Metairie, LA – Right-hander Amaury Rivas turned in another solid start and the Nashville offense erupted for seven runs in the top of the second inning en route to a 9-1 Sounds rout of the New Orleans Zephyrs on Friday evening at Zephyr Field in the finale of a four-game set.
With the victory, the Sounds (8-8) gained a split of the series and drew back to .500 on the year.
Rivas (3-1) continued his solid start to the season, earning his third win in four starts by holding the Z’s to one run on five hits while walking two batters and fanning four in his seven innings of work. He lowered his ERA to 2.59 on the year and helped his own cause with three RBIs in the contest.
The Nashville offense sent 11 runners to the plate in the second frame against starter Elih Villanueva to post their seven-spot in the inning.
Five of the Sounds’ six hits in the frame went for two bases, highlighted by a pair of Corey Hart two-baggers and a three-run double off the bat of Rivas. Mat Gamel’s two-run double in the frame was the first baseman’s team-leading seventh two-bagger of the year.
Hart finished 2-for-4 in his third rehab contest with the Sounds after going 0-for-5 in his initial two games.
Only three of Nashville’s seven runs scored in the second inning were earned against Villanueva due to a one-out fielding error by New Orleans first baseman Josh Kroeger.
New Orleans got on the board in the fifth when ex-Vanderbilt star Ryan Klosterman opened the frame with a double off Rivas and later scored on a double-play groundout to make it a 5-1 contest.
The Sounds wrapped up the evening’s scoring with a pair of runs against the New Orleans bullpen in the ninth.
Pinch-hitter Mike Rivera got things started when he drew a two-out, bases-loaded walk from Zephyrs reliever Steve Cishek. Taylor Green followed and greeted new reliever Dustin Richardson with an RBI single to center that stretched the lead to 9-1. Richardson escaped further damage by catching Brendan Katin looking at a called third strike to end the inning with the bags full of Sounds.
Chase Wright and Zack Segovia each followed Rivas to the hill for Nashville and worked a pair of scoreless innings to close out the game.
Villanueva (1-2) took his second loss in two starts against the Sounds this season after surrendering seven runs on seven hits in his five innings of work.
The Sounds travel back to Nashville in the morning and will open an eight-game homestand on Saturday evening with a 6:35 p.m. series opener against the division-rival Omaha Storm Chasers (AAA-Royals). Right-hander Mark Rogers (0-1, 5.56) will man the bump for the Sounds to face Omaha right-hander Vin Mazzaro (0-0, 9.82).
Box Score
Nashville Sounds (8-8) 9, New Orleans Zephyrs (8-8) 1
April 22nd, 2011
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nashville | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 10 | 1 | |
| New Orleans | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | |
| Nashville | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Farris, SS | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .327 |
| Carroll, B, CF | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .236 |
| Gamel, 1B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .356 |
| Hart, C, RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .222 |
| Wright, C, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| a-Rivera, Mi, PH | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .357 |
| Segovia, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Green, T, 3B | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .270 |
| Katin, LF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | .211 |
| Maldonado, M, C | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .262 |
| Machado, An, 2B | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .133 |
| Rivas, A, P | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .143 |
| Reed, RF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .158 |
| Totals | 37 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 14 | .253 |
| a-Walked for Wright, C in the 9th. | ||||||||
| BATTING
2B: Hart, C 2 (2, Villanueva, Villanueva), Katin (3, Villanueva), Rivas, A (1, Villanueva), Gamel (7, Villanueva). TB: Farris 2; Carroll, B; Gamel 2; Hart, C 4; Green, T; Katin 2; Rivas, A 2; Reed. RBI: Katin (10), Rivas, A 3 (3), Gamel 2 (7), Hart, C (1), Rivera, Mi (7), Green, T (8). 2-out RBI: Gamel 2; Hart, C; Rivera, Mi; Green, T. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Green, T; Katin 2. GIDP: Gamel. Team RISP: 6-for-11. Team LOB: 6.FIELDING E: Farris (4, throw). DP: 2 (Machado, An-Gamel 2). |
||||||||
| New Orleans | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Petersen, B, CF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .255 |
| Rottino, LF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .154 |
| Gotay, 3B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .254 |
| Thurston, 2B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .327 |
| Kroeger, 1B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .167 |
| Aguila, RF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .250 |
| Davis, B, C | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .056 |
| Klosterman, SS | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .192 |
| Villanueva, P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 |
| a-Cervenak, M, PH | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .176 |
| McLemore, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| b-Mathews, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .135 |
| Cishek, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Richardson, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Totals | 32 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 13 | .196 |
| a-Singled for Villanueva in the 5th. b-Grounded out for McLemore in the 7th. | ||||||||
| BATTING
2B: Klosterman (1, Rivas, A), Thurston (6, Segovia). TB: Rottino; Gotay; Thurston 2; Klosterman 3; Cervenak, M. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Kroeger; Davis, B. GIDP: Davis, B; Petersen, B. Team RISP: 1-for-7. Team LOB: 6.FIELDING E: Kroeger (1, fielding). DP: (Klosterman-Thurston-Kroeger). |
||||||||
| Nashville | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rivas, A (W, 3-1) | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2.59 |
| Wright, C | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.29 |
| Segovia | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 3.15 |
| New Orleans | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Villanueva (L, 1-2) | 5.0 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6.00 |
| McLemore | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5.91 |
| Cishek | 1.2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1.86 |
| Richardson | 0.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.96 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 10 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 3.71 |
Pitches-strikes: Rivas, A 93-59, Wright, C 9-7, Segovia 9-6, Villanueva 79-53, McLemore 24-16, Cishek 43-23, Richardson 11-7.
Groundouts-flyouts: Rivas, A 12-1, Wright, C 1-1, Segovia 1-2, Villanueva 5-5, McLemore 2-1, Cishek 3-1, Richardson 0-0.
Batters faced: Rivas, A 27, Wright, C 3, Segovia 4, Villanueva 24, McLemore 6, Cishek 10, Richardson 2.
Inherited runners-scored: Richardson 3-1.
Umpires: HP: Brett Robson. 1B: Jason Millsap. 2B: . 3B: Shaun Francis.
Weather: 80 degrees, clear.
Wind: 15 mph, Out to LF.
T: 2:30.
Att: 6,544.
Compiled by MLB Advanced Media
