Nashville Comes From Behind To Down Albuquerque, Snaps Five-Game Skid
Nashville, TN – First baseman Mat Gamel put an exclamation point on his 5-for-5, five-RBI evening with a go-ahead double in the bottom of the eighth inning to lead the Nashville Sounds to a come-from-behind 7-6 victory over the Albuquerque Isotopes on Saturday evening at Greer Stadium.
Gamel accounted for all seven Nashville runs by scoring twice and driving in the other five to help Nashville (9-13) snap a five-game losing streak with the victory. He matched career highs for hits and RBIs in a game, finishing a triple short of the cycle.
Trailing 6-5 entering the home half of the eighth, the Sounds rallied for two runs to grab their first lead of the evening. Pinch-hitter Brendan Katin led off the frame with a solo home run to left on a 1-1 pitch from Albuquerque reliever Jon Link. Brett Carroll followed with a walk and, after Taylor Green popped out on a sacrifice bunt attempt, came around to score the go-ahead run on Gamel’s double off the bottom of the wall in left-center. The game-winning two-bagger was Gamel’s third double of the night, one shy of the Nashville single-game record.
Mark DiFelice took the hill for the Sounds in the ninth and worked around a one-out Corey Smith single to post a scoreless frame and nail down his first save of the year.
Nashville reliever Zack Segovia (1-1) worked two scoreless innings and was the beneficiary of the late Sounds rally, securing his first win of the year.
Link (1-1) was saddled with the loss after suffering a blown save, allowing two runs in his lone frame of action.
Sounds starter Frankie De La Cruz, who entered the contest with the PCL’s 2nd-best WHIP (0.86), was uncharacteristically ineffective in the game. The right-hander didn’t make it out of the second inning, allowing two runs on two hits while walking five batters and fanning two. De La Cruz threw 59 pitches but only 29 for strikes.
After putting a pair of runners on base in a scoreless first, Albuquerque broke through with a pair of runs against De La Cruz in the second. The visitors loaded the bases with no outs on a pair of walks sandwiched around a Damaso Espino single. Isotopes starting pitcher Francisco Felix lifted a sacrifice fly to deep right to plate ex-Sound Trent Oeltjen with the night’s first run. Dee Gordon (3-for-4) followed with an RBI single to left that made it a 2-0 contest.
Albuquerque extended its lead to 3-0 in the third with an unearned run against reliever Tim Dillard. After leading off with a walk, Jamie Hoffmann stole second and advanced to third on an errant throw by Sounds catcher George Kottaras. Espino followed with an RBI single to right.
Gamel pulled the home team back within a run with one swing of the bat in the bottom of the third, belting a two-run homer to deep right off Felix. The blast, which also plated Green (walk), was Gamel’s first roundtripper of the season and made it a 3-2 game.
Espino (3-for-4) continued his solid night in the fifth when he slugged a two-run homer off to left off Dillard, his first home run of the year.
The teams exchanged single runs over the next two half-innings as the score increased to 6-3. After Luis Figueroa delivered a two-out RBI double for the Sounds in the bottom of the fifth, ex-Sound Jay Gibbons got that run right back for the visitors with a run-scoring single in the top of the sixth.
Nashville rallied to pull within a run once again at 6-5 in the bottom of the sixth off Isotopes reliever Ramon Troncoso, courtesy of a Gamel two-run double.
Left-hander Manny Parra made his sixth rehab appearance for the Sounds and allowed one run on three hits in his lone inning of work. Outfielder Nyjer Morgan made his second rehab appearance for Nashville and went 2-for-3 with a run scored as he played seven innings in right field.
The teams wrap up the series with a 2:05pm matinee on Sunday afternoon. Right-hander Josh Butler (1-1, 4.85) will man the bump for the Sounds to face Albuquerque right-hander John Ely (1-1, 3.79).
