Nashville, TN – The Nashville Sounds edged the cross-state rival Memphis Redbirds, 5-4, on Thursday evening at Greer Stadium.
Hiram Burgos (1-2) picked up his first win of the season as he matched his career high with 10 strikeouts while allowing three runs on five hits over five innings of work.
The top of the Nashville lineup propelled an 11-hit attack. Leadoff man Pete Orr went 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored while Eugenio Velez followed him with a 4-for-5, three-RBI effort.
Both hitters have been swinging hot sticks. Orr is hitting .379 (11-for-29) in his last eight games, while Velez has recorded a knock in each of his 10 starts this season and batting a team-best .474 on the year.
The Sounds took an early lead against Memphis right-hander Scott McGregor, opening the game with three consecutive singles by Orr, Velez, and Caleb Gindl, the last of which spotted the home team a 1-0 advantage.
Nashville increased its lead to 3-0 with a two-out rally in the second against McGregor. After the first two batters were retired, third baseman Taylor Green belted his second home run of the young season, a solo shot to right. The Sounds continued the two-out rally to plate another run as Burgos drew a walk, moved to third via a pair of wild pitches, and scored on a Velez single up the middle that caromed off McGregor’s foot.
Memphis right fielder Stephen Piscotty put the visitors on the board with a solo homer to left-center in the top of the fourth off Burgos, the outfielder’s first big fly of the year.
The red-hot Velez continued his strong start to the season with a two-run double in the fourth that extended the Sounds’ lead to 5-1.
McGregor (0-2) suffered the loss for Memphis after giving up five runs on eight hits in four frames of work.
A pair of mistakes came back to haunt Burgos in the fifth as he hit a batter and issued a walk before both runners scored on Randal Grichuk’s one-out double to left, reducing the Sounds’ lead to 5-3.
The visitors loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the sixth against Dustin Molleken but got only one run on Grichuk’s single to left as Velez gunned down Thomas Pham at the dish to keep a 5-4 Nashville lead intact.
The Sounds will look to gain a series split when the teams wrap up their four-game series with a 7:05 p.m. finale on Friday night. Left-hander Brad Mills (1-0, 2.25) will toe the slab for the Sounds to face Memphis right-hander Boone Whiting (0-1, 1.98).
Box Score
April 17, 2014
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Memphis Redbirds | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 1 |
| Nashville Sounds | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | 5 | 11 | 1 |
| Memphis | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garcia, G, 2B | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .271 |
| Grichuk, CF | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .327 |
| Taveras, O, LF-RF | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .273 |
| Piscotty, RF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .327 |
| Stoppelman, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| b-Butler, Jy, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .471 |
| Freeman, S, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| c-Curtis, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .250 |
| Moore, S, 3B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | .279 |
| Scruggs, 1B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .260 |
| Kozma, SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .111 |
| Easley, C | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .267 |
| McGregor, P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| a-Pham, PH-LF | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .176 |
| Totals | 35 | 4 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 12 | 19 | .273 |
| a-Walked for McGregor in the 5th. b-Struck out for Stoppelman in the 7th. c-Grounded into a forceout for Freeman, S in the 9th. | ||||||||
| BATTING 2B: Grichuk (5, Burgos, H). 3B: Garcia, G (3, Burgos, H). HR: Piscotty (1, 4th inning off Burgos, H, 0 on, 1 out). TB: Garcia, G 5; Taveras, O; Grichuk 3; Pham 2; Piscotty 4; Easley. RBI: Piscotty (9), Grichuk 3 (13). 2-out RBI: Grichuk. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Grichuk; Moore, S; Curtis. GIDP: Easley. Team RISP: 3-for-10. Team LOB: 9.BASERUNNING CS: Garcia, G (2, 2nd base by Burgos, H/Diaz, R). PO: Garcia, G (1st base by Burgos, H).FIELDING E: Garcia, G (2, fielding). DP: 2 (Kozma-Garcia, G-Scruggs, Garcia, G-Kozma-Scruggs). |
||||||||
| Nashville | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orr, 2B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .353 |
| Velez, LF | 5 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .474 |
| Gindl, CF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | .205 |
| Diaz, R, C | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | .250 |
| Morris, H, 1B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | .261 |
| Hermida, RF | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .269 |
| Gomez, H, SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .167 |
| Green, T, 3B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .308 |
| Figaro, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Hand, D, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Burgos, H, P | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| a-Halton, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .250 |
| Molleken, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Leach, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Falu, 3B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .161 |
| Totals | 34 | 5 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 20 | .243 |
| a-Grounded into a forceout for Burgos, H in the 5th. | ||||||||
| BATTING 2B: Hermida (3, McGregor), Velez (4, McGregor). HR: Green, T (2, 2nd inning off McGregor, 0 on, 2 out). TB: Velez 5; Hermida 2; Orr 3; Gindl; Green, T 4; Morris, H. RBI: Gindl (4), Green, T (4), Velez 3 (9). 2-out RBI: Green, T; Velez. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Morris, H 2; Gindl; Gomez, H; Green, T; Diaz, R. GIDP: Diaz, R, Gomez, H. Team RISP: 3-for-12. Team LOB: 11.FIELDING E: Gomez, H (2, fielding). Outfield assists: Velez (Pham at home). DP: (Gomez, H-Orr-Morris, H). Pickoffs: Burgos, H (Garcia, G at 1st base). |
||||||||
| Memphis | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| McGregor (L, 0-2) | 4.0 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 5.84 |
| Stoppelman | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6.23 |
| Freeman, S | 2.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6.75 |
| Totals | 8.0 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 3.90 |
| Nashville | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burgos, H (W, 1-2) | 5.0 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 5.79 |
| Molleken (H, 1) | 1.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4.00 |
| Leach (H, 1) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5.40 |
| Figaro (H, 3) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.63 |
| Hand, D (S, 3) | 1.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 12 | 1 | 4.22 |
WP: McGregor 2.
HBP: Moore, S (by Burgos, H), Easley (by Burgos, H), Green, T (by Stoppelman).
Pitches-strikes: McGregor 87-50, Stoppelman 31-19, Freeman, S 38-26, Burgos, H 91-54, Molleken 22-14, Leach 15-9, Figaro 11-7, Hand, D 15-9.
Groundouts-flyouts: McGregor 3-2, Stoppelman 2-1, Freeman, S 2-0, Burgos, H 1-2, Molleken 1-0, Leach 0-1, Figaro 3-0, Hand, D 1-1.
Batters faced: McGregor 23, Stoppelman 7, Freeman, S 10, Burgos, H 23, Molleken 6, Leach 3, Figaro 3, Hand, D 5.
Umpires: HP: Ryan Goodman. 1B: Nick Bailey. 3B: Jeff Morrow.
Weather: 70 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 4 mph, R to L.
T: 3:05.
Att: 3,612.
Venue: Herschel Greer Stadium.
April 17, 2014
