Barry Zito Throws Six Innings Of One-Run Ball For Seventh Win
Papillion, NE – The Sounds started the month of August on a high note, controlling Saturday night’s series opener from the beginning and dominating the Omaha Storm Chasers with a 9-4 win at Werner Park.
Nashville started the hit party with three runs out of the gate. Craig Gentry and Joey Wendle hit back-to-back singles and Ryan Roberts made the Storm Chasers pay. The left fielder watched one strike breeze by him before launching his fifth home run of the season. Roberts finished with a pair of hits and two runs, reaching base three different times.
The Sounds took the advantage and ran with it behind starter Barry Zito. Coming off his worst start of the season (3.0 IP, 4 ER), the lefty breezed through five innings unscathed.The Storm Chasers put up a run courtesy of a Brett Eibner single in the sixth, but the 37-year-old worked his way out of the jam from there, leaving two runners stranded in his final inning. Zito finished with three walks and two strikeouts, limiting Omaha to just four hits to improve to 7-7 on the season.
Zito received an even larger cushion to pitch with when Anthony Aliotti drove in a pair in the fifth. Hitting out the nine-spot, the designated hitter singled up the middle to score Nate Freiman and Brent Morel.
After six innings, the Sounds led 5-1, but the Storm Chasers refused to go away. Omaha scored a pair of runs off rehabbing reliever Taylor Thompson in the sixth.
Both runs charged to Thompson were unearned after the Nashville defense made two errors in a row. The right-hander kept the ball out of the air, getting six groundballs during his seven batters faced. He also added a strikeout in his Sounds debut.
Pitcher Pat Venditte appeared in his second straight game with Nashville, getting the final two outs in the eighth. The switch-pitcher allowed a hit but kept Omaha off the scoreboard.
The Sounds rattled the bats one more time in the eighth, scoring four times on four hits. The insurance runs were capped when Freiman blasted his third double of the game to score Gentry. The three doubles tied a team season high, matching Bryan Anderson’s trio of doubles on May 27th at Sacramento.
The win was a total team effort with all nine starters contributing to Nashville’s 14 hits. The top four hitters in the lineup combined for seven hits, seven runs scored and four RBIs.
The Sounds and Storm Chasers will star on national television during Sunday night’s affair. The 5:05pm game will be aired on the American Sports Network, marking the second time the Sounds have been in the national spotlight this season. Zach Neal (7-4, 3.07) will pitch against Miguel Almonte (2-0, 1.80) in the second game of the series.
Box Score
Nashville Sounds (47-61) 9, Omaha Storm Chasers (61-47) 4
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nashville Sounds | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 14 | 2 |
Omaha Storm Chasers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 3 |
Nashville | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gentry, CF | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | .248 |
Wendle, 2B | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | .273 |
Roberts, R, LF | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | .295 |
Freiman, 1B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .209 |
Morel, 3B | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .231 |
Parrino, SS | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | .265 |
Blair, C, C | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .263 |
Romero, N, RF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .278 |
Aliotti, DH | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .259 |
Zito, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Thompson, Ta, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Venditte, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Huntzinger, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Totals | 41 | 9 | 14 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 26 | .257 |
BATTING 2B: Freiman 3 (8, Dwyer, Coleman, C, Broderick). HR: Roberts, R (5, 1st inning off Dwyer, 2 on, 0 out). TB: Wendle; Romero, N; Freiman 6; Roberts, R 5; Blair, C; Gentry; Aliotti 2; Morel; Parrino 2. RBI: Roberts, R 3 (39), Aliotti 2 (32), Freiman (20), Morel (2), Parrino (18), Blair, C (4). 2-out RBI: Aliotti 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Parrino 3; Roberts, R 2; Gentry. SF: Blair, C. Team RISP: 5-for-14. Team LOB: 12.BASERUNNING SB: Gentry (19, 2nd base off Broderick/Gibbs).FIELDING E: Freiman (4, throw), Parrino (11, throw). DP: 2 (Parrino-Wendle-Freiman, Morel-Wendle-Freiman). |
Omaha | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Merrifield, LF | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .284 |
Colon, C, 2B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .287 |
Noriega, 2B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .205 |
Orlando, CF | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .280 |
Martinez, J, 1B | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .380 |
Eibner, RF | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .307 |
Pena, F, DH | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .248 |
Calixte, SS | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .229 |
Franco, 3B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .256 |
Gibbs, C | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .130 |
Dwyer, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Coleman, C, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Broderick, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Alexander, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Totals | 35 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 16 | .276 |
BATTING 2B: Franco (1, Huntzinger). TB: Noriega; Eibner 2; Merrifield 2; Orlando; Franco 3. RBI: Eibner (59), Merrifield (30), Noriega 2 (8). 2-out RBI: Eibner; Noriega. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Eibner; Pena, F 2. GIDP: Franco, Merrifield. Team RISP: 3-for-8. Team LOB: 8.FIELDING E: Franco (2, throw), Orlando (1, fielding), Calixte (16, fielding). |
Nashville | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Zito (W, 7-7) | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3.64 |
Thompson, Ta | 1.1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
Venditte | 0.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.30 |
Huntzinger | 1.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.74 |
Totals | 9.0 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 3.67 |
Omaha | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dwyer (L, 2-2) | 3.1 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 4.64 |
Coleman, C | 2.2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4.13 |
Broderick | 1.2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2.53 |
Alexander | 1.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1.61 |
Totals | 9.0 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 1 | 3.77 |
Game Scores: Zito 59, Dwyer 39.
WP: Dwyer.
Pitches-strikes: Zito 97-54, Thompson, Ta 30-25, Venditte 13-9, Huntzinger 21-12, Dwyer 67-37, Coleman, C 62-35, Broderick 40-25, Alexander 25-18.
Groundouts-flyouts: Zito 13-1, Thompson, Ta 5-0, Venditte 0-2, Huntzinger 1-1, Dwyer 3-1, Coleman, C 5-3, Broderick 2-2, Alexander 1-0.
Batters faced: Zito 24, Thompson, Ta 7, Venditte 3, Huntzinger 5, Dwyer 18, Coleman, C 15, Broderick 10, Alexander 5.
Inherited runners-scored: Coleman, C 2-0, Alexander 1-0.
Ejections: Omaha Storm Chasers second baseman Christian Colon ejected by HP umpire Nick Mahrley (1st)
Umpires: HP: Nick Mahrley. 1B: Nate White. 3B: Kolin Kline.
Weather: 85 degrees, clear.
Wind: 9 mph, R to L.
T: 3:24.
Att: 6,081.
Venue: Werner Park.
August 1st, 2015