23, De La Cruz 96-67, James 34-21.
Groundouts-flyouts: Teaford 7-3, Mendoza, L 4-1, De La Cruz 9-3, James 1-2.
Batters faced: Teaford 21, Mendoza, L 9, De La Cruz 26, James 8.
Ejections: Omaha Storm Chasers Manager Mike Jirschele ejected by HP umpire Tripp Gibson (5th).
Umpires: HP: Tripp Gibson. 1B: Angel Campos. 2B: . 3B: Mike Jarboe.
Weather: 79 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 8 mph, In from CF.
T: 2:32.
Att: 2,399.
Compiled by MLB Advanced Media
