Nashville Sounds Baseball
Nashville’s Matt Clark and Eugenio Velez Go Yard; Michael Blazek Deals Quality Start
El Paso, TX – The Nashville Sounds (68-57) edged the El Paso Chihuahuas Thursday night at Southwest University Park to win by a final 4-2 margin.
Nashville got on the board first courtesy of a Matt Clark, 3-for-4, solo home run in the second inning. The first baseman has lifted four homers over the last three games.
Clark’s streak of three consecutive games with a dinger is the longest by a Sound this season. He has left the yard nine times since joining the Sounds on July 4th.
Outfielder Eugenio Velez, 3-for-4, blasted his seventh home run of the season in the seventh inning to give Nashville a 4-0 lead over the Chihuahuas. The one-out roundtripper over the right field wall scored Logan Schafer, who doubled to reach scoring position and extend his hit streak to 12 games, the longest by a Sound this season.
After six scoreless innings, Sounds starting pitcher Michael Blazek (3-4) ran into trouble. El Paso newcomer Jeff Francoeur singled to lead off the seventh and was followed by Yeison Asencio, who touched the right-hander for a two-run homer to end his night.
But that’s all the bite the Chihuahuas could muster as relievers Brent Leach, Alfredo Figaro and Rob Wooten each turned in a scoreless inning.
Blazek picked up his third win of the season with his six-inning quality start, while Wooten notched his11th save by fanning two in the ninth.
El Paso’s Matt Wisler (7-5) took the loss, allowing Nashville two runs on five hits and one walk over six innings.
The win keeps Nashville a half-game ahead of the Memphis Redbirds for the division lead with 19 games to go. At 68-57, the Sounds sit a season-best 11 games above .500.
The Sounds will look to win the series over El Paso Friday night. Nashville sends RHP Ariel Pena (9-7, 4.28) to the hill opposite the Chihuahuas’ RHP Joe Wieland. First pitch is scheduled for 8:05pm.
Box Score
August 14, 2014
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nashville Sounds | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 0 |
| El Paso Chihuahuas | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| Nashville | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Schafer, L, CF-LF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .272 |
| Velez, 2B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .318 |
| Wooten, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Hermida, RF | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .264 |
| Halton, LF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .284 |
| Leach, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Figaro, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Falu, 2B | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .286 |
| Clark, M, 1B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .288 |
| Gomez, H, SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .270 |
| Orr, 3B | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .289 |
| Weisenburger, C | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .273 |
| Blazek, P | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | .214 |
| Mattison, CF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .214 |
| Totals | 37 | 4 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 15 | .261 |
| BATTING 2B: Orr (17, Wisler), Schafer, L (9, Smith, C), Clark, M (5, Smith, C). 3B: Orr (6, Wisler). HR: Clark, M (9, 2nd inning off Wisler, 0 on, 0 out), Velez (7, 7th inning off Smith, C, 1 on, 1 out). TB: Clark, M 7; Velez 6; Orr 5; Schafer, L 2. RBI: Clark, M (21), Orr (34), Velez 2 (46). 2-out RBI: Orr. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Halton; Blazek; Weisenburger 3; Hermida. SAC: Schafer, L. Team RISP: 1-for-12. Team LOB: 8. |
||||||||
| El Paso | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Noel, CF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .245 |
| Greene, SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | .297 |
| Galvez, 1B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .280 |
| Francoeur, RF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .294 |
| Asencio, LF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .700 |
| Lindsey, 2B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .241 |
| Castellanos, A, 3B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .259 |
| Gale, C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .298 |
| Rearick, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Wisler, P | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .278 |
| Smith, C, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Moore, A, C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .286 |
| Totals | 32 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 6 | .274 |
| BATTING HR: Asencio (2, 7th inning off Blazek, 1 on, 0 out). TB: Castellanos, A; Wisler; Asencio 5; Francoeur. RBI: Asencio 2 (3). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Gale; Galvez. Team RISP: 0-for-3. Team LOB: 3.BASERUNNING SB: Noel (26, 2nd base off Blazek/Weisenburger).FIELDING E: Castellanos, A (8, throw), Wisler (3, throw). |
||||||||
| Nashville | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blazek (W, 3-4) | 6.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 3.61 |
| Leach (H, 14) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3.33 |
| Figaro (H, 5) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4.01 |
| Wooten (S, 11) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5.14 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 3.59 |
| El Paso | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wisler (L, 7-5) | 6.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 5.16 |
| Smith, C | 1.1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4.97 |
| Rearick | 1.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2.73 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 5.28 |
Blazek pitched to 2 batters in the 7th.
WP: Wisler.
Pitches-strikes: Blazek 90-57, Leach 16-10, Figaro 11-7, Wooten 13-9, Wisler 101-68, Smith, C 21-12, Rearick 22-13.
Groundouts-flyouts: Blazek 9-3, Leach 0-0, Figaro 1-0, Wooten 0-0, Wisler 10-1, Smith, C 3-0, Rearick 2-1.
Batters faced: Blazek 23, Leach 3, Figaro 3, Wooten 3, Wisler 26, Smith, C 7, Rearick 6.
Inherited runners-scored: Rearick 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Greg Stanzak. 1B: Ryan Blakney. 3B: Alberto Ruiz.
Weather: 78 degrees, cloudy.
Wind: 3 mph, Varies.
T: 2:45.
Att: 8,092.
Venue: Southwest University Park.
August 14, 2014
