The Memphis Redbirds clinched the American Southern Division Championship with a 12-7 win over the Nashville Sounds in front of 7,905 fans at First Tennessee Park Sunday night.
The Redbirds have been in first place in the division for nearly all of the 2017 season and became the first team in the Pacific Coast League to punch a ticket to the playoffs.
Sunday’s game went back and forth throughout the night as both teams lit up the scoreboard. Memphis put the first run on the board when Stephen Piscotty clubbed a double off the left field wall to score Alex Mejia.
It didn’t take long for Nashville to respond as Renato Nunez launched his league-leading 31st homer of the season to left-center to even the game at 1-1 in the second. It didn’t end there as Mark Canha tripled and Chris Carter singled to give the Sounds a 2-1 lead.
Memphis took the lead right back in the third as Mejia and Rangel Ravelo collected run-scoring hits against Nashville starter Chris Jensen.
Again, their lead didn’t stick. The Sounds came back with three runs in the bottom of the third to take a 5-3 lead. Franklin Barreto, Joey Wendle, and Jaff Decker had doubles in the inning. Wendle’s was his 100th in a Sounds uniform.
The Redbirds cut the deficit to 5-4 with a run in the fourth, and then scored three in the sixth to take the lead for good. Tyler O’Neill’s solo homer evened the game at 5-5, and Patrick Wisdom’s RBI double gave Memphis a 6-5 lead.
Memphis held a 7-5 lead in the bottom of the sixth when three straight hits by the Sounds made it a one-run game. Carter singled, but was cut down at the plate when he tried to score from first on Beau Taylor’s double. Yairo Munoz picked up the team when he came through with a two-out infield single to score Taylor and make it 7-6.
Ravelo gave the Redbirds some breathing room when he drilled a solo homer off the right field foul pole. Mejia’s fourth hit of the night brought in another run to give the Redbirds a 9-6 lead in the eighth.
Corey Walter was tagged with the loss after he allowed three runs in two relief innings. Every Sounds batter had at least one hit.
The series finale is scheduled for Monday night at First Tennessee Park. Right-hander Daniel Mengden (2-1, 2.21) starts for Nashville against right-hander John Gant (4-5, 4.24) for Memphis. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

Led by a surging offense and a solid outing by Carlos Martinez, the Cardinals made it eight in a row on Saturday night with a 6-5 victory over the Braves at Busch Stadium.

St. Louis extended its season-long winning streak to eight games and took the series win despite a comeback attempt by the Braves in the ninth inning. The Cardinals have won all five of their games against the Braves this season.

Atlanta looked to be in command of the game early, establishing a two-run lead in the first. The Cardinals responded quickly, however, scoring a run in the each of the first two innings, including a game-tying solo homer by Randal Grichuk, his 15th of the year.
The Redbirds’ offense kicked into high gear in the fourth inning, taking a commanding three-run lead after Lucas Sims hit two batters and gave up three hits. Sims finished his third career start after 5 1/3 innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on 10 hits.
Brandon Phillips responded with a solo home run in the fifth to bring the Braves within two. But once again the Cardinals responded when Paul DeJong hit his team-leading 17th home run of the year. The three-run deficit looked to be insurmountable until Trevor Rosenthal gave up two runs in the ninth. The closer held on, however, to earn his seventh straight save.
Martinez gave up three runs on seven hits in six innings, with seven strikeouts, to earn his ninth win.
After surrendering back-to-back singles in the first inning, Martinez walked Nick Markakis to load the bases with just one out. He then allowed the Braves to take the lead on Kurt Suzuki’s two-run single. But the right-hander was able to limit the damage by setting down the next two batters, including a strikeout of Ozzie Albies. Martinez has now allowed runs in the opening inning of seven of his past eight starts.
The Cardinals offense got a huge boost in the fourth inning. With one out and a runner on third, Martinez assisted his own cause by hitting an RBI single that extended the inning. He also had an impressive dash to home plate from second on Tommy Pham’s RBI single to score the third run of the inning and give the Cardinals a three-run lead.

