Right-hander Fans Career-High 10 In Third Straight Win
Papillion, NE – Mike Fiers fanned a career-high 12 batters during a dominant start to lead the Nashville Sounds to a 5-1 victory over the Omaha Storm Chasers on Saturday evening in the opener of a four-game series at Werner Park.
Nashville (8-8) is riding a season-best three-game winning streak and improved to 5-3 against Omaha this year. Six of the Sounds’ 10 hits in the contest went for extra bases.
He threw 70 of his 104 pitches for strikes and became the first Nashville hurler to fan 12 batters in an outing since Yovani Gallaro struck out 12 Memphis Redbirds on June 21st, 2007.
The right-hander continued his career dominance over Omaha, improving to 2-0 with a 0.60 ERA (2er/30.0ip) in his five outings against them.
The Sounds broke a scoreless deadlock in the top of the fifth inning with a three-run outburst against Omaha starter P.J. Walters.
Taylor Green opened the frame with a single and Hector Gomez was hit by a pitch before Kevin Mattison plated the night’s first run with a double to right. Red-hot Pete Orr (2-for-5), who is hitting .378 (14-for-37) in his last 10 games, followed with a two-run two-bagger to up the Nashville advantage to 3-0.
Omaha finally broke through against Fiers in the bottom of the seventh inning when Paulo Orlando’s two-out single brought home Carlos Peguero to make it a 3-1 contest. The run was the first the Storm Chasers scored against the Sounds hurler in his last 20 2/3 innings against them.
Nashville closed out its scoring with a pair of ninth-inning runs off Omaha reliever Cory Wade, courtesy of an Irving Falu squeeze bunt and a two-out Sean Halton RBI single.
Donovan Hand worked a scoreless ninth for Nashville to wrap up the victory.
The teams continue the series with a 2:05 p.m. matinees on Sunday afternoon. Right-hander Johnny Hellweg (1-2, 4.96) will make the start for the Sounds to face Omaha right-hander Aaron Brooks (0-0, 5.40).
Box Score
April 19th, 2014
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nashville Sounds | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 0 |
| Omaha Storm Chasers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| Nashville | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orr, 3B | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .357 |
| Falu, 2B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .184 |
| Gindl, RF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .196 |
| Halton, LF | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .245 |
| Morris, H, 1B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .283 |
| Diaz, R, C | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .222 |
| Green, T, DH | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .265 |
| Gomez, H, SS | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .178 |
| Mattison, CF | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .138 |
| Fiers, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Hand, D, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Totals | 35 | 5 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 19 | .243 |
| BATTING 2B: Gindl (3, Walters, P), Mattison (2, Walters, P), Orr (3, Walters, P), Morris, H (6, Walters, P), Falu (2, Walters, P). 3B: Gomez, H (1, Wade). TB: Mattison 2; Gomez, H 3; Halton 2; Falu 2; Orr 3; Morris, H 2; Gindl 2; Green, T. RBI: Mattison (6), Orr 2 (7), Falu (4), Halton (2). 2-out RBI: Halton. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Falu; Diaz, R; Halton; Gomez, H; Gindl. SAC: Falu. GIDP: Diaz, R. Team RISP: 3-for-15. Team LOB: 8.BASERUNNING SB: Mattison (3, 2nd base off Wade/Pena, F). |
||||||||
| Omaha | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eibner, CF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | .322 |
| Colon, C, SS | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .242 |
| Giavotella, 2B | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .355 |
| Peguero, C, LF | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .174 |
| Fletcher, DH | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .320 |
| Fields, M, 1B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .379 |
| Orlando, RF | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .373 |
| Pena, F, C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .243 |
| Ciriaco, 3B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .273 |
| Walters, P, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Wade, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Totals | 32 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 8 | .305 |
| BATTING 2B: Ciriaco (1, Fiers). TB: Giavotella 2; Ciriaco 2; Colon, C; Orlando. RBI: Orlando (6). 2-out RBI: Orlando. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Colon, C; Pena, F. Team RISP: 1-for-5. Team LOB: 5.BASERUNNING SB: Peguero, C (1, 2nd base off Fiers/Diaz, R).FIELDING E: Fields, M (5, fielding). Outfield assists: Eibner (Gindl at 3rd base). DP: (Ciriaco-Giavotella-Fields, M). |
||||||||
| Nashville | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fiers (W, 3-0) | 8.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 0.87 |
| Hand, D | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.00 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 3.79 |
| Omaha | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walters, P (L, 0-2) | 7.0 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 5.03 |
| Wade | 2.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5.59 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 3.78 |
IBB: Gindl (by Wade).
HBP: Gomez, H (by Walters, P).
Pitches-strikes: Fiers 104-70, Hand, D 11-8, Walters, P 90-57, Wade 33-17.
Groundouts-flyouts: Fiers 3-3, Hand, D 2-0, Walters, P 8-6, Wade 2-1.
Batters faced: Fiers 30, Hand, D 3, Walters, P 30, Wade 10.
Umpires: HP: Ramon DeJesus. 1B: Stu Scheurwater. 3B: Adam Schwarz.
Weather: 78 degrees, cloudy.
Wind: 15 mph, R to L.
T: 2:35.
Att: 4,330.
Venue: Werner Park.
April 19, 2014
