De La Cruz Works Team-Leading 9th Quality Start To Pace Nashville
Nashville, TN – The Nashville Sounds earned their fourth straight win on Monday evening, defeating New Orleans by an 8-2 margin at Greer Stadium.
It marked the Sounds’ third win in three games against the Zephyrs this series. Nashville (36-42) has won 11 of its 15 meetings with New Orleans in 2011.
Right-hander Frankie De La Cruz (3-4) picked up the win as he turned in his team-leading ninth quality start of the year for the Sounds. He held the Z’s to two runs (one earned) while scattering seven hits over six innings. It was his third straight winning decision after opening the year with four consecutive losses.
The Sounds took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning against New Orleans left-hander Sean West. After Brandon Boggs led off with a walk, he scored the game’s first run when he raced around the bases on Brett Carroll’s RBI double to the right-center gap.
The visitors grabbed a 2-1 lead in the second with a pair of runs off De La Cruz. Mike Cervanek got things started with a one-out single then moved to second when Sounds shortstop Edwin Maysonet booted an Ozzie Martinez grounder. Tim Torres, who joined the Zephyrs earlier in the day, turned his first Triple-A at-bat of the year into a game-tying RBI single to left. West helped his own cause when he put New Orleans in front by a run as he laid down an RBI sacrifice bunt up the first-base line to plate Martinez.
Gindl knotted the score at 2-2 in the third when his two-out RBI double to left brought in Eric Farris, who had opened the frame with a single off West.
The Sounds pulled back in front in the sixth, but got only one run across despite having the bases loaded with no outs in the inning.
Catcher Wil Nieves led off with a single to center then moved to third when West misfired into right field while attempting to throw out Zelous Wheeler following a sacrifice bunt. Pinch-hitter Jordan Brown ripped a go-ahead single to right to bring in Nieves for a 3-2 Nashville lead.
Left-hander Dan Jennings came on for New Orleans and induced a pair of comebackers that resulted in forceouts at the plate. The second of those tappers, off the bat of Carroll, turned into an inning-ending 1-2-3 double play.
Nashville broke the game open in the seventh with a four-run outburst against Jennings to extend its advantage to 7-2.
Gindl got the scoring started when he continued his solid night by singling home Erick Almonte, who had singled and stole second to kick off the frame. With one out, Nieves and Wheeler each singled to load the bases for pinch-hitter Mike Rivera, who greeted new Z’s reliever Frank Mata by smoking a three-run, bases-clearing double to the wall in left-center.
The Sounds tacked on an unearned run in the eighth. Carroll struck out to open the inning but reached when catcher Vinny Rottino was charged with a passed ball then later scored on a Maysonet groundout to wrap up the evening’s scoring.
West (2-4) was saddled with the loss for New Orleans after giving up three runs (two earned) on eight hits over five-plus frames of work.
The Sounds will attempt to wrap up a four-game sweep when the teams conclude their 16-game season series with a 7:05pm finale on Tuesday at Greer. Right-hander Josh Butler (4-5, 5.84) will man the bump for the Sounds to face New Orleans right-hander Chris Sampson (5-0, 2.66).
Box Score
Nashville Sounds (36-42) 8, New Orleans Zephyrs (38-41) 2
June 27th, 2011
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Orleans | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 1 | |
| Nashville | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | x | 8 | 13 | 1 | |
| New Orleans | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rottino, C | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .304 |
| Thurston, 2B | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .301 |
| Petersen, CF | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .339 |
| Dominguez, 3B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .267 |
| Kroeger, RF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .279 |
| Cervenak, 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .290 |
| Martinez, O, SS | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .260 |
| Torres, LF | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .500 |
| West, P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .533 |
| Jennings, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Mata, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| a-Aguila, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .285 |
| Gomez, Ma, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Totals | 35 | 2 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 20 | .263 |
| a-Lined out for Mata in the 8th. | ||||||||
| BATTING
2B: Petersen 2 (19, De La Cruz, De La Cruz). TB: Thurston; Petersen 4; Kroeger; Cervenak 2; Martinez, O 2; Torres 2. RBI: Torres (1), West (7). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Dominguez; Rottino 3; Kroeger; Cervenak; Aguila. SAC: West 2. GIDP: Dominguez. Team RISP: 1-for-11. Team LOB: 10.FIELDING E: West (2, throw). PB: Rottino 2 (3). DP: (Jennings-Rottino-Cervenak). |
||||||||
| Nashville | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boggs, LF | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | .264 |
| Farris, 2B | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | .264 |
| Carroll, RF | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .292 |
| Almonte, 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | .270 |
| Gindl, CF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .261 |
| Maysonet, SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | .265 |
| Nieves, C | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .185 |
| Wheeler, 3B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .286 |
| De La Cruz, P | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .071 |
| a-Brown, J, PH | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .266 |
| Hand, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| b-Rivera, Mi, PH | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .252 |
| Herrera, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Totals | 34 | 8 | 13 | 8 | 6 | 9 | 24 | .269 |
| a-Singled for De La Cruz in the 6th. b-Doubled for Hand in the 7th. | ||||||||
| BATTING
2B: Carroll (13, West), Gindl (9, West), Rivera, Mi (6, Mata). TB: Farris; Carroll 2; Almonte 2; Gindl 4; Nieves 2; Wheeler; De La Cruz; Brown, J; Rivera, Mi 2. RBI: Carroll (40), Gindl 2 (25), Brown, J (17), Rivera, Mi 3 (23), Maysonet (18). 2-out RBI: Gindl. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Boggs 3; Maysonet 2; Farris; Nieves. SAC: Maysonet; De La Cruz; Wheeler. GIDP: Carroll. Team RISP: 6-for-20. Team LOB: 11.BASERUNNING SB: Farris (8, 2nd base off West/Rottino), Almonte (1, 2nd base off Jennings/Rottino). CS: Carroll (3, 3rd base by West/Rottino). FIELDING E: Maysonet (10, fielding). DP: (Farris-Maysonet-Almonte). |
||||||||
| New Orleans | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West (L, 2-4) | 5.0 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 7.46 |
| Jennings | 1.1 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 16.20 |
| Mata | 0.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4.87 |
| Gomez, Ma | 1.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 8.22 |
| Totals | 8.0 | 13 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 4.63 |
| Nashville | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| De La Cruz (W, 3-4) | 6.0 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3.90 |
| Hand (H, 6) | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.28 |
| Herrera | 2.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1.38 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 4.43 |
West pitched to 3 batters in the 6th.
WP: West, De La Cruz 2.
Pitches-strikes: West 95-59, Jennings 35-18, Mata 16-10, Gomez, Ma 19-12, De La Cruz 105-65, Hand 14-9, Herrera 24-21.
Groundouts-flyouts: West 7-2, Jennings 2-0, Mata 0-0, Gomez, Ma 1-1, De La Cruz 10-2, Hand 1-0, Herrera 2-1.
Batters faced: West 27, Jennings 8, Mata 3, Gomez, Ma 5, De La Cruz 28, Hand 3, Herrera 8.
Inherited runners-scored: Jennings 2-0, Mata 3-3.
Umpires: HP: Mark Buchanan. 1B: Darren Budahn. 2B: . 3B: Chris Segal.
Weather: 88 degrees, cloudy.
Wind: 5 mph, R to L.
T: 3:08.
Att: 2,910.
Compiled by MLB Advanced Media
