Nashville, TN – The Nashville Sounds received another solid effort from their pitching staff to go along with an Eric Farris three-run homer in posting a 7-1 victory over the New Orleans Zephyrs on Friday evening at Greer Stadium.
Right-hander Mark Rogers, the top-rated prospect in the Milwaukee Brewers’ farm system, made his first start of the year and took a no-decision. The 25-year-old allowed one run on four hits over 4 2/3 innings of work. He walked five batters and struck out five in his 95-pitch effort, finishing one out shy of his first career Triple-A win.
Tim Dillard (1-0) earned the win for the Sounds after working 2 1/3 hitless innings and fanning two batters. Justin James added a scoreless frame before Mark DiFelice made his first Sounds appearance since 2008 and closed out the game with a spotless ninth.
New Orleans opened the evening’s scoring with their lone run of the night when catcher Brad Davis lifted a sacrifice fly to center off Rogers to plate Joe Thurston in the top of the second inning.
The Sounds rallied to take a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the frame without the benefit of a hit. Brendan Katin was hit by a West pitch to open the inning. After a Wheeler flyout, Brandon Boggs hit a comebacker to the mound and West misfired over the head of first baseman Josh Kroeger, which allowed Katin to score the tying run as Boggs raced all the way to third on the play. With Martin Maldonado at the plate, West threw a wild pitch that allowed Boggs to scamper home to give the home team a 2-1 advantage. Both runs in the frame were unearned against West.
Nashville blew the game wide open in the fourth, plating five runs against West to extend the lead to 7-1. Katin led off with a line-drive double to left. After Wheeler drew a walk, Boggs dropped a bunt single to the left side of the mound to load the bases for Maldonado, who ripped an RBI single to right to plate Katin. Wheeler also attempted to score on the play but was thrown out at the dish by Mathews, the Z’s right fielder. Two batters later, Rogers helped his own cause with a sacrifice fly to center to bring home Boggs.
Farris continued his strong start to the season when he capped off the scoring barrage with a three-run homer to left. The infielder’s first big fly of the season chased West from the contest and closed out the night’s scoring, as neither team plated a run over the final five frames of action.
West (0-1) took the loss for New Orleans after giving up seven runs (five earned) on six hits over just 3 2/3 frames of action.
The teams continue the series with a 6:35pm contest on Saturday evening at Greer Stadium. Right-hander Josh Butler makes his first start of the year for Nashville. He’ll face Z’s southpaw Mark McLemore. The Sounds’ first fireworks show of the year will follow the on-field action.
Box Score
Nashville Sounds (2-0) 7, New Orleans Zephyrs (0-2) 1
April 8th, 2011
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Orleans | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | |
| Nashville | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | 7 | 6 | 2 | |
| New Orleans | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Martinez, O, SS | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .222 |
| Gotay, 3B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .143 |
| Kroeger, 1B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 |
| Aguila, LF | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .250 |
| Thurston, 2B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .286 |
| Petersen, B, CF | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .400 |
| Mathews, RF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | .250 |
| Davis, B, C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | .000 |
| West, P | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .000 |
| Buente, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| a-Klosterman, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| Cishek, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Garate, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Ceda, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| b-Sammons, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Totals | 32 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 21 | .154 |
| a-Struck out for Buente in the 6th. b-Popped out for Ceda in the 9th. | ||||||||
| BATTING
2B: Aguila (1, Rogers, M). TB: Aguila 3; Thurston; Petersen, B; Mathews. RBI: Davis, B (1). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: West; Thurston 2; Martinez, O; Mathews 2. SF: Davis, B. Team RISP: 1-for-8. Team LOB: 10.BASERUNNING CS: Kroeger (1, 2nd base by Rogers, M/Maldonado, M). FIELDING E: West (1, throw), Martinez, O (1, throw). Outfield assists: Mathews (Wheeler at home). DP: 2 (Martinez, O-Thurston-Kroeger, Gotay-Thurston-Kroeger). |
||||||||
| Nashville | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Farris, 2B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .444 |
| Gindl, CF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .200 |
| Carroll, B, CF | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .286 |
| Gamel, 1B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .286 |
| Katin, RF | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .333 |
| Wheeler, 3B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | .400 |
| Boggs, B, LF | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | .429 |
| Maldonado, M, C | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .167 |
| Maysonet, SS | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | .286 |
| Rogers, M, P | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Dillard, P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| James, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| a-Machado, An, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| DiFelice, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Totals | 28 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 11 | .306 |
| a-Struck out for James in the 8th. | ||||||||
| BATTING
2B: Katin (1, West). 3B: Carroll, B (1, West). HR: Farris (1, 4th inning off West, 2 on, 2 out). TB: Farris 4; Carroll, B 3; Katin 2; Boggs, B; Maldonado, M; Rogers, M. RBI: Maldonado, M (1), Rogers, M (1), Farris 3 (3). 2-out RBI: Farris 3. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Gamel; Maysonet 2. SF: Rogers, M. GIDP: Maysonet; Farris. Team RISP: 3-for-7. Team LOB: 5.FIELDING E: Farris (1, throw), Wheeler (2, fielding). |
||||||||
| New Orleans | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West (L, 0-1) | 3.2 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 12.27 |
| Buente | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Cishek | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Garate | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Ceda | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Totals | 8.0 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 1 | 5.63 |
| Nashville | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rogers, M | 4.2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1.93 |
| Dillard (W, 1-0) | 2.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.00 |
| James | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| DiFelice | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 1.00 |
WP: West.
IBB: Maysonet (by West).
HBP: Katin (by West), Maldonado, M (by Buente).
Pitches-strikes: West 73-38, Buente 35-17, Cishek 10-9, Garate 19-11, Ceda 11-9, Rogers, M 95-51, Dillard 32-24, James 11-8, DiFelice 9-7.
Groundouts-flyouts: West 4-4, Buente 2-0, Cishek 3-0, Garate 0-0, Ceda 1-0, Rogers, M 6-2, Dillard 3-1, James 3-0, DiFelice 0-0.
Batters faced: West 19, Buente 7, Cishek 3, Garate 4, Ceda 3, Rogers, M 24, Dillard 7, James 4, DiFelice 3.
Inherited runners-scored: Dillard 3-0.
Umpires: HP: Takeshi Hirabayashi. 1B: Kellen Levy. 2B: . 3B: Barry Larson.
Weather: 83 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 2 mph, R to L.
T: 2:56.
Att: 3,122.
Compiled by MLB Advanced Media
