Nashville Sounds Baseball
Nashville’s Sean Halton Continues Hot Streak With Homer
Memphis, TN – The first-place Nashville Sounds (49-45) had their chance at capturing the I-40 Cup spoiled by an impressive pitching performance from the Memphis Redbirds (44-47) in an 8-1 loss at AutoZone Park on Wednesday night.
Nashville never found an answer against Redbirds starter Tim Cooney, who struck out eight Sounds in eight innings while allowing just three hits.
He went 2-for-4 including a solo home run in the top of the seventh for Nashville’s lone run of the night. Halton is now hitting .440 (22-for-50) in his last 12 games and increased his hitting streak to six games.
Third baseman Jason Rogers also picked up two hits in the contest, but he left the game in the top of the ninth after beating out an infield single.
Sounds starter Michael Blazek appeared to find his stride after a shaky beginning to his outing, as he retired 10 straight batters after allowing Memphis to take a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on a Xavier Scruggs RBI double.
The wheels fell off for Nashville in the bottom of the fifth when the Redbirds scored four runs that were all charged to Blazek. Sounds reliever Jose De La Torre saw his string of six consecutive scoreless outings end when he allowed a solo home run to Ed Easley in the bottom of the sixth.
Nashville reliever Dustin Molleken made his first appearance since being placed on the disabled list on June 30th, allowing one run in 0.2 innings while striking out two.
The Sounds will have one last chance to clinch the I-40 Cup against Memphis on Thursday at 12:05pm. Nashville will send RHP Mike Fires (6-4, 2.63) to the bump opposite Memphis RHP Boone Whiting (1-6, 4.26). Jeff Hem will have the call on 102.5 The GAME.
Box Score
July 9, 2014
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nashville Sounds | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| Memphis Redbirds | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | x | 8 | 10 | 0 |
| Nashville | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herrera, CF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .309 |
| Gomez, H, SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .259 |
| Rogers, J, 3B | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .222 |
| 1-Orr, PR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .290 |
| Clark, M, 1B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .316 |
| Halton, LF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .295 |
| Velez, 2B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .304 |
| Gindl, RF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .248 |
| De La Torre, J, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Molleken, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Leon, Ar, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| a-Statia, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .262 |
| Lowe, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Zarraga, C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .333 |
| Blazek, P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| Mattison, RF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .184 |
| Totals | 31 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 7 | .259 |
| a-Popped out for Leon, Ar in the 8th. 1-Ran for Rogers, J in the 9th. |
||||||||
| BATTING HR: Halton (5, 7th inning off Cooney, 0 on, 2 out). TB: Clark, M; Rogers, J 2; Halton 5. RBI: Halton (38). 2-out RBI: Halton. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Halton. GIDP: Gomez, H. Team RISP: 0-for-1. Team LOB: 4. |
||||||||
| Memphis | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robinson, S, RF | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .336 |
| Grichuk, LF | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .281 |
| Moore, S, 3B | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .239 |
| Scruggs, 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .250 |
| Pham, CF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .322 |
| Garcia, G, 2B | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .254 |
| Kozma, SS | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | .226 |
| Easley, C | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .259 |
| Cooney, P | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .158 |
| a-Piscotty, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .305 |
| Donofrio, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Totals | 33 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 12 | .271 |
| a-Flied out for Cooney in the 8th. | ||||||||
| BATTING 2B: Robinson, S (11, Blazek), Scruggs (15, Blazek). HR: Easley (5, 6th inning off De La Torre, J, 0 on, 0 out), Grichuk (15, 8th inning off Lowe, 0 on, 2 out). TB: Garcia, G 2; Scruggs 3; Grichuk 4; Robinson, S 3; Kozma; Easley 5. RBI: Scruggs 2 (46), Robinson, S (8), Garcia, G 2 (27), Easley (20), Kozma (28), Grichuk (47). 2-out RBI: Scruggs 2; Garcia, G 2; Kozma; Grichuk. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Kozma 3; Easley. SAC: Cooney. Team RISP: 5-for-10. Team LOB: 7.FIELDING DP: (Garcia, G-Scruggs). |
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| Nashville | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blazek (L, 1-4) | 4.2 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4.88 |
| De La Torre, J | 1.1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5.40 |
| Molleken | 0.2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3.81 |
| Leon, Ar | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.17 |
| Lowe | 1.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5.67 |
| Totals | 8.0 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 3.59 |
| Memphis | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cooney (W, 9-5) | 8.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 3.74 |
| Donofrio | 1.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 4.25 |
Pitches-strikes: Blazek 79-45, De La Torre, J 23-13, Molleken 23-15, Leon, Ar 5-2, Lowe 11-11, Cooney 94-69, Donofrio 26-16.
Groundouts-flyouts: Blazek 8-2, De La Torre, J 3-0, Molleken 0-0, Leon, Ar 1-0, Lowe 0-3, Cooney 4-3, Donofrio 2-0.
Batters faced: Blazek 22, De La Torre, J 7, Molleken 5, Leon, Ar 1, Lowe 4, Cooney 27, Donofrio 5.
Inherited runners-scored: De La Torre, J 2-2, Leon, Ar 2-0.
Umpires: HP: Brandon Henson. 1B: Nick Mahrley. 3B: Kolin Kline.
Weather: 81 degrees, clear.
Wind: 7 mph, Varies.
T: 2:47.
Att: 4,013.
Venue: AutoZone Park.
July 9, 2014