Box Score
Nashville Sounds (9-13) 7, Albuquerque Isotopes (13-9) 6
April 30th, 2011
 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Albuquerque      | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 1 | |
Nashville      | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | x | 7 | 12 | 3 | |
 |
Albuquerque | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gordon, SS | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .302 |
Robinson, T, CF | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | .342 |
Gibbons, 1B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .306 |
Smith, Co, 3B | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | .375 |
Hoffmann, RF | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | .345 |
Oeltjen, T, LF | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | .279 |
Espino, D, C | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .385 |
Sellers, J, 2B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .146 |
Felix, P | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .200 |
  Huber, Jo, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
  Troncoso, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .500 |
  a-Becker, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .348 |
  Link, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Totals | 35 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 13 | 20 | .293 |
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a-Lined out for Troncoso in the 8th. | ||||||||
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BATTING
2B: Oeltjen, T (2, Dillard). HR: Espino, D (1, 5th inning off Dillard, 1 on, 1 out). TB: Gordon 3; Robinson, T; Gibbons; Smith, Co; Oeltjen, T 2; Espino, D 6. RBI: Felix (3), Gordon (8), Espino, D 3 (9), Gibbons (10). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Hoffmann 2; Smith, Co 3. SF: Felix. GIDP: Smith, Co. Team RISP: 4-for-12. Team LOB: 9.BASERUNNING SB: Hoffmann (2, 2nd base off Dillard/Kottaras, G), Gordon (9, 2nd base off De La Cruz/Kottaras, G), Robinson, T (2, 2nd base off Dillard/Kottaras, G). FIELDING E: Espino, D (2, missed catch). Outfield assists: Robinson, T (Green, T at 3rd base). Pickoffs: Felix (Morgan at 1st base). |
Nashville | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Morgan, RF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 |
  Carroll, B, RF | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .230 |
Green, T, 3B | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | .222 |
Gamel, 1B | 5 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .321 |
Reed, LF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | .206 |
Kottaras, G, C | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | .000 |
Gindl, CF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | .217 |
Figueroa, L, SS | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .286 |
Machado, An, 2B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .133 |
De La Cruz, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
  Dillard, P | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .250 |
  Parra, M, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
  a-Farris, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .261 |
  Segovia, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
  b-Katin, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 |
  DiFelice, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Totals | 34 | 7 | 12 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 18 | .238 |
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a-Lined out for Parra, M in the 6th. b-Homered for Segovia in the 8th. | ||||||||
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BATTING
2B: Reed (2, Felix), Gamel 3 (10, Huber, Jo, Troncoso, Link), Figueroa, L (1, Huber, Jo). HR: Gamel (1, 3rd inning off Felix, 1 on, 1 out), Katin (6, 8th inning off Link, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Morgan 2; Gamel 11; Reed 2; Figueroa, L 3; Machado, An; Katin 4. RBI: Gamel 5 (12), Figueroa, L (1), Katin (13). 2-out RBI: Figueroa, L. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Kottaras, G 3; Gindl; Green, T; Machado, An 2. Team RISP: 2-for-13. Team LOB: 10.BASERUNNING SB: Morgan (1, 2nd base off Troncoso/Espino, D). PO: Morgan (1st base by Felix). FIELDING E: Kottaras, G 2 (3, throw, throw), Gamel (1, fielding). Outfield assists: Gindl (Gordon at 2nd base). DP: (Figueroa, L-Machado, An-Gamel). |
Albuquerque | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Felix | 4.0 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 4.15 |
Huber, Jo | 1.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8.38 |
Troncoso (H, 1) | 2.0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5.23 |
Link (BS, 1)(L, 1-1) | 1.0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3.52 |
Totals | 8.0 | 12 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 5.30 |
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Nashville | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
De La Cruz | 1.2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2.42 |
Dillard | 3.1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 3.57 |
Parra, MÂ | 1.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.75 |
Segovia (W, 1-1) | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3.72 |
DiFelice (S, 1) | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0.00 |
Totals | 9.0 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 13 | 1 | 3.77 |
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Pitches-strikes: Felix 75-40, Huber, Jo 29-20, Troncoso 37-18, Link 22-13, De La Cruz 59-29, Dillard 66-44, Parra, M 16-9, Segovia 24-17, DiFelice 15-12.
Groundouts-flyouts: Felix 4-2, Huber, Jo 2-0, Troncoso 1-3, Link 0-0, De La Cruz 2-1, Dillard 4-1, Parra, M 2-0, Segovia 1-0, DiFelice 0-0.
Batters faced: Felix 20, Huber, Jo 6, Troncoso 9, Link 6, De La Cruz 12, Dillard 15, Parra, M 5, Segovia 6, DiFelice 4.
Inherited runners-scored: Dillard 3-0.
Umpires: HP: Dan Oliver. 1B: Mark Ripperger. 2B: . 3B: Michael Lusky.
Weather: 76 degrees, clear.
Wind: 5 mph, R to L.
T: 3:24.
Att: 5,775.
Compiled by MLB Advanced Media