Zach Neal Spins Fourth Quality Start In A Row
Colorado Springs, CO – The Nashville Sounds led nearly the entire game but Colorado Springs rallied in their final at bat to win 2-1 at Security Service Field on Thursday night.
Zach Neal was the story once again for Nashville. The right-hander turned in his fourth straight outing of seven innings or more, this time going seven scoreless. He pitched to contact to perfection on this night, inducing four double plays. With his recent hot streak, the former Oklahoma Sooner has catapulted himself into a top-10 ERA (3.22) in the PCL.
Craig Gentry walked and swiped his team-leading 16th base. The speedy outfielder then tagged up on two separate fly balls to give the Sounds the lead. Jason Pridie recorded the sac fly, tallying his team-leading 67th RBI.
Phil Coke threw a scoreless eighth, but ran into trouble in the ninth as he aimed to complete the two-inning save. Logan Schaefer led off the frame with a single and next batter Jason Rogers walked. Matt Clark then singled to plate Schaefer, knocking Coke from the game and tying the score up.
R.J. Alvarez entered the game with runners on the corners and zero outs. He would strike out Matt Dominguez before Juan Centeno singled to drive in the winning run. Both runs were charged to Coke who suffered his first loss of the season.
The Sounds return home to First Tennessee Park on Friday night to host the New Orleans Zephyrs in the first game of an eight-game homestand. Cody Martin (0-2, 10.03) will get the ball for the Sounds. He will be opposed by Kendry Flores (2-2, 2.66). First pitch is scheduled for 7:05pm.
Box Score
Colorado Springs Sky Sox (40-56) 2, Nashville Sounds (45-54) 1
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nashville Sounds | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| Colorado Springs Sky Sox | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 0 |
One out when winning run scored.
| Nashville | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gentry, CF | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .253 |
| Wendle, 2B | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .271 |
| Roberts, R, LF | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .292 |
| Pridie, RF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .304 |
| Muncy, 3B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | .252 |
| Freiman, DH | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .183 |
| Aliotti, 1B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .263 |
| Blair, C, C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 |
| Romero, N, SS | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .270 |
| Neal, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Coke, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Alvarez, R, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Totals | 29 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 9 | .257 |
| BATTING TB: Wendle 2; Freiman; Roberts, R 2. RBI: Pridie (67). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Muncy 2. SF: Pridie. GIDP: Aliotti. Team RISP: 0-for-4. Team LOB: 4.BASERUNNING SB: Gentry (16, 2nd base off Cravy/Centeno). CS: Roberts, R (3, 2nd base by Cravy/Centeno).FIELDING E: Blair, C (1, throw). DP: 4 (Wendle-Romero, N-Aliotti 3, Romero, N-Wendle-Aliotti). |
||||||||
| Colorado Springs | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herrera, E, LF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .363 |
| Schafer, L, CF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .260 |
| Rogers, J, 1B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | .355 |
| 1-Wren, PR | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .259 |
| Clark, DH | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .264 |
| 2-Sardinas, PR-DH | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .262 |
| Dominguez, M, 3B | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .263 |
| Centeno, C | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .259 |
| Orr, 2B | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .282 |
| Rivera, Y, SS | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .251 |
| Long, M, RF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .263 |
| Cravy, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .111 |
| Kirkman, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Wooten, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Totals | 29 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 14 | .273 |
| 1-Ran for Rogers, J in the 9th. 2-Ran for Clark in the 9th. | ||||||||
| BATTING 2B: Dominguez, M (19, Neal). TB: Clark; Dominguez, M 3; Rivera, Y; Centeno; Schafer, L 3. RBI: Clark (47), Centeno (8). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Clark; Rogers, J; Herrera, E. GIDP: Centeno 2, Rogers, J, Rivera, Y. Team RISP: 2-for-10. Team LOB: 6.BASERUNNING SB: Schafer, L (3, 2nd base off Neal/Blair, C).FIELDING DP: (Rogers, J-Rivera, Y). |
||||||||
| Nashville | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neal | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 3.22 |
| Coke (BS, 1)(L, 0-1) | 1.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9.82 |
| Alvarez, R | 0.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.37 |
| Totals | 8.1 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 3.64 |
| Colorado Springs | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cravy | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3.63 |
| Kirkman | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3.38 |
| Wooten (W, 3-1) | 2.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6.30 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 5.33 |
Coke pitched to 3 batters in the 9th.
Game Scores: Neal 71, Cravy 63.
WP: Coke.
HBP: Orr (by Neal).
Pitches-strikes: Neal 88-64, Coke 26-16, Alvarez, R 7-6, Cravy 84-50, Kirkman 22-13, Wooten 31-23.
Groundouts-flyouts: Neal 8-4, Coke 0-2, Alvarez, R 0-0, Cravy 4-7, Kirkman 0-1, Wooten 1-2.
Batters faced: Neal 24, Coke 7, Alvarez, R 2, Cravy 21, Kirkman 3, Wooten 8.
Inherited runners-scored: Alvarez, R 2-1.
Umpires: HP: Roberto Ortiz. 1B: Tom Woodring. 2B: Ryan Goodman. 3B: A.J. Johnson.
Weather: 83 degrees, clear.
Wind: 8 mph, In from LF.
T: 2:37.
Att: 7,696.
Venue: Security Service Field.
July 23rd, 2015
