Nashville Losing Streak Extends to Nine with Loss to Division Leaders
Papillion, NE – The Nashville Sounds’ early-season woes continued on Tuesday afternoon at Werner Park as the club dropped its ninth straight game, a 5-3 defeat at the hands of the division-leading Omaha Storm Chasers in the finale of a four-game series.
Nashville (4-16), which has been swept in consecutive four-game series by the Oklahoma City RedHawks and Omaha, has matched the longest losing streak in the franchise’s Pacific Coast League era (1998-present) with its current nine-game skid.
Omaha (15-5) — which recorded its 10th straight home victory — jumped out to an early lead, plating a run in the bottom of the first inning against Sounds starter Josh Butler. Jarrod Dyson (2-for-4) continued his solid series by leading off the frame with a triple off the right-center wall then scored when Irving Falu followed with a sacrifice fly to right.
The Sounds evened the contest at 1-1 with a sac fly of their own in the top of the second. Erick Almonte led off the inning with a single to center off Omaha starter Mike Montgomery, moved to second on a wild pitch, advanced to third on a Taylor Green groundout, and raced home on Sean Halton’s fly ball to center.
Caleb Gindl gave the Sounds their first lead of the day at 2-1 when he led off the fourth with his third home run of the season, a solo shot to left off Montgomery. The Sounds tacked on another run later in the frame when Eric Farris plated Green with a two-out RBI double to left. Hainley Statia, who went 2-for-4 on the afternoon to account for Nashville’s lone multi-hit effort, attempted to score a second run on the two-bagger but was gunned down at the plate for the final out of the frame by a relay from left fielder Terry Evans and shortstop Irving Falu.
The Storm Chasers got a run back in the home half of the fourth on their second sacrifice fly of the afternoon, this one off the bat of Cody Clark, before pulling even in the fifth against Sounds reliever Amaury Rivas. Johnny Giovatella singled with one out and came around to score the tying run on Max Ramirez’s two-out RBI double, knotting the score at 3-3.
Left-hander Francisley Bueno worked a scoreless eighth for Omaha and retired the first batter of the ninth before ceding to right-hander Roman Colon, who picked up his first save of the year by recording the final two outs.
Montgomery (2-0) picked up the victory with a quality start for Omaha, holding the Sounds to three runs on seven hits while fanning seven batters over his seven innings.
Garate (0-3) was saddled with his third loss of the year for Nashville after being charged with two runs in his 1 1/3 frames of relief action.
Butler worked a short outing and took a no-decision in his fourth start of the year for Nashville, lasting only three-plus innings and throwing just 50 pitches before departing in the top of the fourth frame.
Sounds second baseman Brooks Conrad went 1-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to five games, one short of the best effort by a Nashville player this season.
Following a league-wide off day tomorrow, the Sounds continue their road trip on Thursday, when they open a four-game series in Des Moines, Iowa. Right-hander Wily Peralta (0-1, 2.12) will rejoin the team and start Thursday’s 6:35pm series opener for Nashville. Iowa Cubs will counter with a yet-to-be-determined hurler.
Box Score
Omaha Storm Chasers (15-5) 5, Nashville Sounds (4-16) 3
April 24th, 2012
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nashville Sounds | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 1 | |
| Omaha Storm Chasers | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | x | 5 | 11 | 0 | |
| Nashville | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patterson, C, CF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .172 |
| Conrad, 2B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .375 |
| Gindl, RF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .227 |
| Almonte, 1B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .219 |
| Green, T, 3B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .225 |
| Halton, DH | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .258 |
| Statia, SS | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .244 |
| Farris, LF | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .246 |
| Phillips, C | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .150 |
| Butler, Js, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Rivas, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Garate, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Perez, J, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Totals | 31 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 8 | .233 |
| BATTING 2B: Farris (2, Montgomery). HR: Gindl (3, 4th inning off Montgomery, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Farris 2; Phillips; Conrad; Almonte; Gindl 4; Green, T; Statia 2. RBI: Halton (8), Gindl (9), Farris (3). 2-out RBI: Farris. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Gindl; Almonte. SAC: Patterson, C. SF: Halton. GIDP: Green, T. Team RISP: 2-for-7. Team LOB: 4.FIELDING E: Almonte (3, fielding). |
||||||||
| Omaha | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dyson, CF | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | .333 |
| Falu, SS | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .267 |
| Giavotella, 2B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .250 |
| Robinson, C, 1B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .303 |
| 1-Seratelli, PR-1B | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .360 |
| Ramirez, M, DH | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .339 |
| Lough, RF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .253 |
| Kouzmanoff, 3B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .300 |
| Evans, LF | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .464 |
| Clark, C, C | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .245 |
| Montgomery, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Bueno, F, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Colon, R, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Totals | 34 | 5 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 22 | .304 |
| 1-Ran for Robinson, C in the 7th. | ||||||||
| BATTING 2B: Ramirez, M (3, Rivas), Clark, C (4, Perez, J). 3B: Dyson (3, Butler, Js). TB: Dyson 4; Falu; Evans 2; Kouzmanoff; Robinson, C; Giavotella; Lough; Clark, C 2; Ramirez, M 2. RBI: Falu (10), Clark, C (6), Ramirez, M (21), Lough (8), Kouzmanoff (12). 2-out RBI: Ramirez, M; Kouzmanoff. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Clark, C; Ramirez, M; Lough; Dyson; Evans; Giavotella. SF: Falu; Clark, C. Team RISP: 3-for-13. Team LOB: 10.FIELDING Outfield assists: Evans (Statia at home). DP: (Giavotella-Falu-Robinson, C). |
||||||||
| Nashville | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Butler, Js | 3.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4.67 |
| Rivas | 2.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.38 |
| Garate (L, 0-3) | 1.1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6.17 |
| Perez, J | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.80 |
| Totals | 8.0 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 4.23 |
| Omaha | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montgomery (W, 2-0) | 7.0 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 4.57 |
| Bueno, F (H, 1) | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2.08 |
| Colon, R (S, 1) | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.50 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 3.96 |
Butler, Js pitched to 1 batter in the 4th.
WP: Garate, Montgomery 2.
Balk: Rivas.
Pitches-strikes: Butler, Js 52-33, Rivas 51-31, Garate 30-19, Perez, J 16-11, Montgomery 95-61, Bueno, F 18-12, Colon, R 9-6.
Groundouts-flyouts: Butler, Js 5-2, Rivas 3-4, Garate 1-1, Perez, J 1-1, Montgomery 7-6, Bueno, F 1-1, Colon, R 1-0.
Batters faced: Butler, Js 15, Rivas 12, Garate 8, Perez, J 4, Montgomery 27, Bueno, F 5, Colon, R 2.
Inherited runners-scored: Rivas 1-1, Garate 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Jordan Baker. 1B: Mike Jarboe. 2B: Mike Muchlinski. 3B: Clint Fagan.
Weather: 62 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 12 mph, R to L.
T: 2:51.
Att: 4,717.
