Nashville, TN – The Nashville Sounds plated four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, capped by Mat Gamel’s walkoff two-run homer, to record an exciting 4-3 victory over the visiting New Orleans Zephyrs in front of 8,211 fans on Saturday evening at Greer Stadium in the opener of a four-game series.
Trailing 3-0 entering the game’s final half-inning, all four Sounds batters who came to the plate in the ninth against New Orleans reliever Frank Mata scored as Nashville (34-42) picked up its seventh last at-bat win of the year and its fourth victory in a game it trailed in the eighth inning or later.
The red-hot Gamel followed by hammering an 0-1 Mata fastball over the home run deck in right-center field for the game-winner, his team-leading 17th home run of the season.
With a 2-for-4 evening, Gamel extended his hitting streak to seven games. He is hitting .423 (11-for-26) over that stretch, the longest active streak by any Sounds player.
The late Sounds heroics wiped out a tremendous start by New Orleans right-hander Elih Villanueva, who turned in his best outing of the season but was left with a no-decision for his efforts. He held the Sounds to four hits, didn’t walk a batter, and struck out eight in eight scoreless innings of work.
Mata (1-5) failed to retire a batter and took the loss after suffering his third blown save of the year for New Orleans.
Sounds reliever Zack Segovia (3-3) was the beneficiary of the late rally, earning the win after tossing a scoreless inning.
Villanueva opened the scoring and helped his own cause by drilling a one-out solo homer to left off Sounds starter Sam Narron in the top of the third inning.
The roundtripper – the first of Villanueva’s pro career – was the first by an opposing pitcher against Nashville since Chris Narveson, then with Memphis, took Justin Lehr deep on July 4, 2006.
The visitors extended their lead to 3-0 in the fourth when Z’s center fielder Josh Kroeger smashed a hanging Narron curveball deep beyond the wall in right for a two-run homer. The blast, his 11th of the year, also plated Matt Dominguez, who preceded Kroeger with a single.
Narron, who departed on the short end of a 3-0 deficit but ultimately took a no-decision, worked his fifth quality start of the year for the Sounds, allowing three runs on five hits over seven innings.
The teams continue the series with another 6:35pm meeting on Sunday. Right-hander Amaury Rivas (5-7, 4.27) will make the start for the Sounds to face New Orleans right-hander Tom Koehler (5-5, 5.47).
Box Score
Nashville Sounds (34-42) 4, New Orleans Zephyrs (38-39) 3
June 25th, 2011
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Orleans | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 | |
| Nashville | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 0 | |
None out when winning run scored.
| New Orleans | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Petersen, LF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .335 |
| Cervenak, 1B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .285 |
| Thurston, 2B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .307 |
| Dominguez, 3B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .268 |
| Kroeger, CF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .283 |
| Aguila, RF | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .286 |
| Martinez, O, SS | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .245 |
| Davis, B, C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .199 |
| Villanueva, P | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .095 |
| Mata, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Totals | 30 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 6 | .262 |
| BATTING
2B: Petersen (17, Narron). HR: Villanueva (1, 3rd inning off Narron, 0 on, 1 out), Kroeger (11, 4th inning off Narron, 1 on, 1 out). TB: Petersen 2; Cervenak; Dominguez; Kroeger 4; Aguila; Villanueva 4. RBI: Villanueva (2), Kroeger 2 (53). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Dominguez. GIDP: Martinez, O 2; Thurston. Team RISP: 0-for-3. Team LOB: 1. |
||||||||
| Nashville | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Farris, 2B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .266 |
| Maysonet, SS | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .271 |
| Boggs, LF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .265 |
| Carroll, CF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .294 |
| Gamel, 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .322 |
| Nieves, C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .136 |
| Gindl, RF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .255 |
| Green, T, 3B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .309 |
| Narron, P | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .211 |
| James, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| a-Almonte, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .254 |
| Segovia, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .500 |
| Totals | 32 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 6 | .267 |
| a-Grounded out for James in the 8th. | ||||||||
| BATTING
2B: Green, T (18, Villanueva), Boggs (10, Mata). HR: Gamel (17, 9th inning off Mata, 1 on, 0 out). TB: Farris; Maysonet 2; Boggs 2; Carroll; Gamel 5; Green, T 2. RBI: Carroll 2 (39), Gamel 2 (54). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Boggs; Farris. Team RISP: 1-for-4. Team LOB: 4.FIELDING DP: 3 (Green, T-Farris-Gamel, Farris-Maysonet-Gamel, Maysonet-Farris-Gamel). |
||||||||
| New Orleans | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Villanueva | 8.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 4.59 |
| Mata (BS, 3)(L, 1-5) | 0.0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4.95 |
| Totals | 8.0 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 4.59 |
| Nashville | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Narron | 7.0 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 3.70 |
| James | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.68 |
| Segovia (W, 3-3) | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.46 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 4.51 |
Mata pitched to 4 batters in the 9th.
Pitches-strikes: Villanueva 103-67, Mata 10-10, Narron 93-64, James 11-7, Segovia 6-5.
Groundouts-flyouts: Villanueva 4-4, Mata 0-0, Narron 8-5, James 2-0, Segovia 1-0.
Batters faced: Villanueva 28, Mata 4, Narron 25, James 3, Segovia 3.
Umpires: HP: Darren Budahn. 1B: Chris Segal. 2B: . 3B: Mark Buchanan.
Weather: 88 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 1 mph, In from CF.
T: 2:13.
Att: 8,211.
Compiled by MLB Advanced Media
