The Omaha Storm Chasers scored two runs in the ninth inning thanks to shaky defense and a handful of walks and grabbed a 6-4 win over the Nashville Sounds in front of a sellout crowd of 10,072 Saturday night at First Tennessee Park.

After being no-hit for the first six innings, the Sounds (55-46) put together multiple rallies to even the game in the later innings only to come up short.

Former Sounds pitcher Nick Tepesch, who was designated for assignment by Oakland less than two weeks ago, started for Omaha (44-55) and stymied his former teammates.

He set down the first 15 batters he faced on his way to six no-hit innings. The first batter to reach against Tepesch was Tyler Ladendorf who worked a one-out walk in the sixth.

With the Sounds trailing 3-0, Ladendorf moved from first to third on a pair of wild pitches by Tepesch. Bryan Anderson put Nashville’s first run on the board with an RBI groundout.

Omaha plated another run in the seventh thanks to a pair of wild pitches by Sounds starter Chris Smith.

Tepesch was lifted after six innings in favor of reliever Kevin McCarthy. Jaycob Brugman greeted McCarthy with a sharp single to left-center to break up the no-hit bid.

Chad Pinder followed with a hard groundball to second, but Ramon Torres’ throw to cut down Brugman at second sailed into left field. Brugman scored from first and Pinder took second on the error. Two batters later, Renato Nunez scored Pinder on a groundout to cut the deficit to 4-3.

Nashville reliever Aaron Kurcz delivered a scoreless eighth to keep the Sounds in striking distance. With one out and a runner at first in the bottom of the inning, Billy Burns legged out a fielder’s choice to keep the inning going.

On a 0-2 pitch, Burns took off on a pitch Brugman sent into right-center. After partially slowing around third base, Burns was able to score just ahead of the relay throw home.

The 4-4 game didn’t last long as Omaha took advantage of two errors and three walks in the top of the ninth. With runners and first and second, Raul Mondesi legged out an infield single. Nunez tried to make a barehanded play and bobbled the ball allowing the go-ahead run to cross.

J.B. Wendelken, who started the inning, intentionally walked Rey Fuentes to load the bases. The move backfired when Hunter Dozier worked a walk to force in another run to make it 6-4.

Brooks Pounders worked around a one-out walk in the bottom of the ninth to retire the side and snap the Sounds’ three-game winning streak. Pounders earned the win and Wendelken was charged with the loss.

Game three of the four-game series is set for Sunday night at First Tennessee Park. Left-hander Dillon Overton (10-4, 2.98) starts for the Sounds against right-hander Christian Binford (1-8, 6.31) for the Storm Chasers. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.

The 2016 season is the Sounds’ 19th year in the Pacific Coast League and their second as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate. Tickets are available now by calling (615) 690-4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com.

In a rematch of a pitcher’s duel from five days prior against Julio Teheran, the Rockies’ Jon Gray got the upper hand. The rookie right-hander tossed seven brilliant innings and closer Carlos Estevez survived a wild ninth for a 4-3 victory over the Braves on Friday night at Coors Field.

After not factoring into the decision in the Rockies’ 1-0 loss in Atlanta on Sunday, Gray earned the win by holding the Braves to one run on six hits with one walk and eight strikeouts. The only run came in the first inning on Nick Markakis’ RBI infield single that knocked in Freddie Freeman, whose triple popped out of left fielder Ryan Raburn’s glove.
“I think we’re just seeing Jonny Gray getting more and more confidence as a Major League pitcher,” Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. “We’re seeing it almost from start to start.”
Teheran looked like he was on his way to spoiling another solid start by Gray, but he left with tightness in his back while working on a shutout in the fifth inning. The Braves are hoping their ace exited early enough to avoid a significant injury and the need to be placed on the disabled list.
“I’d prefer to miss a couple innings and not have to miss another start over the rest of the season,” said Teheran, who initially felt the discomfort during the third inning.
The Rockies took advantage against the Braves’ bullpen, taking the lead in the sixth when Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story hit two-run homers off Joel De La Cruz and Dario Alvarez, respectively. The Braves made it a one-run game when Jace Peterson hit a two-run homer off Jason Motte in the eighth, but Estevez earned his eighth save despite loading the bases with one out in the ninth.
Arenado got just his second day off of the season on Thursday, and Weiss’ decision immediately paid off. Arenado broke out of his 4-for-18 slump by going 2-for-4 with his first home run in 45 at-bats. Arenado’s sixth-inning two-run homer gave the Rockies their first lead of the night.
“Sometimes it’s good to hit the reset button,” Weiss said. “Physically, he’s very, very durable, but everyone needs a mental break from time to time, especially when Nolan’s real hard on himself. Once in awhile it’s good to catch your breath for a day.”
Teheran pitched around a pair of hits in the first inning and a pair of walks in the fourth. But his night abruptly ended after he attempted to field Mark Reynolds’ infield single to begin the bottom of the fifth. The All-Star hurler did not aggravate his back while pursuing Reynolds’ grounder, but after the play, he signaled for the trainers at the behest of shortstop Erick Aybar, who knew Teheran had initially felt some discomfort in the third inning. The Braves termed the injury as right lat tightness and listed the pitcher’s status as day to day.
“He told me he was good,” Braves catcher Anthony Recker said. “He was telling the same thing to Aybar, but Aybar was telling him to get it looked at because it’s not worth hurting yourself more.”
Two batters after Arenado gave Colorado a 2-1 lead, Story extended it to 4-1 with his 24th home run of the season. That home run tied him with former Rockies slugger Troy Tulowitzki for the most home runs by a rookie shortstop in National League history. Story has 66 games to break Nomar Garciaparra’s 1997 record of 30 home runs for a Major League rookie shortstop.
“It’s been amazing,” Weiss said. “I know he made a lot of noise with the historical start, but he’s been very good throughout. Nobody’s going to keep up the pace he had going early on. He’s a good player.”
Peterson’s two-run homer, which was projected by Statcast™ to travel 437 feet, made it a 4-3 game. Adonis Garcia opened the ninth with a double and Atlanta eventually loaded the bases with one out. But Estevez escaped unscathed when Chase d’Arnaud popped out to shortstop and Peterson struck out on a check swing to end the game.
Teheran prevented a run in the first inning when he picked off Blackmon at second base ahead of Arenado’s triple. The Braves right-hander now has a Major League-best 22 pickoffs since the start of the 2013 season. Lefties Clayton Kershaw and Madison Bumgarner have 21, but no other right-hander has more than 11.
Six of Gray’s eight strikeouts came on his slider, and the other two were on his curveball. For the season, 74 of his 111 strikeouts have come on his slider. The Braves went 0-for-7 vs. the slider, which has held batters to a .156 batting average this season (24-for-154).
“It’s always there to bail me out,” Gray said. “If the fastball or anything else isn’t working — the changeup — I don’t know, I’ve just always got that pitch to throw in any count. I feel like it’s a good ground-ball pitch. I can make it short, put it down in the zone, get a ground ball or you can get a swing-and-miss. I feel like it’s constantly bailing me out.”
Matt Wisler will attempt to halt his recent struggles when Atlanta and Colorado resume their four-game series on Saturday at 7:10 p.m. ET. Wisler has allowed at least five earned runs in four of his last eight starts, including his last two.  Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast as we join the Atlanta Braves Radio Network at 6 PM for the pregame show.

