Schafer Homers, Bianchi Goes 3-for-4 In Losing Effort For Nashville
Nashville, TN – Second baseman DJ LeMahieu ripped a bases-loaded triple with two outs in top of the ninth inning to power the Colorado Springs Sky Sox to a 7-4 victory over the Nashville Sounds on Tuesday evening at Greer Stadium.
LeMahieu’s game-winning three-bagger, which caromed off the top of the wall in left-center, came against Sounds left-hander Juan Perez, who inherited the bases-loaded jam from Mike McClendon. The Sky Sox filled the bags against the right-hander on a pair of singles sandwiched around an intentional walk.
Logan Schafer homered and drove in two of the Sounds’ four runs on the night, while shortstop Jeff Bianchi went 3-for-4 on the night and has opened his Nashville career with five hits in his first seven at-bats.
The visiting Sky Sox took a 3-0 lead in the top of the third inning against Nashville starter Mike Fiers. Ex-Sound Wil Nieves got things started with a leadoff double and scored on a one-out double off the bat of another former Sound, Hernan Iribarren. LeMahieu (2-for-4) followed with an RBI single up the middle that extended the Sky Sox lead to two. Later in the frame, Andrew Brown ripped a two-out, run-scoring double to right-center to make it a three-run advantage.
The Sounds responded in the home half of the frame, pulling back within a run with a pair of two-out scores against Sky Sox right-hander Brandon Hynick.
After the first two batters of the inning were retired, Schafer crushed his third home run of the year, a solo shot to right, to put Nashville on the board. Caleb Gindl kept the rally going with a line-drive double down the right field line and scored on an RBI single from Bianchi to make it a 3-2 contest.
Colorado Springs shortstop Tommy Field increased the visitors’ lead to 4-2 in the fourth when he slugged a one-out solo homer to left off Fiers, his third roundtripper of the year.
Fiers helped his own cause in the fifth, ripping a leadoff double and later scoring on Bianchi’s third knock of the contest, a two-out single to left. Fiers’ two-bagger in the frame was the first extra-base hit recorded by a Nashville pitcher this season.
The Sounds missed a chance to pull ahead in the eighth when they put runners on second and third with two outs against Dustin Molleken, but the right-hander struck out Martin Maldonado to escape the jam unscathed.
Molleken (2-0) was the recipient of the late Sky Sox rally and was awarded the victory following one scoreless inning of relief. Zach Putnam retired the Sounds in order in the bottom of the ninth to preserve the win and notch his fifth save of the year.
McClendon (1-2) was saddled with the loss for Nashville after being charged with three runs in his two-thirds of an inning of action.
The teams continue the series with an 11:05am. Education Day game on Wednesday morning at Greer, when thousands of area schoolchildren will pack the stands as a reward for reach their goals in the popular Nashville Sounds Reading Club program.
Right-hander Seth McClung (0-3, 7.71) will toe the rubber for the Sounds to face Colorado Springs right-hander Guillermo Moscoso (1-3, 7.91).
Box Score
Colorado Springs Sky Sox 7, Nashville Sounds 4
May 8th, 2012
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado Springs Sky Sox | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 0 | |
| Nashville Sounds | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 0 | |
| Col. Springs | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iribarren, CF | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | .307 |
| LeMahieu, 2B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .317 |
| McBride, RF | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .371 |
| Brown, A, LF | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .220 |
| Wood, Br, 3B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .247 |
| Tracy, C, 1B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .222 |
| Field, SS | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .216 |
| Nieves, C | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .250 |
| Hynick, P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| Wells, J, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| a-Roberts, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .273 |
| Escalona, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Molleken, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| b-Harris, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .233 |
| Putnam, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Totals | 35 | 7 | 11 | 7 | 2 | 8 | 12 | .265 |
| a-Grounded out for Wells, J in the 7th. b-Singled for Molleken in the 9th. | ||||||||
| BATTING 2B: Nieves (2, Fiers), Iribarren (4, Fiers), Brown, A 2 (7, Fiers, Garate). 3B: Iribarren (1, Fiers), LeMahieu (2, Perez, J). HR: Field (3, 4th inning off Fiers, 0 on, 1 out). TB: Harris; Nieves 3; Iribarren 5; Brown, A 4; LeMahieu 4; Field 4; Tracy, C. RBI: Iribarren (3), LeMahieu 4 (18), Brown, A (13), Field (13). 2-out RBI: Brown, A; LeMahieu 3. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Brown, A; Wood, Br 2; McBride. SAC: Hynick; Field. Team RISP: 4-for-11. Team LOB: 5.BASERUNNING CS: Nieves (1, 2nd base by Fiers/Maldonado). |
||||||||
| Nashville | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Schafer, CF | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .260 |
| Gindl, LF | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .176 |
| Bianchi, SS | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .714 |
| Brown, J, 1B-RF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .238 |
| Gonzalez, A, 3B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| Patterson, C, RF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .195 |
| Perez, J, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Farris, 2B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .255 |
| Maldonado, C | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .207 |
| Fiers, P | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .222 |
| a-Statia, PH | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .317 |
| Garate, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| McClendon, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Almonte, 1B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .180 |
| Totals | 36 | 4 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 11 | .241 |
| a-Singled for Fiers in the 7th. | ||||||||
| BATTING 2B: Gindl (6, Hynick), Fiers (1, Hynick). HR: Schafer (3, 3rd inning off Hynick, 0 on, 2 out). TB: Farris 2; Bianchi 3; Schafer 5; Fiers 2; Statia; Gindl 2. RBI: Schafer 2 (8), Bianchi (2), Gindl (11). 2-out RBI: Schafer; Bianchi. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Bianchi; Maldonado 2. Team RISP: 2-for-7. Team LOB: 7.BASERUNNING SB: Farris (7, 2nd base off Molleken/Nieves). CS: Bianchi (1, 2nd base by Wells, J/Nieves). |
||||||||
| Col. Springs | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hynick | 4.2 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7.00 |
| Wells, J | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.27 |
| Escalona (BS, 1) | 1.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1.50 |
| Molleken (W, 2-0) | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3.21 |
| Putnam (S, 5) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3.65 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 4.25 |
| Nashville | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fiers | 7.0 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 4.21 |
| Garate | 0.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5.74 |
| McClendon (L, 1-2) | 0.2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5.84 |
| Perez, J | 0.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.90 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 11 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 4.28 |
WP: McClendon.
IBB: Nieves (by McClendon).
HBP: Patterson, C (by Molleken).
Pitches-strikes: Hynick 72-47, Wells, J 16-8, Escalona 14-12, Molleken 16-11, Putnam 14-8, Fiers 92-66, Garate 11-7, McClendon 13-6, Perez, J 11-7.
Groundouts-flyouts: Hynick 6-5, Wells, J 1-1, Escalona 1-0, Molleken 1-0, Putnam 0-1, Fiers 7-4, Garate 0-1, McClendon 2-0, Perez, J 0-1.
Batters faced: Hynick 21, Wells, J 3, Escalona 6, Molleken 5, Putnam 3, Fiers 28, Garate 3, McClendon 5, Perez, J 3.
Inherited runners-scored: Wells, J 1-0, McClendon 1-0, Perez, J 3-3.
Umpires: HP: D.J. Reyburn. 1B: Michael Lusky. 2B: Stephen Barga. 3B: Jimmy Volpi.
Weather: 75 degrees, cloudy.
Wind: 2 mph, L to R.
T: 2:40.
Att: 2,444.
