On Tuesday night, the Coffee County Fastpitch League held a triple-header at Terry Floyd Field. A pair of 8U games opened the night with a 10U contest in the nightcap.  In the first game, David Clark Homes got a big 3rd inning in a 7 to 5 win over K & D Rebar. David Clark Homes returns to action on Thursday night at 7:15 while K&D returns to the diamond at 5:00 on Friday.

In the second game, A Winning Attitude clinched the regular season title in the 8U division with a 17 to 6 win over Re/Max.  Re/Max will be back in action on Wednesday night at 6:20 at Fred Deadman Park while A Winning Attitude will play at 5:55 on Thursday at Terry Floyd Field.

In the nightcap, Elite Conditioning got 5 runs in the first inning en route to a 8 to 1 victory over John Roberts Toyota in a 10U game. Emma Kidder threw a no-hitter with 10 strikeouts for Elite.  Elite will be in action on Wednesday night at 6:00 PM at Fred Deadman Park as they take on the 10U David Clark Homes team in a suspended game from Friday night.  John Roberts has one make-up game left to play.  That game is expected to be rescheduled for next week.

Wednesday’s Coffee County Fastpitch League Schedule
(Games at Fred Deadman Park)
6:00 – David Clark Homes vs. Elite Conditioning (10U make-up)
6:20 – Peoples Bank vs Re/ Max (8U)

It did not take the Nationals long to extend their dominance of the Braves and halt the struggles they have had against Shelby Miller. A four-run first inning provided Jordan Zimmerman more than enough support as he led Washington to a 6-1 win on Tuesday night at Turner Field.

While Miller surrendered a season-high five runs — four earned — over five innings, Zimmerman scattered five hits over 7 2/3 scoreless innings. The Nationals right-hander pitched around A.J. Pierzynski’s second-inning leadoff double on the way to extending his consecutive scoreless innings streak against the Braves to 15 2/3 innings.

Clint Robinson’s two-run homer highlighted the four-run first inning recorded against Miller, who had produced a 0.86 ERA over the only five previous starts made against Washington. The Nationals added an unearned run in the third inning and cruised toward their ninth consecutive win over the Braves.

Wilson Ramos and Clint Robinson added a pair of runs in the first just when it seemed like Miller was about to escape the inning with limited damage. Ramos’ two-out single drove in Espinosa, and Robinson’s two-run homer capped the inning — it was the first home run off of Miller since Brandon Belt’s on May 28.
Miller had surrendered a first-inning hit in just two of his previous 15 starts this year. But by the time he’d recorded his third out, he had already allowed more first-inning hits on Tuesday (four) than he previously had all season (three). The right-hander notched a season-high 10 strikeouts and surrendered just the one unearned run after the first inning. His ERA jumped from 1.94 to 2.20.

After driving in the game’s first run in the first inning with a double, second baseman Danny Espinosa stayed hot at the plate. He singled and scored again in the third inning, and doubled once again in the sixth. Espinosa entered Tuesday with hitting .251, but after going 3-for-5 with two runs and an RBI, he pushed that up to .259 .

Jake Brigham completed three scoreless innings of relief while experiencing the Major League debut he had dreamed about since beginning his professional career in 2006. The 27-year-old right-hander was with Double-A Mississippi less than two weeks ago. But his recent success earned him a chance to become Atlanta’s latest long reliever.

The Nationals’ nine-game win streak against the Braves dates back to April 28, when they erased a nine-run deficit and won courtesy of Dan Uggla’s ninth-inning homer. Going back to the fifth inning of that game, Washington has outscored Atlanta 64-21.

Atlanta and Washington will meet for Game 2 in this series at Turner Field at 6:10 p.m. CT on Wednesday night. Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast of that game beginning at 6:00 PM.

The Nashville Sounds fell 9-2 to the Colorado Springs Sky Sox in the first game of their four-game set at First Tennessee Park on Tuesday night.

Colorado Springs jumped on Brad Mills quickly, tagging the Sounds starter for four straight hits to begin the game, scoring two runs. Mills, the Sounds team-leader in ERA, did an excellent job getting out of the jam, surrendering just one more run as he forced Matt Dominguez to ground into a double play, before striking out Nevin Ashley.

The Sounds wasted little time answering, scoring the following half inning when Dayan Viciedo singled to drive in Ryan Roberts. Roberts had reached second base the at bat before, hitting a one-hopper to the wall in left center field.

Similar events transpired two innings later as once again the Sky Sox put up three runs and the Sounds answered with a run. Dominguez made up for the double play in the first inning, smashing a homer down the left field line to make it 6-1. The Sounds then scored on an RBI single by Roberts in the latter half of the inning.

Mills settled down after that, retiring the final 12 batters he faced, striking out six over seven innings. Colorado Springs would tack two more runs on in the eighth and another in the ninth. The loss brought Mills record to 3-8.

The Sounds and Sky Sox play game two of their four-game set Wednesday night. Freshly promoted from Double-A Midland, Nate Long is tabbed to start on 80’s night at First Tennessee Park. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.