The Memphis Redbirds evened the four-game series with a 6-1 win over the Nashville Sounds in front of a sellout crowd of 11,193 fans at First Tennessee Park Saturday night.
The night belonged to the men on the mound as starters Daniel Gossett and Luke Weaver dueled throughout their respective outings. Gossett was tagged with the unfortunate loss after allowing a pair of runs on six hits over six innings. The right-hander matched a career-high with 10 strikeouts.
Weaver was just as good and earned his 10th win of the season. The right-hander limited the Sounds to one run on just three hits in six innings. He walked three and struck out five on the night.
The game was close throughout most of the night before Memphis plated three runs in the ninth to run away with the win.
Patrick Wisdom got the scoring started for the Redbirds when he launched a towering two-run homer off Gossett in the top of the second inning.
It stayed that way until the fifth when Nashville broke through against Weaver. Mark Canha drew a walk to start the frame, and moved to second on a base hit by Ryan Lavarnway. Canha scampered to third on a wild pitch, and then scored on a base hit to left-center by Franklin Barreto.
The 2-1 deficit is as close as the Sounds would get. Stephen Piscotty cracked a solo homer to left field off Sounds reliever Logan Bawcom in the eighth to extend the Redbirds lead to 3-1.
Raul Alcantara pitched the ninth for Nashville and allowed three runs on four hits as Memphis built a 6-1 lead.
Nashville’s offense went cold after Barreto’s run-scoring knock in the fifth. Weaver retired the side in the sixth before turning it over to the bullpen. Mark Montgomery tossed two perfect innings before Ryan Sheriff worked a 1-2-3 ninth.
The Sounds managed only three hits in the game and went just 1-for-4 with runners in scoring position. The final 14 batters were retired in order by Memphis pitching.
Game three of the four-game series is scheduled for Sunday night at First Tennessee Park. Right-hander Chris Jensen (5-1, 4.91) starts for the Sounds against right-hander Matt Pearce (2-1, 4.32) for the Redbirds. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.

Different opponent, same outcome.

The Cardinals kept their winning ways alive on Friday night with an 8-5 victory over the Braves at Busch Stadium to extend their streak to a season-best seven games. They have recorded eight runs in six consecutive wins, the first team to do so since the 2006 Braves. Meanwhile, Atlanta has lost 14 of its past 18 games.

The Cards scored early and often, posting a four-run second to grab a 4-0 lead. They proceeded to chase starter Mike Foltynewicz in the third after an RBI triple by Randal Grichuk and an RBI single by Adam Wainwright. The RBI was the right-hander’s 11th, which leads all Major League pitchers. He earned the win, allowing just one run on four hits through five innings.

Foltynewicz was lifted after 2 2/3 innings, giving up six runs on seven hits and walking four, tying his season high. Down 6-1, the Braves made things interesting in the sixth. Following an RBI single by Matt Adams, in his return to St. Louis after being traded by the Cardinals on May 20, Ozzie Albies smashed a 335-foot, three-run homer off Brett Cecil to bring the Braves within one.

But the Cardinals’ bullpen, with a two-run assist on Paul DeJong’s double in the eighth, was able to shut out the Braves the rest of the way, with Matt Bowman notching just his second career save.

 

Zach Neal fired seven strong innings to lead the Nashville Sounds to a 3-1 win over the Memphis Redbirds Friday night in front of 9,066 fans at First Tennessee Park.
Neal’s fantastic outing was the first time a Sounds starter went seven innings since Corey Walter tossed seven against New Orleans on June 20.
The lone run the right-hander allowed came in the first inning. Memphis first baseman Alex Mejia doubled to the right-center gap with two outs in the frame to put a runner in scoring position. Stephen Piscotty followed by hitting a high fly ball towards the left field wall. Nashville left fielder Kenny Wilson jumped at the wall and brought the ball back in play. It was originally ruled a two-run home run, but was overturned to a run-scoring double after the umpires gathered.
It remained 1-0 until the third when the Sounds got to Memphis starter Jack Flaherty. Matt McBride rifled a double down the left field line and Kenny Wilson bounced a base hit up the middle to score McBride and make it 1-1.
Jaff Decker followed with a base hit to left field to put runners at the corners for Yairo Muñoz. The center fielder hit a chopper to third that was gloved by Patrick Wisdom. His throw to the plate was late and the Sounds grabbed a 2-1 lead.
The minimal support was enough for Neal who scattered six hits over his seven innings of work. He faced the minimum in the fourth through sixth innings on the way to his third win of the season.
Chris Bassitt took over for Neal in the eighth and got some help from his middle infielders. After retiring Gabriel Lino on a fly out to start the inning, Bassitt issued a walk to Nick Martini. Rangel Ravelo followed and hit a ground ball that looked as if it were going to find center field. Instead, Sounds second baseman Melvin Mercedes made a diving stop to his right and flipped the ball to Franklin Barreto who stepped on second and fired to first for a spectacular inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.
Muñoz provided the Sounds with an insurance run in the home half of the eighth. He blasted a solo homer down the right field line to give Nashville a 3-1 lead. It was his seventh with the Sounds and 13th overall in 2017.
Lou Trivino handled the ninth with ease as he recorded a 1-2-3 inning to notch the first Triple-A save of his career.
Muñoz and Wilson each had multi-hit games for Nashville.
Game two of the four-game series is scheduled for Saturday night at First Tennessee Park. Right-hander Daniel Gossett (3-3, 3.78) starts for the Sounds against right-hander Luke Weaver (9-2, 2.64) for the Redbirds. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.

