Nashville Sounds Baseball
Nashville’s Hector Gomez Belts Two Homers in Loss; Leon Debuts
Nashville, TN – Despite a pair of home runs from Sounds shortstop Hector Gomez, the first-place Nashville Sounds (32-29) dropped their series opener against the Memphis Redbirds on Thursday night at AutoZone Park by a 7-4 final margin.
Trailing 3-0, Nashville leveled the game in the top of the fifth with a pair of two-out extra-base knocks, but Memphis followed with three runs of their own in the inning, which proved to be the difference.
Shortstop Hector Gomez cleared the bases and tied the game with a home run over the left-field wall. The shot was Gomez’s sixth of the season and his first of two on the night.
In the home half of the inning, Sounds starting pitcher Pena (4-5) offered up three consecutive walks to load the bases for Memphis with no outs. Reliever Michael Blazek entered, but the Redbirds plated one on a groundout and two more on Stephen Piscotty’s two-run single.
Pena took the loss, his fifth, allowing six runs, five earned, on three hits and six walks over four innings of work. The right-hander failed to qualify for the quality start, snapping the regular rotation’s streak of eight consecutive QS outings.
Redbirds starter Zach Petrick (3-3) earned the win by holding the Sounds to three runs on four hits over 5 1/3 innings. It is his third win of the year.
Gomez, 2-for-3, connected for his second home run in the seventh inning to pull Nashville within two runs. It is only the second time this season a Sounds batter has recorded a multiple homers in a single game.
The Redbirds took the initial lead in the first inning courtesy of Bianchi’s throwing error. A two-run homer from third baseman Scott Moore in the third inning made it a 3-0 game for Memphis.
Relievers Michael Blazek, Brent Leach, Jeremy Jeffress and newcomer Arcenio Leon each saw work out of the Nashville bullpen.
Blazek logged 1 2/3 scoreless innings before Leach entered with the bases loaded in the sixth to record the final out without even throwing a pitch. The lefty used his effective pickoff move to catch Ed Easley in a rundown that had Hunter Morris throw home to out the lead runner.
In his Sounds debut, Leon faced six batters in a 30-pitch eighth inning, allowing Memphis its final run on Shane Robinson’s RBI single.The Sounds will play game two against the Memphis Redbirds on Friday night at 7:05pm. Milwaukee Brewers lefty Tom Gorzelanny (0-0, 1.59) will make a rehab start for Nashville and will be followed by Sounds starter and PCL-ERA leader Jimmy Nelson (6-1, 1.64) Memphis sends RHP Scott McGregor (1-5, 6.66). Broadcaster Jeff Hem has the call on 102.5 FM The Game.
Box Score
June 5, 2014
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nashville Sounds | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 1 |
| Memphis Redbirds | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | x | 7 | 6 | 0 |
| Nashville | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bianchi, 3B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .375 |
| Gomez, H, SS | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .260 |
| Gindl, LF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .258 |
| Halton, RF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .260 |
| Morris, H, 1B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .284 |
| Herrera, 2B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .346 |
| Mattison, CF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .200 |
| Diaz, R, C | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .241 |
| Pena, A, P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .083 |
| Blazek, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Leach, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| a-Orr, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .272 |
| Jeffress, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Leon, Ar, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| b-Hermida, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .252 |
| Totals | 31 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 8 | .258 |
| a-Grounded out for Leach in the 7th. b-Popped out for Leon, Ar in the 9th. | ||||||||
| BATTING 2B: Bianchi (3, Petrick). HR: Gomez, H 2 (7, 5th inning off Petrick, 1 on, 2 out; 7th inning off Rondon, J, 0 on, 2 out). TB: Gomez, H 8; Bianchi 2; Diaz, R; Morris, H. RBI: Bianchi (4), Gomez, H 3 (21). 2-out RBI: Bianchi; Gomez, H 3. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Diaz, R. SAC: Pena, A. Team RISP: 2-for-4. Team LOB: 5.FIELDING E: Bianchi (1, throw). Outfield assists: Mattison (O’Neill at home). Pickoffs: Leach (Easley at 3rd base). |
||||||||
| Memphis | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garcia, G, 2B | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | .227 |
| Robinson, S, CF | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | .366 |
| Moore, S, 3B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .248 |
| Piscotty, RF | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .288 |
| Pham, LF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .290 |
| Kozma, SS | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | .235 |
| Scruggs, 1B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | .234 |
| Easley, C | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .200 |
| Petrick, P | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Greenwood, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| a-Curtis, PH | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .279 |
| Rondon, J, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Feliciano, P, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| b-O’Neill, PH | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .444 |
| Aardsma, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Totals | 27 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 11 | 4 | 14 | .274 |
| a-Walked for Greenwood in the 6th. b-Walked for Feliciano, P in the 8th. | ||||||||
| BATTING HR: Moore, S (6, 3rd inning off Pena, A, 1 on, 1 out). TB: Moore, S 4; Piscotty 2; Robinson, S 2; Easley. RBI: Moore, S 3 (24), Piscotty 2 (32), Robinson, S (4). 2-out RBI: Robinson, S. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Kozma 2. Team RISP: 3-for-10. Team LOB: 7.BASERUNNING SB: Kozma (5, 3rd base off Leon, Ar/Diaz, R). CS: Scruggs (2, 2nd base by Pena, A/Diaz, R), Easley (2, home by Leach/Diaz, R). PO: Easley (3rd base by Leach). |
||||||||
| Nashville | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pena, A (L, 4-5) | 4.0 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 4.53 |
| Blazek | 1.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5.06 |
| Leach | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.49 |
| Jeffress | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.71 |
| Leon, Ar | 1.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 9.00 |
| Totals | 8.0 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 3.42 |
| Memphis | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Petrick (W, 3-3) | 5.1 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 4.47 |
| Greenwood (H, 2) | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2.25 |
| Rondon, J (H, 3) | 1.1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3.86 |
| Feliciano, P (H, 1) | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 |
| Aardsma (S, 11) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.05 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 4.01 |
Pitches-strikes: Pena, A 91-42, Blazek 35-20, Leach 0-0, Jeffress 12-10, Leon, Ar 30-12, Petrick 88-54, Greenwood 5-4, Rondon, J 15-10, Feliciano, P 6-3, Aardsma 17-11.
Groundouts-flyouts: Pena, A 3-3, Blazek 2-0, Leach 0-0, Jeffress 2-1, Leon, Ar 1-0, Petrick 7-2, Greenwood 0-0, Rondon, J 1-2, Feliciano, P 0-2, Aardsma 0-1.
Batters faced: Pena, A 20, Blazek 9, Leach 0, Jeffress 3, Leon, Ar 6, Petrick 24, Greenwood 2, Rondon, J 5, Feliciano, P 2, Aardsma 3.
Inherited runners-scored: Blazek 3-3, Leach 3-0, Greenwood 2-0.
Umpires: HP: Brian Reilly. 1B: Alex Ortiz. 3B: Jordan Ferrell.
Weather: 72 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 12 mph, Out to CF.
T: 3:06.
Att: 4,112.
Venue: AutoZone Park.
June 5, 2014
