Vargas, Two Relievers Combine On Six-Hitter
Nashville, TN – The Nashville Sounds snapped a six-game skid with an 8-0 victory over the New Orleans Zephyrs in front of a season-high 10,044 fans on Saturday evening at Greer Stadium.
Right-hander Claudio Vargas (1-0) scattered three hits and struck out six batters over five scoreless innings to pick up his first win for the Sounds. Vinnie Chulk followed with a pair of scoreless frames before Donovan Hand closed out the contest with two scoreless innings of his own.
Nashville pitchers combined to strike out 10 batters and did not issue a walk in the contest for only the second time this season; it previously occurred on April 12th at Oklahoma City.
First baseman Jordan Brown paced the 10-hit offensive attack with a 4-for-5 night, Nashville’s third four-hit effort this season (Sean Halton, Edwin Maysonet). Andy Gonzalez, Corey Patterson, and Jeff Bianchi each drove in two runs for the Sounds.
Nashville (21-34) jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning when they batted around and erupted for a five-spot against New Orleans right-hander Alex Sanabia.
Brown opened the inning with a double before Andy Gonzalez and Jay Gibbons drew walks to load the bases. Hainley Statia put Nashville on the board with a run-scoring single to right to plate Brown.
After Sanabia recovered to retire the next two hitters, Patterson and Bianchi delivered back-to-back two-run singles to up the home team’s advantage to five.
Gonzalez made it a 7-0 game an inning later when he belted his second homer in the last two days, a two-run shot to left-center off Sanabia. Brown also scored on the big fly after preceding Gonzalez with a single.
Vargas helped his own cause in the fifth when he lifted a two-out RBI double into the left-center gap off Z’s reliever Robert Ray to plate Statia to up the Nashville lead to 8-0.
Sanabia (3-4), who was activated from a stint on the disabled list prior to the game, was saddled with the loss after being tagged for seven runs on six hits in just 2 1/3 innings of work.
The teams continue the series with a 2:05pm matinee on Sunday afternoon. Right-hander Brian Baker (1-3, 6.89) will make the start for the Sounds to face New Orleans left-hander Brad Hand (4-3, 3.43).
Box Score
Nashville Sounds 8, New Orleans Zephyrs 0
June 2nd, 2012
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Orleans Zephyrs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | |
| Nashville Sounds | 0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | 8 | 10 | 1 | |
| New Orleans | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mattison, CF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .233 |
| Velazquez, SS | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .305 |
| Cousins, RF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .275 |
| Sanchez, G, 1B | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .286 |
| Villanueva, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .500 |
| a-Lambin, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .255 |
| Jones, B, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Cervenak, LF | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .385 |
| Green, 2B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .313 |
| Dominguez, M, 3B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .216 |
| Sammons, C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .214 |
| Sanabia, P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .200 |
| Ray, R, P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .000 |
| Montz, 1B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .223 |
| Totals | 33 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 12 | .250 |
| a-Flied out for Villanueva in the 8th. | ||||||||
| BATTING 2B: Cervenak 2 (7, Vargas, Chulk). TB: Cousins; Velazquez 2; Cervenak 5. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Green; Sammons; Lambin. Team RISP: 0-for-5. Team LOB: 7.BASERUNNING PO: Cervenak (2nd base by Jaramillo). |
||||||||
| Nashville | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patterson, C, RF | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | .237 |
| Bianchi, SS | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .317 |
| Schafer, CF | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .258 |
| Brown, J, 1B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .316 |
| Gonzalez, A, 3B | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | .278 |
| Gibbons, LF | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | .154 |
| Statia, 2B | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .271 |
| Jaramillo, C | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | .250 |
| Vargas, P | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | .500 |
| Chulk, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| a-Gindl, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .208 |
| Hand, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 |
| Totals | 34 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 24 | .255 |
| a-Struck out for Chulk in the 7th. | ||||||||
| BATTING 2B: Brown, J (7, Sanabia), Vargas (1, Ray, R). HR: Gonzalez, A (2, 3rd inning off Sanabia, 1 on, 0 out). TB: Brown, J 5; Bianchi; Vargas 2; Jaramillo; Patterson, C; Gonzalez, A 4; Statia. RBI: Statia (12), Patterson, C 2 (15), Bianchi 2 (8), Gonzalez, A 2 (13), Vargas (2). 2-out RBI: Patterson, C 2; Bianchi 2; Vargas. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Patterson, C 4. Team RISP: 4-for-11. Team LOB: 9.FIELDING E: Gonzalez, A (1, fielding). Pickoffs: Jaramillo (Cervenak at 2nd base). |
||||||||
| New Orleans | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sanabia (L, 3-4) | 2.1 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3.73 |
| Ray, R | 2.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 5.06 |
| Villanueva | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4.91 |
| Jones, B | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5.23 |
| Totals | 8.0 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 3.66 |
| Nashville | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vargas (W, 1-0) | 5.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 4.30 |
| Chulk | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2.41 |
| Hand | 2.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.32 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 4.77 |
WP: Villanueva.
HBP: Sanchez, G (by Vargas).
Pitches-strikes: Sanabia 60-31, Ray, R 43-26, Villanueva 35-23, Jones, B 11-6, Vargas 87-55, Chulk 22-14, Hand 34-25.
Groundouts-flyouts: Sanabia 2-2, Ray, R 4-1, Villanueva 1-1, Jones, B 0-2, Vargas 6-2, Chulk 0-2, Hand 2-2.
Batters faced: Sanabia 16, Ray, R 12, Villanueva 9, Jones, B 4, Vargas 19, Chulk 7, Hand 8.
Inherited runners-scored: Ray, R 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Lance Barrett. 1B: Matt Schaufert. 2B: Scott Mahoney. 3B: Eric Loveless.
Weather: 75 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 4 mph, R to L.
T: 2:40.
Att: 10,044.
