Outfielder Jake Smolinski Scores Four Runs, Blasts Ninth Homer This Season
Des Moines, IA – Jake Smolinski left his mark on Thursday night’s game in Iowa and helped lead Nashville to an 8-4 win over the Cubs at Principal Park.
Smolinski was perfect at the plate, collecting his third three-hit game as a Sound and scoring four times. The outfielder smashed a clutch three-run bomb in the seventh inning, doubled in the second and raised his average to .425 in PCL play this season. Smolinski’s four runs were the most in a game by a Nashville player this season.
The 26-year-old started the two-run second by lining his 14th double of the season to left.
Iowa responded immediately in the home half of the inning, capped by a Tommy La Stella three-run homer. The second baseman’s first home run this season came off starter Kris Hall.
Hall was promoted from Double-A Midland earlier in the day and made his Triple-A debut. The right-hander, who had started one of his 32 games with the RockHounds this year, went two innings before taking his exit. His pitch count escalated quickly due to four walks and all his runs came on La Stella’s swing in the second. Hall got John Andreoli swinging to lead off the game for his first Triple-A strikeout.
Before Smolinski had a chance to launch his home run, Ryan Roberts took a 3-2 pitch in the third over the wall in center field. The solo shot was Roberts’ 10th this season, joining Jason Pridie (16) as the only Nashville players with double-digit home runs totals this season. The reigning PCL Player of the Week has collected nine long balls in his past 31 games. Ravelo added another run in the third, a double scoring Smolinski from first, to advance the Nashville lead to 4-3.
The Sounds kept pouring it on, grabbing a run in the sixth before Smolinski’s shot in the seventh. Andy Parrino started the sixth by hitting one of four Nashville doubles in the win, plating Smolinski from first once again.
The relief corps was key in Nashville’s victory on Thursday evening. Dan Otero (2.0 IP, K), Brock Huntzinger (W, 1.0 IP, K), Pat Venditte (2.0 IP, 4 K), R.J. Alvarez (1.0 IP) and Angel Castro (1.0 IP, K) all contributed in the seven frames the Sounds ‘pen posted. The Sounds outhit the Cubs, 12-5, in large part to the solid work from the relievers.
Ravelo and Roberts joined Smolinski with multi-hit affairs. Eight of the nine Nashville starters collected a hit in the offensive parade. The Sounds left just four runners on base, taking advantage of base runners all night.
The four-game series concludes tomorrow at Principal Park. Iowa is slated to throw Felipe Paulino (3-6, 4.13) in the series finale. Nashville’s starter has yet to be announced for the 7:08pm contest.
Box Score
Nashville Sounds (54-65) 8, Iowa Cubs (65-53) 4
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nashville Sounds | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 12 | 0 |
| Iowa Cubs | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| Nashville | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gentry, CF | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .238 |
| Wendle, 2B | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | .276 |
| Roberts, R, 3B | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .293 |
| Pridie, LF | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | .296 |
| Smolinski, RF | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .425 |
| Ravelo, 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .222 |
| Parrino, SS | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .281 |
| Freiman, DH | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .209 |
| Blair, C, C | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .238 |
| Hall, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Otero, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Huntzinger, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Venditte, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Alvarez, R, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Castro, A, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Totals | 36 | 8 | 12 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 12 | .259 |
| BATTING 2B: Smolinski (14, Jokisch), Freiman (11, Jokisch), Ravelo (1, Jokisch), Parrino (9, Britton, D). HR: Roberts, R (10, 3rd inning off Jokisch, 0 on, 1 out), Smolinski (9, 7th inning off Britton, D, 2 on, 2 out). TB: Wendle; Ravelo 3; Freiman 2; Roberts, R 5; Smolinski 7; Blair, C; Gentry; Parrino 2. RBI: Freiman (23), Blair, C (5), Roberts, R (49), Ravelo (4), Parrino (20), Smolinski 3 (30). 2-out RBI: Ravelo; Smolinski 3. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Gentry; Parrino; Blair, C. SF: Blair, C. GIDP: Gentry. Team RISP: 4-for-13. Team LOB: 4.BASERUNNING SB: Gentry (22, 2nd base off Britton, D/Davis, T). CS: Roberts, R (5, 2nd base by Jokisch/Davis, T).FIELDING PB: Blair, C (3). |
||||||||
| Iowa | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andreoli, RF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | .280 |
| Szczur, CF | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .300 |
| Baez, J, SS | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .288 |
| Villanueva, 1B | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .268 |
| Olt, 3B | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .268 |
| La Stella, 2B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .500 |
| Baxter, DH | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | .275 |
| Davis, T, C | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .282 |
| Chambers, LF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .263 |
| Jokisch, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .091 |
| Britton, D, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 |
| Rosscup, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Medina, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Totals | 30 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 14 | .267 |
| BATTING 2B: Szczur (12, Hall), Andreoli (17, Huntzinger). HR: La Stella (1, 2nd inning off Hall, 2 on, 0 out). TB: Andreoli 2; Szczur 3; La Stella 5. RBI: La Stella 3 (3), Baez, J (47). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Szczur; Olt. SF: Baez, J. Team RISP: 2-for-7. Team LOB: 6.BASERUNNING SB: Baxter (7, 2nd base off Hall/Blair, C). CS: Szczur (5, 3rd base by Hall/Blair, C).FIELDING DP: (Olt-La Stella-Villanueva). |
||||||||
| Nashville | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hall | 2.0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 13.50 |
| Otero | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.79 |
| Huntzinger (W, 3-2) | 1.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.73 |
| Venditte (H, 5) | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1.55 |
| Alvarez, R | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.30 |
| Castro, A | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2.81 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 1 | 3.73 |
| Iowa | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jokisch | 4.0 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4.79 |
| Britton, D (L, 7-7) | 3.0 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 5.50 |
| Rosscup | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8.31 |
| Medina | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6.11 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 3.81 |
Game Scores: Hall 39, Jokisch 29.
WP: Britton, D.
Pitches-strikes: Hall 55-28, Otero 23-13, Huntzinger 10-9, Venditte 26-18, Alvarez, R 19-10, Castro, A 9-8, Jokisch 71-47, Britton, D 52-31, Rosscup 8-5, Medina 8-6.
Groundouts-flyouts: Hall 1-0, Otero 3-0, Huntzinger 1-1, Venditte 1-1, Alvarez, R 1-1, Castro, A 1-1, Jokisch 4-3, Britton, D 1-1, Rosscup 0-1, Medina 1-0.
Batters faced: Hall 11, Otero 7, Huntzinger 5, Venditte 7, Alvarez, R 4, Castro, A 3, Jokisch 19, Britton, D 14, Rosscup 3, Medina 3.
Umpires: HP: Thomas Newsom. 1B: Bryan Fields. 2B: Stu Scheurwater. 3B: Bruce Dreckman.
Weather: 84 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 8 mph, Out to CF.
T: 2:40.
Att: 5,556.
Venue: Principal Park.
August 13th, 2015