The Coffee County Middle School football team opened the season in Tullahoma in the Coffee Cup rivalry game with Tullahoma.  In a game you heard here on Thunder Radio, as part of the 1^st National Bank Hometown Sports Series, the Raiders had trouble tackling and stopping the strong running attack of the Wildcats in a 38 to 0 defeat.

After stopping the Raiders in their first possession, Tullahoma scored on a 40 yard run on their first play from scrimmage.  The 2 point conversion made it 8 to 0.  The Cats tacked their 2^nd touchdown in their 2^nd possession to take a 16 to 0 lead.  It appeared that Coffee County had cut the deficit to a touchdown in the second quarter when Connor Shemwell hit Ethan Baker on a 30 yard touchdown pass only to have the play called back due to a penalty on a late flag.

Tullahoma tacked on 3 more touchdowns in the 3^rd quarter to take the 38 point lead and make the 4^th quarter a running clock.  Coffee County was able to move the ball effectively late, but ran out of time inside the 15 yard line.

Connor Shemwell faced pressure all night when he dropped back to pass but was able to complete passes of more than 10 yards to Ethan Baker and Elijah Clemmons.  Baker and Kelby Walker ran the ball effectively for Coffee County when they could get to the perimeter.

The Raiders are back in action on Thursday night when they travel to Cleveland to take on Lake Forest Middle School.  That game is set to begin at 7 PM EDT and 6 PM Central time.  You can download a copy of the broadcast at: http://www.thunder1320.com/downloads/

The Westwood football team opened their season on the road taking on another set of Rockets from Forrest.  Despite a 55 yard touchdown run from Trenton Thompson in the 4^th quarter, the Rockets fell by a final score of 30 to 8.  Thompson tacked on the 2 point conversion as he scored on a bootleg.

Westwood moved the ball well in the first half as they twice reached the red zone before the Forrest defense stiffened.  Westwood trailed 14 to 0 at the half.  In the second half, poor tackling led to some big plays for Forrest as Westwood entered the 4^th quarter down 30 to 0.  Thompson’s score gave the Rockets some momentum heading into a 2 game schedule next week.

Thompson finished the game with more than 100 yards rushing for Westwood.  Connor Heaton ran the ball well for Westwood between the tackles.  Another bright spot for the Rockets from Manchester was the ability to move the ball during the game against a strong Forrest squad.

The Rockets will be back in action on Tuesday when they travel to Murfreesboro for a 6:30 game with Middle Tennessee Christian.  The Rockets return home on Thursday for their home opener as they welcome Cascade to Dyer-Bouldin Field.  Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you that broadcast as part of the First National Bank Hometown Sports Series.  Kickoff is set for 6:30 PM, we will begin our broadcast with the pregame show at 6:20.

The Coffee County Middle School volleyball team opened the season at North Franklin  on Thursday with a conference match. The Lady Raiders controlled the play at the net winning in straight sets. Coffee County won by scores of 25-23 and 25-18. Kiya Ferrell led the Lady Raiders in kills.
The Lady Raiders will be back in action on Monday when they travel to Shelbyville. The Lady Raiders will take on Harris Middle School. First serve is set for 5 PM

The Lady Raider soccer team finished off their preseason preparations on Thursday with a 6 to 0 scrimmage win over Ooltewah.  As was the case on Tuesday night, Coffee County was able to show their versatility and depth on offense as the Lady Raiders got goals from 6 different players.  The one area that Coach David Amado hoped to improve on was his defense and the Lady Raiders were able to shut out the Lady Owls in the impressive friendly win at the Raider Soccer Field.

The Lady Raiders opened the scoring in the 24^th minute as Reagan Ellison banged in a corner kick.  Emilee Roberson added the second goal in the 32^nd minute off an assist from Sam Ellison.  In the 2^nd half, Allie Amado put away a free kick in the 52^nd minute to put the Lady Raiders up 3 to 0.  Jenna Garretson scored in the 63^rd minute off an assist from Reyna Flores.  Jessica Barrera scored in the 64^th minute as Reagan Ellison provided the assist and Sam Ellison closed out the scoring on an assist by Maddy Jones in the 75^th minute.

The Lady Raiders open the season on the road on Tuesday as they travel to Smyrna.  That game is set to kick-off at 7 PM.