Rehabbing Reliever Sean Doolittle Strikes Out Side In Scoreless Inning
Nashville, TN – The Sounds were bested by the Chihuahuas on the Bark in the Park night at First Tennessee Park, falling by a 4-3 score in the Sunday evening contest.
The one-run game was Nashville’s 37th this season, dropping their record in those games to 17-20. After scoring early, the Sounds were shut out in the final eight frames and moved to 55-67 on the season.
Entering Sunday’s game, Nashville had scored at least 20 more runs in the first inning than any other frame and kept it rolling with even more production. The inning featured singles from Joey Wendle, Jake Smolinski, Jason Pridie and Brent Morel but an error by right fielder Rymer Liriano proved most costly. The four hits put the Sounds on top 3-0.
El Paso then got a bone thrown in its direction when Alex Dickerson touched them all for an inside-the-park home run in the fifth. The ground ball rolled into the left field corner and Smolinski raised his hands to signal the ball had gotten stuck. After the umpire reviewed the situation, the designated hitter was awarded the homer and tied the game at 3-3.
The trio of runs was charged to starter Nathan Long, who battled an inconsistent strike zone all night. The right-hander walked a season-high six batters, taking a no-decision by leaving in the fifth with a tie score. He struck out three and allowed five hits in his 10th start as a Sound.
Long’s counterpart, Robbie Erlin, shook off the miscue in the first inning and got stronger as he went along. The lefty retired 14 straight batters at one point, delivering 6 1/3 innings with five hits and six strikeouts. He exited in the seventh and improved to 6-5 on the season.
El Paso took the lead for good in the sixth with a sacrifice fly to right field. Former Sound Hector Gomez collected the RBI, helping the Chihuahuas take the first two games of the series.
The Sounds bullpen continued its heavy work load recently, throwing another four innings. Arnold Leon made his first outing since being optioned from the Oakland A’s, surrendering a run over 1 1/3 innings. Ryan Dull finished off the seventh for Leon, leaving the bases loaded with a strikeout and a ground ball. Sean Doolittle continued his rehab stint by fanning the side in the eighth, upping his strikeout total to 10 in five innings. Angel Castro capped it off with two strikeouts in a scoreless ninth.
Nashville hosts El Paso for the third game of the series on Monday. Right-hander Zach Neal (7-7, 3.84) is expected to throw for the Sounds and the Chihuahuas will counter with lefty Jason Lane (8-8, 5.80) in the 7:05pm contest.
Fans will be treated to the WSM 90th Anniversary Night at First Tennessee Park which will include the chance to win a guitar signed by several of country music’s biggest stars and other special festivities.
Box Score
El Paso Chihuahuas (64-57) 4, Nashville Sounds (55-67) 3
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| El Paso Chilhuahuas | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 2 |
| Nashville Sounds | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 2 |
| El Paso | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jankowski, CF | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | .402 |
| Gomez, H, 2B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .350 |
| Dickerson, A, DH | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | .307 |
| Middlebrooks, 3B | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .291 |
| Goebbert, LF | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | .289 |
| Liriano, R, RF | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | .276 |
| Hagerty, 1B | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | .311 |
| Federowicz, C | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | .203 |
| McCoy, M, SS | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | .215 |
| Erlin, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .154 |
| Vincent, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Thielbar, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Jackson, J, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .500 |
| Totals | 36 | 4 | 10 | 4 | 9 | 10 | 28 | .279 |
| BATTING HR: Dickerson, A (11, 5th inning off Long, N, 0 on, 2 out). TB: Federowicz; Liriano, R 2; Hagerty; Gomez, H; Goebbert; Dickerson, A 4; Middlebrooks 2; Jankowski. RBI: Dickerson, A 2 (64), Middlebrooks (11), Gomez, H (5). 2-out RBI: Dickerson, A. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Hagerty 2; Middlebrooks; Jankowski 4. SF: Gomez, H. GIDP: Liriano, R. Team RISP: 5-for-14. Team LOB: 15.BASERUNNING SB: Liriano, R (14, 2nd base off Castro, A/Blair, C).FIELDING E: Liriano, R (7, fielding), McCoy, M (9, fielding). |
||||||||
| Nashville | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ladendorf, DH | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | .344 |
| Wendle, 2B | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .278 |
| Smolinski, LF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .395 |
| Pridie, RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .297 |
| Ravelo, 1B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .259 |
| Morel, 3B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .276 |
| Parrino, SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .271 |
| Gentry, CF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .235 |
| Blair, C, C | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .241 |
| Long, N, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Leon, A, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Dull, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Doolittle, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Castro, A, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Totals | 37 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 17 | .259 |
| BATTING TB: Wendle 2; Ravelo; Pridie 2; Ladendorf; Smolinski; Blair, C; Morel. RBI: Morel (9). 2-out RBI: Morel. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Smolinski; Parrino 2. Team RISP: 3-for-8. Team LOB: 8.FIELDING E: Wendle (14, fielding), Blair, C (2, throw). DP: (Morel-Wendle-Ravelo). |
||||||||
| El Paso | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erlin (W, 6-5) | 6.1 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 5.85 |
| Vincent (H, 8) | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3.40 |
| Thielbar (H, 3) | 0.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Jackson, J (S, 12) | 1.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2.09 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 4.74 |
| Nashville | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Long, N | 5.0 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 5.73 |
| Leon, A (L, 1-5) | 1.1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3.21 |
| Dull | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.96 |
| Doolittle | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3.60 |
| Castro, A | 1.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2.75 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 10 | 1 | 3.74 |
Game Scores: Erlin 60, Long, N 42.
Pitches-strikes: Erlin 87-59, Vincent 6-5, Thielbar 10-7, Jackson, J 27-19, Long, N 104-51, Leon, A 38-21, Dull 13-7, Doolittle 13-10, Castro, A 27-17.
Groundouts-flyouts: Erlin 7-3, Vincent 0-0, Thielbar 0-0, Jackson, J 0-2, Long, N 5-2, Leon, A 2-0, Dull 1-0, Doolittle 0-0, Castro, A 1-0.
Batters faced: Erlin 26, Vincent 2, Thielbar 3, Jackson, J 7, Long, N 25, Leon, A 10, Dull 2, Doolittle 3, Castro, A 6.
Inherited runners-scored: Vincent 1-0, Jackson, J 2-0, Dull 3-0.
Umpires: HP: Alex Ortiz. 1B: Shaun Lampe. 3B: Travis Eggert.
Weather: 80 degrees, overcast.
Wind: 11 mph, In from CF.
T: 3:13.
Att: 5,879.
Venue: First Tennessee Park.
August 16th, 2015
