Papillion, NE – The Nashville Sounds lost a 5-3 contest to the division-leading Omaha Storm Chasers on Sunday afternoon in the second game of a crucial four-game series at Werner Park. With the loss, Nashville (65-64) moved to 7.5 games behind the Storm Chasers in the American Northern Division. The Sounds also have dropped 10 of 12 day games on the road this season.
Lowering his earned run average to a PCL-best 2.18 ERA on the afternoon, Omaha starting pitcher Luis Mendoza (10-5) shut down the Sounds’ offense. The Omaha All-Star allowed one unearned run on five hits in seven innings pitched for the victory.
Third baseman Taylor Green had two hits while first baseman Mat Gamel and centerfielder Logan Schafer each hit solo homers.
The Sounds finally got to Mendoza in the top of the seventh inning. After right fielfer Caleb Gindl reached on a fielding error and second baseman Eric Farris singled to left field, shortstop Edwin Maysonet bunted down the third base line to load the bases. Schafer hit a slow grounder to first that let Gindl come home and scoring the tying run.
Omaha quickly took back the lead in the bottom of the same inning to go ahead for good at 5-1. Cain singled home left fielder Jarrod Dyson for the first run of the inning, which removed Daniel Meadows from the contest. After Randy Flores entered, Robinson blasted the second pitch he saw over the wall in right field for a three-run home run, his team-leading 21st long ball and 90th RBI of the season.
Gamel busted out of an 0-for-17 slump with a solo homer in the eighth to trim the lead to three runs. Reliever Jessie Chavez offered up a first pitch fastball that Gamel sent over the right field wall. The long ball was his team-leading 26th big fly and 90th RBI.
The Sounds rallied in the ninth, but failed to come back for the win. Schafer hit an opposite-field, two-out solo homer off Chavez to bring the Sounds within two runs at 5-3. It was his fifth of the season. Left fielder Jordan Brown then singled to remove the Chavez from the game and bring the tying run to the plate. Closer Kelvin Herrera came into the game with two outs and got Green to fly out the right field and end the game, converting his fifth save.
In a no-decision, Fiers surrendered one unearned run on two hits in 5 2/3 innings of work. He also walked four and struck out three. The right-hander has yet to give up more than two runs through his first seven Triple-A starts.
Stranding his only inherited runner, Meadows (0-2) was charged with the loss after surrendering three runs in one plus innings. Flores gave up one run in 1 2/3 frames, letting both of his inherited runners to score on the homer.
The Sounds and Storm Chasers will play the third game of a four-game series at 7:05pm CT on Monday night at Werner Park. Nashville right-hander Wily Peralta (2-0, 2.08) will makes his third Triple-A start against former Sound and Omaha righty Jeff Suppan (11-6, 4.53).
Box Score
Omaha Storm Chasers (72-56) 5, Nashville Sounds (65-64) 3
August 21st, 2011
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nashville | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 2 | |
| Omaha | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | x | 5 | 7 | 2 | |
| Nashville | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Schafer, CF | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .346 |
| Brown, J, LF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .314 |
| Green, T, 3B | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .337 |
| Almonte, DH | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .308 |
| Gamel, 1B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .317 |
| Rivera, Mi, C | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .249 |
| Gindl, RF | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .302 |
| Farris, 2B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .268 |
| Maysonet, SS | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .295 |
| Fiers, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 |
| Meadows, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .500 |
| Flores, R, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Totals | 38 | 3 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 19 | .282 |
| BATTING
HR: Gamel (26, 8th inning off Chavez, 0 on, 2 out), Schafer (5, 9th inning off Chavez, 0 on, 2 out). TB: Schafer 4; Brown, J; Green, T 2; Almonte; Gamel 4; Rivera, Mi; Farris; Maysonet. RBI: Schafer 2 (22), Gamel (90). 2-out RBI: Gamel; Schafer. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Gindl; Brown, J 2. Team RISP: 1-for-8. Team LOB: 9.FIELDING E: Fiers (1, pickoff), Green, T (13, fielding). |
||||||||
| Omaha | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dyson, LF | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .284 |
| Lough, RF | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .309 |
| Cain, CF | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | .304 |
| Robinson, C, 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .322 |
| Ka’aihue, DH | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .278 |
| Falu, SS | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .290 |
| Clark, C, C | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .256 |
| Zawadzki, 3B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .244 |
| Mertins, 2B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .222 |
| Mendoza, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Chavez, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Herrera, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Totals | 31 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 14 | .287 |
| BATTING
2B: Robinson, C (32, Fiers), Ka’aihue (18, Flores, R). HR: Robinson, C (21, 7th inning off Flores, R, 2 on, 1 out). TB: Dyson; Cain; Robinson, C 6; Ka’aihue 2; Falu; Zawadzki. RBI: Robinson, C 4 (90), Cain (70). 2-out RBI: Robinson, C. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Falu; Dyson; Cain; Zawadzki; Clark, C. SAC: Mertins. Team RISP: 3-for-13. Team LOB: 8.FIELDING E: Cain (4, fielding), Mertins (1, fielding). |
||||||||
| Nashville | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fiers | 5.1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1.44 |
| Meadows (L, 0-2) | 1.0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4.45 |
| Flores, R | 1.2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3.25 |
| Totals | 8.0 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 4.33 |
| Omaha | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mendoza (W, 10-5) | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.18 |
| Chavez | 1.2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3.23 |
| Herrera (S, 5) | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.84 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4.29 |
Pitches-strikes: Fiers 99-60, Meadows 26-16, Flores, R 19-15, Mendoza 99-62, Chavez 35-26, Herrera 5-2.
Groundouts-flyouts: Fiers 8-4, Meadows 0-1, Flores, R 3-1, Mendoza 5-6, Chavez 4-0, Herrera 0-1.
Batters faced: Fiers 23, Meadows 7, Flores, R 7, Mendoza 29, Chavez 9, Herrera 1.
Inherited runners-scored: Meadows 1-0, Flores, R 2-2, Herrera 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Matt Schaufert. 1B: Eric Loveless. 2B: . 3B: Jordan Baker.
Weather: 79 degrees, cloudy.
Wind: 7 mph, R to L.
T: 3:03.
Att: 8,034.
Compiled by MLB Advanced Media
