Sounds Split Doubleheader With Tacoma

Tacoma, WA – The Nashville Sounds split a doubleheader with the Tacoma Rainiers on Thursday evening at Cheney Stadium, dropping the first game, 4-1, and taking the nightcap, 3-2.

Nashville (17-29) avoided a series sweep with the victory in the doubleheader finale, and finished 4-4 on the eight-game road trip.

Sounds starter Sam Narron (3-1) continued his strong pitching in the nightcap for the victory. The left-hander tossed his third consecutive quality start, giving up two runs on five hits with six strikeouts over six innings pitched.

Nashville took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning of the nightcap on knuckleballer Charlie Haeger. Caleb Gindl singled to lead off the contest, followed by Eric Farris being hit and Brett Carroll taking a walk. Mat Gamel would later record his team-leading 26th RBI with a softly hit infield-grounder to score Gindl from third.

Tacoma went ahead in the next frame, 2-1. After striking out the first Tacoma batter, Narron walked Matt Tuiasosopo and gave up three straight singles, highlighted by a Mike Carp two-run base hit.

Nashville knotted the contest at 2-2 in the top of the fifth inning. Carroll reached on a fielding error, moved to third on a Gamel single, and scored on an RBI base knock by Jeremy Reed.

Nashville took a 3-2 lead in the next inning. Taylor Green drew his third walk of the contest to reach base, moved to second on Gindl’s base hit, and scored on the next play as Farris singled up the middle.

Sounds reliever Sean Green worked around a Nashville fielding error in the seventh inning, stranding the tying run on second base to earn his first save of the season.

Haeger’s game-opening Caleb Gindl single was the only hit allowed by the knuckleballer, as he walked six while giving up one run on in four innings for Tacoma. Josh Lueke (1-3) took the loss.

In the opener, the Sounds came up on the short end of a 4-1 loss to Tacoma.

The Rainiers took an early 1-0 lead against Sounds starter Amaury Rivas. After the first three batters reached to load the bases on a pair of singles sandwiched around a walk, Mike Carp followed with a fielder’s choice grounder to short, which allowed Dustin Ackley to score the game’s first run. Rivas limited the damage, however, striking out Luis Jimenez and Johan Limonta in succession to strand two runners and escape the jam.

Sounds center fielder Brett Carroll evened the contest with one swing of the bat to lead off the second, fouling off four straight 3-2 offering from Tacoma right-hander Blake Beavan before drilling the 10th pitch of the at-bat of the wall in left for his fifth home run of the season.

A baserunning gaff cost Nashville a chance to grab a lead later in the frame. With one out, George Kottaras tripled off the top of the wall in right, extending his season-best hitting streak to seven, but took a wide turn past the bag as the throw skipped past the third baseman. Beavan backed up the play, caught the ball, and threw back to third, where Kottaras was tagged out as he scrambled back to the base.

Nashville squandered another scoring opportunity in the third, when it had the bases loaded with one out and came up empty. After the Sounds filled the bags against Beavan on a Reed single, a Gindl double, and a walk to Farris, Jordan Brown hit a bouncer to first that forced Reed at the plate for the second out. Carroll followed with a grounder to third that ended the frame as the Tacoma right-hander escaped the jam unscathed.

The Sounds finished the opener 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.

Tacoma pulled back ahead in the fifth, plating three runs off Rivas for a 4-1 advantage.

Ackley (3-for-4) led off with a bloop single to shallow right-center that glanced off the glove of a diving Gindl for a single then scored one batter later when Matt Tuiasosopo (2-for-2) smashed an RBI triple off the base of the batter’s eye in center.

After issuing a walk to put runners on the corners with no outs, Rivas was lifted in favor of left-hander Daniel Ray Herrera, who made his Brewers organization debut after being claimed off waiver from the Reds earlier in the week. The southpaw was greeted by a seeing-eye RBI single through the right side of the infield off the bat of Carp. Jimenez followed with a sacrifice fly to right that brought in Alex Liddi.

Beavan (2-1) picked up the win with a solid start for Tacoma, holding the Sounds to one run on five hits over five frames of action.

