Brent Morel Hits First Homer With Sounds
Papillion, NB – The Nashville Sounds were unable to come from behind on Sunday night at Omaha, falling 11-5 at Werner Park.
A highly anticipated pitching matchup between red-hot Sounds starter Zach Neal and impressive Kansas City Royals prospect Miguel Almonte quickly turned into a slugfest, as the teams combined to smack three homers in the first inning.
Sounds third baseman Brent Morel was the first player to go deep, driving in Craig Gentry and Joey Wendle with a two-out, three-run blast. Casey Kotchman then raised the ante, taking Neal deep for a grand slam. Omaha would bat around in the frame, adding a two-run homer by Francisco Pena to go up 6-3.
The Storm Chasers returned the favor an inning later when Jose Martinez and Brett Eibner hit back-to-back doubles to make it 7-5. Neal would retire the next two batters before exiting after 4 2/3 innings, snapping a streak of five straight quality starts for the right-hander as well as sending him on his way to the fifth loss of the campaign.
Phil Coke took over for Neal and experienced similar results as the left-hander was taken deep by Paulo Orlando in the sixth. The three-run blast put the game out of reach for Nashville, extending the Storm Chaser lead to 10-5. The Storm Chasers would add another run off Coke in the seventh and cruise to an 11-5 victory.
The two teams will square off once again tomorrow night at Werner Park. Cody Martin (0-3, 6.48) is expected to pitch for Nashville. He will be opposed by Buddy Baumann (1-3, 2.74). First pitch is scheduled for 7:05pm.
Box Score
Nashville Sounds (47-62) 5, Omaha Storm Chasers (62-47) 11
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nashville Sounds | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 0 |
| Omaha Storm Chasers | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | x | 11 | 16 | 1 |
| Nashville | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gentry, CF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .248 |
| Wendle, 2B | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .274 |
| Roberts, R, LF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | .292 |
| Freiman, DH | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .205 |
| Morel, 3B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .294 |
| Parrino, SS | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .275 |
| Aliotti, 1B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .259 |
| Romero, N, RF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | .274 |
| Anderson, B, C | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .182 |
| Neal, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Coke, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Castro, A, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Totals | 35 | 5 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 12 | 16 | .258 |
| BATTING 2B: Aliotti (11, Almonte). HR: Morel (1, 1st inning off Almonte, 2 on, 2 out). TB: Wendle 2; Gentry; Aliotti 2; Anderson, B; Morel 5; Parrino 3. RBI: Morel 3 (5), Aliotti (33), Anderson, B (22). 2-out RBI: Morel 3. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Aliotti. GIDP: Freiman. Team RISP: 2-for-6. Team LOB: 6. |
||||||||
| Omaha | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merrifield, 2B | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .285 |
| Fuentes, LF | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .303 |
| Orlando, CF | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3 | .284 |
| Martinez, J, DH | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .382 |
| Eibner, RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .310 |
| Kotchman, 1B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .281 |
| Colon, C, SS | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .286 |
| Pena, F, C | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .251 |
| Franco, 3B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .277 |
| Almonte, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Coleman, L, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Clemens, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Mariot, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Totals | 40 | 11 | 16 | 11 | 3 | 6 | 20 | .278 |
| BATTING 2B: Franco (2, Neal), Merrifield (25, Neal), Martinez, J (19, Neal), Eibner (17, Neal), Pena, F (16, Coke). HR: Kotchman (7, 1st inning off Neal, 3 on, 2 out), Pena, F (11, 1st inning off Neal, 1 on, 2 out), Orlando (3, 6th inning off Coke, 2 on, 1 out). TB: Kotchman 4; Martinez, J 3; Eibner 3; Merrifield 3; Colon, C; Orlando 5; Fuentes 2; Pena, F 6; Franco 3. RBI: Kotchman 4 (32), Pena, F 2 (36), Eibner (60), Orlando 3 (15), Fuentes (31). 2-out RBI: Kotchman 4; Pena, F 2; Fuentes. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Merrifield; Eibner; Orlando; Pena, F 2; Colon, C. Team RISP: 4-for-17. Team LOB: 9.BASERUNNING SB: Fuentes (20, 3rd base off Neal/Anderson, B), Martinez, J (7, 2nd base off Neal/Anderson, B), Orlando (8, 2nd base off Neal/Anderson, B).FIELDING E: Fuentes (4, fielding). Outfield assists: Fuentes (Anderson, B at 2nd base). DP: (Colon, C-Merrifield-Kotchman). |
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| Nashville | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neal (L, 7-5) | 4.2 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 3.59 |
| Coke | 2.1 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 12.46 |
| Castro, A | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.11 |
| Totals | 8.0 | 16 | 11 | 11 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 3.74 |
| Omaha | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Almonte | 3.2 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 3.86 |
| Coleman, L (W, 7-2) | 2.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1.99 |
| Clemens | 2.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Mariot | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2.84 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 12 | 1 | 3.78 |
Game Scores: Neal 21, Almonte 33.
HBP: Martinez, J (by Neal).
Pitches-strikes: Neal 103-65, Coke 47-27, Castro, A 19-8, Almonte 79-48, Coleman, L 38-26, Clemens 21-15, Mariot 6-5.
Groundouts-flyouts: Neal 4-3, Coke 1-3, Castro, A 2-0, Almonte 0-2, Coleman, L 2-0, Clemens 1-2, Mariot 2-0.
Batters faced: Neal 25, Coke 14, Castro, A 5, Almonte 19, Coleman, L 9, Clemens 7, Mariot 3.
Inherited runners-scored: Coke 1-0, Coleman, L 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Nate White. 1B: Kolin Kline. 3B: Nick Mahrley.
Weather: 97 degrees, sunny.
Wind: 14 mph, Out to RF.
T: 3:14.
Att: 6,664.
Venue: Werner Park.
August 2nd, 2015