The Nashville Sounds concluded a wild day with a 2-1 win over the Omaha Storm Chasers on a walk-off wild pitch in front of 8,087 fans Friday night at First Tennessee Park.

With the bases loaded and nobody out in a 1-1 game in the bottom of the ninth, Omaha’s Clayton Mortensen uncorked a pitch in the dirt that got away from catcher Parker Morin. Sounds shortstop Chad Pinder raced home with the winning run to push Nashville’s record to 55-45.

The start of the game was delayed due to travel delays the Sounds and much of the Pacific Coast League experienced Thursday night and into Friday. The team didn’t arrive in Nashville until close to 6:30 p.m.

Sounds starter Raul Alcantara had a dazzling Triple-A debut. Just up from Double-A Midland, the 23-year-old Alcantara tossed seven strong innings and allowed one unearned run. The right-hander scattered four hits, did not walk a batter and struck out three.

The lone run Alcantara allowed came across in the second when Hunter Dozier reached on an error to start the frame. Three batters later, Travis Snider knocked in Dozier with an RBI groundout to give Omaha an early 1-0 lead.

Storm Chasers starter John Lannan was impressive as well. He kept the Sounds off the board until two outs in the fourth when Renato Nunez blasted a solo homer to deep left field to even the game at 1-1. It was Nunez’s 14th home run of the season and the league-leading 28th long ball the Sounds have hit in the month of July.

It remained 1-1 until the bottom of the ninth. Alcantara handed off to Ryan Doolittle who wiggled out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the top of the eighth.

He struck out Tony Cruz for the second out of the inning and then retired Dozier on a fly out to center to get out of the jam. Tucker Healy worked a scoreless top of the ninth and earned the win.

In the bottom of the ninth, Pinder lined a base hit to left-center to start the rally. He went first-to-third on another base hit by Nunez who moved to second when Omaha intentionally walked Joey Wendle.

The walk-off win is the eighth for the Sounds in 2016. It’s the second time they have won on a walk-off wild pitch as Pinder joins Wendle who raced home on a wild one on June 17 to beat Round Rock.

Game two of the four-game series is set for Saturday night at First Tennessee Park. Right-hander Chris Smith (5-8, 4.27) starts for the Sounds while the Storm Chasers have yet to name a starter. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

The 2016 season is the Sounds’ 19th year in the Pacific Coast League and their second as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate. Tickets are available now by calling (615) 690-4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com.

CHS senior golfer Savannah Quick strikes a putt on the 17th hole at Lakewood on Thursday.

The CHS Red Raider and Lady Raider golf teams battled a full field of teams, scorching hot temperatures and a tough Lakewood County Club course to capture a pair of top 5 finishes on Thursday as part of the Tullahoma preseason tournament. Samuel Prater and Savannah Quick each shot 3 over par scores of 75 to lead their respective teams. The Lady Raiders finished in 3rd place while the boys came in 5th.
Senior Savannah Quick’s 75 was low enough to give her first place among the ladies. Quick shot an impressive 1 over par 37 on the back 9. Fellow senior Sophie Vinson shot an 83 to give the Lady Raiders a team score of 158. That score was good enough to capture 3rd place in the talented field of teams.

Members of the 2016 CHS Golf teams following Thursday’s preseason tournament. Front Row(left to right) Savannah Quick, Sophie Vinson and coach Mike Ray. Back Row(left to right) Austin Farris, John Parigger, Samuel Prater, Matthew Hale and Matthew Wright

For the Red Raiders, a pair of sophomores led the scoring parade as Prater’s 75 and Austin Farris’ 77 led Coffee County. Senior John Parigger carded an 80 and fellow sophomore Matthew Hale got around in 89 while sophomore Josh Perry finished with a 90 to give the Raiders a team score of 321.
The CHS golf teams open their regular season on Tuesday, August 2nd when they travel to Cookeville. That match is set to start at 1 PM at the Cookeville Golf Club.