Left-hander Royce Ring closed out the game with two hitless innings for the Rainiers to secure the victory and nail down his second save of the year.

Rivas (3-4) took the loss after allowing four runs on five hits in his four-plus innings of work. It marked his sixth consecutive start without a victory.

Herrera finished with a pair of scoreless innings in his Sounds debut, although he allowed both of his inherited runners to reach home in the contest.

Nashville second baseman Eric Farris finished 0-for-2 with a walk in the opener to snap his season-best hitting streak at nine games.

The Sounds travel back to Music City on Friday, when they’ll begin an eight-game homestand with the 7:05pm opener of a four-game series against the Oklahoma City RedHawks (AAA-Astros). Right-hander Frankie De La Cruz (0-3, 4.47) will man the bump for Nashville to face Oklahoma City left-hander Ryan Rowland-Smith (2-3, 5.23).

Box Score – Game 1

Tacoma Rainiers (21-26) 4, Nashville Sounds (17-28) 1

May 26th, 2011

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Nashville	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	x	x	1	5	1
Tacoma	1	0	0	0	3	0	x	x	x	4	7	1

Nashville	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Gindl, RF	3	0	1	0	1	0	0	.238
Farris, 2B	2	0	0	0	1	0	1	.267
Brown, J, LF	3	0	0	0	0	1	5	.262
Carroll, CF	3	1	1	1	0	0	5	.265
Gamel, DH	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	.300
Kottaras, C	3	0	2	0	0	1	0	.290
Maysonet, SS	3	0	0	0	0	1	1	.280
Reed, 1B	3	0	1	0	0	0	1	.207
Green, T, 3B	3	0	0	0	0	1	1	.240
Rivas, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.100
Herrera, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	26	1	5	1	2	5	14	.252
BATTING 2B: Gindl (5, Beavan), Kottaras (4, Beavan). 3B: Kottaras (1, Beavan). HR: Carroll (5, 2nd inning off Beavan, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Gindl 2; Carroll 4; Kottaras 5; Reed. RBI: Carroll (24). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Carroll 3; Reed. Team RISP: 0-for-6. Team LOB: 6.FIELDING E: Green, T (5, fielding). PB: Kottaras (2).

Tacoma	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Ackley, 2B	4	2	3	0	0	0	0	.278
Tuiasosopo, 1B	3	1	2	1	1	1	1	.231
Liddi, 3B	2	1	1	0	1	0	1	.257
Carp, LF	3	0	1	2	0	0	3	.310
Jimenez, L, DH	2	0	0	1	0	1	4	.220
Limonta, RF	3	0	0	0	0	1	3	.352
Langerhans, CF	2	0	0	0	1	0	1	.289
Bard, C	3	0	0	0	0	1	1	.299
Kazmar, SS	3	0	0	0	0	1	1	.229
Beavan, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Ring, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	25	4	7	4	3	5	15	.272
BATTING 2B: Ackley (11, Herrera). 3B: Tuiasosopo (3, Rivas). TB: Ackley 4; Tuiasosopo 4; Liddi; Carp. RBI: Carp 2 (39), Tuiasosopo (28), Jimenez, L (6). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Limonta 2; Jimenez, L; Kazmar; Langerhans; Tuiasosopo. SF: Jimenez, L. Team RISP: 2-for-9. Team LOB: 7.BASERUNNING SB: Carp (5, 2nd base off Rivas/Kottaras). FIELDING E: Kazmar (14, fielding).

Nashville	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Rivas (L, 3-4)	4.0	5	4	4	3	4	0	4.12
Herrera	2.0	2	0	0	0	1	0	0.00
Totals	6.0	7	4	4	3	5	0	4.86

Tacoma	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Beavan (W, 2-1)	5.0	5	1	1	2	3	1	5.40
Ring (S, 2)	2.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2.40
Totals	7.0	5	1	1	2	5	1	5.32

Rivas pitched to 3 batters in the 5th.

WP: Rivas, Herrera.

Pitches-strikes: Rivas 102-57, Herrera 29-19, Beavan 91-63, Ring 27-16.

