After opening his career with five no-decisions, lefty Tim Cooney notched his first Major League win while throwing a career-high seven innings in the Cardinals’ 4-2 victory over the Braves at Busch Stadium on Friday night.

Cooney received most of his support from center fielder Randal Grichuk, who connected for a two-run homer and scored twice against Braves starter Manny Banuelos. Three of the four runs Banuelos allowed over five-plus innings came with two out.

The Braves shaved a four-run deficit in half with a two-run sixth that snapped Cooney’s 12-inning scoreless streak. Cameron Maybin’s RBI double off Cooney was Atlanta’s only extra-base hit of the night.  “This was definitely my best fastball command, as well as off-speed pitches,” said Cooney, who finished seven innings on 74 pitches. “When you’re able to locate the ball, good things are going to happen. I was definitely on today, and I feel like I’ve been getting a little bit better each start.”

With the win, the Cardinals improved to 35-12 at home this year and are a season-high 28 games over .500. The Braves have won just three of their last 11.

Just as he did on Thursday, Grichuk blasted a two-run homer in his first at-bat of the night on Friday. This one followed a two-out walk by Yadier Molina and traveled 421 feet to move Grichuk into second place on the team’s home run leaderboard. Grichuk later singled, swiped second and put the team ahead, 3-0, by scoring on Mark Reynolds’ two-out hit.

“It’s all about approach for Randal,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “If he has an idea and waits and gets the pitch that he’s looking for, he can mis-hit a ball and it’s still going to leave the park. Just here recently, I think some things are really starting to click for him because you’re seeing the consistent at-bats.”
The Braves generated their offense in the sixth when the eight-hole hitter, Andrelton Simmons, led off with a single to center and advanced to second on Banuelos’ second sacrifice bunt. Maybin doubled for the first time since July 4 to score Simmons, and then the center fielder scored on a wild pitch after taking third on a groundout.

Cameron Maybin hustles home from third base on a wild pitch from Tim Cooney, trimming the Braves’ deficit to two runs
Siegrist shines as substitute: With closer Trevor Rosenthal unavailable after pitching on three straight days, the Cardinals tapped Kevin Siegrist as their closer du jour. Siegrist earned his fifth save by striking out Jonny Gomes to end the game with the potential tying runs on base.
“First and second with Jonny Gomes at the plate, who historically wears out left-handed pitching, you feel pretty good about that situation,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “Siegrist made some nice pitches on him.”

Banuelos started with a perfect first inning but surrendered runs in each of the next three frames while struggling at times with location in his fourth Major League start.  Banuelos’ four earned runs were the most he’s allowed in one start after giving up a total of three — two earned — over 15 2/3 innings in his first three starts.
Shortly before first pitch, the Braves finalized a deal that included Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe going to the Mets for young right-handers Rob Whalen and John Gant. Though the trade was not announced until after the game, the Braves had to play the game without Johnson or Uribe available.

The Braves send former Cardinals righty Shelby Miller to the mound in the second game of the series on Saturday at 6:15 p.m. CT.  Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast beginning with the pregame show at 6:00 PM.

The Nashville Sounds dropped the first game of their eight-game homestand 4-1 to the New Orleans Zephyrs on Friday night.

The Sounds fell behind 1-0 in the third inning when Zephyrs catcher Jhonatan Solano took advantage of a hanging breaking ball from Nashville starter Cody Martin, pulling the ball down the left field line for his third home run of the season.

The score remained that way till the fifth inning when Sounds catcher Bryan Anderson matched his positional counterpart’s feat with his third home run of the season.

With the game still knotted at one, Jordany Valdespin reached on a bunt single and then scored on a two-run homer by Issac Galloway. The outfielder’s blast traveled at least 400 feet and was the first ball to hit First Tennessee Park’s batter’s eye.

The Zephyrs added a run in the eighth off Sounds reliever Brock Huntzinger, but thanks to Joey Wendle did not get more. With the infield in and runners on the corners, Wendle dove to his right on a sharply hit one-hopper and flipped to shortstop Andy Parrino, who threw to first to complete the inning-ending double play.

Despite registering a quality start, Martin fell to 0-3 on the season as the Nashville offense was stymied all night long, going just 0-for-1 with RISP. Kendry Flores improved to 3-2 with the win.

The Sounds and Zephyrs will play again Saturday night at First Tennessee Park. A pair of southpaws will match up against one another as Sounds starter Brad Mills (4-9, 4.09) duels with Justin Nicolino (5-6, 3.62). Gates open at 5:35, with first pitch set for exactly an hour later.

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.

The Sounds went up 1-0 in the first without even registering a hit. 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 7:05 p.m.

CHS Lady Raider golfers with their 2nd place trophy from Tuesday’s Lakewood preseason tournament. (L-R) Sophie Vinson, Savannah Quick & Teagan Perry (Photo provided)

The Coffee County golf teams opened their season on Thursday with a preseason tournament at Tullahoma. The Lady Raiders had another strong showing as the team finished 2nd on the day and Savannah Quick got the 2nd lowest score of the day. Quick blistered the course shooting a 2 over par 74 including even par on the back nine. Sophie Vinson and Teagan Perry each shot an 86 to lift the team to a second place finish behind Warren County.
Hayden Proffitt and John Parrigger shared the the low scorer honors for the Red Raiders as each shot a 7 over par 79 to lead the team to a 5th place finish. Freshman Austin Farris carded an 85 while fellow freshman Samuel Prater got around in 87.
The Raider golf teams will open the season on Tuesday as they travel to Fayetteville to take on Lincoln County. The match is set to tee off at 9:00 AM.

CHS junior hitter Baylee Nester goes up for a spike in scrimmage action on Thursday (Photo by John St. Clair – JohnStClairPhoto.com)

The Lady Raider volleyball team worked their way to a hard fought 3 and 1 record on Thursday in their own scrimmage play day at the Joe Frank Patch Gym. The Lady Raiders, coming off a District 8AAA championship last year, opened the day with a 2 set win over district rival Tullahoma. Coffee County won the match 25-12 and 25-22. The lone loss came in the noon match with Warren County as the Lady Raiders dropped a hard fought 25-22 & 26-24 straight set decision. Coffee County rebounded to close the day out with a pair of sweeps against Fayetteville(25-11 & 25-12) and Grundy County(25-22 & 25-21). The Lady Raiders, who graduated 8 seniors that provided most of the minutes last year, will host their annual Alumni game on Friday, July 31st before traveling to another play day on August 1st in Chattanooga. Coffee County will open the regular season on August 18th at home as they host Shelbyville.