Groundouts-flyouts: Rivas 4-3, Herrera 1-3, Beavan 7-4, Ring 2-2.

Batters faced: Rivas 21, Herrera 8, Beavan 22, Ring 6.

Inherited runners-scored: Herrera 2-2.

Umpires: HP: Stephen Barga. 1B: Clint Fagan. 2B: . 3B: Dixon Stureman.

Weather: 57 degrees, partly cloudy.

Wind: 12 mph, Out to CF.

T: 2:04 (:21 delay)

Compiled by MLB Advanced Media

Box Score – Game 2

Nashville Sounds (18-28) 3, Tacoma Rainiers (21-27) 2

May 26th, 2011

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Nashville	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	x	x	3	6	1
Tacoma	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	x	x	2	5	1

Nashville	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Gindl, CF	4	1	2	0	0	0	3	.248
Farris, SS	3	0	1	1	0	0	2	.268
Carroll, RF	3	1	0	0	1	0	4	.260
Katin, DH	4	0	0	0	0	2	4	.238
Gamel, 1B	4	0	2	1	0	0	2	.305
Reed, LF	3	0	1	1	1	1	1	.211
Nowak, 3B	3	0	0	0	1	1	6	.171
Buller, C	2	0	0	0	1	1	0	.375
Green, T, 2B	0	1	0	0	3	0	0	.240
Narron, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.222
Green, S, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	26	3	6	3	7	5	22	.252
BATTING TB: Gindl 2; Farris; Gamel 2; Reed. RBI: Gamel (26), Reed (5), Farris (15). 2-out RBI: Reed. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Nowak 3; Carroll. GIDP: Carroll. Team RISP: 2-for-10. Team LOB: 10.BASERUNNING CS: Nowak (1, 2nd base by Haeger/Yepez). FIELDING E: Gamel (6, fielding).

Tacoma	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Ackley, 2B	3	0	1	0	0	1	0	.279
Tuiasosopo, 1B	1	1	0	0	3	0	1	.229
Liddi, 3B	4	1	1	0	0	2	3	.257
Carp, LF	3	0	2	0	0	0	2	.316
Jimenez, L, DH	3	0	1	2	0	2	3	.227
Limonta, RF	3	0	0	0	0	1	3	.344
Langerhans, CF	3	0	0	0	0	1	2	.271
Yepez, C	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	.200
Bonilla, SS	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	.153
Haeger, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Lueke, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Patterson, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	26	2	5	2	3	7	14	.271
BATTING 2B: Ackley (12, Narron). TB: Ackley 2; Liddi; Carp 2; Jimenez, L. RBI: Jimenez, L 2 (8). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Langerhans; Tuiasosopo; Jimenez, L; Carp. SAC: Ackley. Team RISP: 2-for-8. Team LOB: 8.FIELDING E: Tuiasosopo (5, missed catch). PB: Yepez (2). DP: (Liddi-Ackley-Tuiasosopo).

Nashville	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Narron (W, 3-1)	6.0	5	2	2	2	6	0	3.26
Green, S (S, 1)	1.0	0	0	0	1	1	0	3.86
Totals	7.0	5	2	2	3	7	0	4.82

Tacoma	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Haeger	4.0	1	1	1	6	2	0	2.25
Lueke (L, 1-3)	2.0	4	2	1	1	1	0	3.12
Patterson	1.0	1	0	0	0	2	0	0.00
Totals	7.0	6	3	2	7	5	0	5.28

HBP: Carp (by Narron), Farris (by Haeger).

Pitches-strikes: Narron 106-64, Green, S 18-11, Haeger 93-46, Lueke 40-24, Patterson 14-10.

Groundouts-flyouts: Narron 6-5, Green, S 2-0, Haeger 2-5, Lueke 4-0, Patterson 1-0.

Batters faced: Narron 26, Green, S 5, Haeger 19, Lueke 11, Patterson 4.

Umpires: HP: Clint Fagan. 1B: Dixon Stureman. 2B: . 3B: Stephen Barga.

Weather: 52 degrees, cloudy.

Wind: 8 mph, Out to LF.

T: 2:17.

Att: 3,460.

Compiled by MLB Advanced Media