Category: Sports

An early pitchers’ duel turned into a bullpen battle in extra innings, but Kurt Suzuki’s second homer of the day propelled the Braves to 12-inning, 4-3 win over the A’s Sunday afternoon, completing a series sweep at the Coliseum.

Against his old team, Suzuki went to nearly the same spot with both his homers, including the game-winning shot in the 12th off A’s reliever John Axford. It’s just the third career multi-homer game for the catcher.
“I told him yesterday, ‘I’ve got to break you out or these people around here are going to kill me,'” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “It was great. It couldn’t happen to a better guy. It’s nice to see when good things happen to the good guys.”
Each team scored once in the 11th. The Braves tallied their run when Matt Kemp’s deep drive to the center-field wall hit off a leaping Jaycob Brugman, falling to the warning track for a go-ahead double to score Nick Markakis.
The A’s got one back in the bottom half when Bruce Maxwell hit a one-out single to right off Braves closer Jim Johnson, scoring Khris Davis. But with the bases loaded and one out, Braves All-Star Ender Inciarte made a sliding catch in center to keep A’s All-Star Yonder Alonso at third, and Johnson struck out Rajai Davis looking to end the inning.
“Obviously we had one big inning where we had a chance to win it, and we didn’t,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “We didn’t do much before that, but maximized our opportunity in one inning and couldn’t come through, and it ended up costing us.”
The Braves scored twice in the second inning, with Suzuki’s first homer leading off the inning before Inciarte added a two-out RBI double, scoring Danny Santana. It was the only damage A’s starter Sean Manaea allowed. He pitched a season-long 7 1/3 innings and gave up six hits and two walks, striking out six.
After six scoreless frames off Braves starter Julio Teheran, the A’s answered with two runs in the seventh, started off by Davis’ leadoff homer to center. After a single and two walks led to Teheran being pulled from the game, Adam Rosales hit a sacrifice fly, tying the game. Teheran finished the day with 6 1/3 innings pitched, allowing two runs on three hits and four walks, with eight strikeouts.
“Julio was really good. Really good. He was on the attack and spotting the ball up,” Snitker said. “He just lost his command there a bit in the seventh when he walked the two guys, but we put him in a tough situation there. He battled really well, it’s just a shame he couldn’t come away with something for it.”
After the Braves had already scored twice in the second inning, a Brandon Phillips two-out single to right looked like it could get Inciarte home from second base. But A’s right fielder Matt Olson fielded the ball cleanly and fired a strike home, giving catcher Maxwell just enough time to tag Inciarte out and end the inning.
After the A’s tied the game in the 11th and loaded the bases with one out, Johnson got Rosales to hit a popup to shallow center. The ball looked like it was going to fall between the outfielders and infielders, but Inciarte raced in from center and made a sliding catch 205 feet from home plate, according to Statcast™. Inciarte quickly popped up and threw home, keeping Alonso at third base.
“The last couple pitches, I moved forward a little more and a little more. If I was playing where I normally play, I don’t catch that ball,” Inciarte said.
The Braves return home for a quick two-game Interleague series against the Astros beginning at 6:35 p.m. CT on Tuesday. Young left-hander Sean Newcomb (1-2, 1.48 ERA) will take the mound coming off his first Major League win in San Diego on Wednesday, when he threw six scoreless innings and struck out eight.

For the second straight night, the Nashville Sounds walked off on the Oklahoma City Dodgers in the bottom of the ninth inning to score a win at First Tennessee Park. Jaff Decker raced home from third on a throwing error by Oklahoma City’s Max Muncy to give the Sounds a 5-4 win in front of 9,407 fans Sunday night.

With the game square at 4-4 in the bottom of the ninth, Decker’s two-out base hit sparked the game-winning rally. The speedy center fielder swiped second base and moved to third on Ross Stripling’s wild pitch.

Marcus Semien drew a walk to put runners at first and third for Joey Wendle. The Sounds’ second baseman hit a ground ball that was gloved by Muncy at third base, but his throw pulled Scott Van Slyke off the first base bag as Decker crossed home plate with the winning run.

It’s the sixth walk-off win of the season for the Sounds (40-42), and second in as many nights against the Dodgers.

Nashville led for most of the game as early runs allowed starter Chris Smith to cruise early. Wendle’s first of three doubles came in the first inning and scored Decker to even the game at 1-1. An RBI groundout from Mark Canha gave the Sounds a 2-1 lead after an inning.

After Yairo Muñoz scored on a wild pitch in the second to make it 3-1, Smith kept Oklahoma City off the board until the sixth. Scott Van Slyke’s solo homer in the top of the sixth made it a 3-2 game.

Smith worked six innings and held the Dodgers to two runs on seven hits. It was the first time a Sounds starter went at least six innings since Corey Walter tossed seven on June 20th.

Jermaine Curtis provided the Sounds with an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth when he singled home Beau Taylor with a two-out knock.

The hit proved large as Oklahoma City evened the game in the seventh against reliever Josh Smith. Brett Eibner homered and Drew Maggi plated Tim Locastro with a squeeze bunt to make it 4-4.

It remained that way until the ninth when Decker’s two-out single started the rally. Decker, Wendle, and Curtis had multi-hit games for the Sounds while Simon Castro picked up his third win of the season with a scoreless top of the ninth.

The series finale between the Sounds and Dodgers is set for Monday night at First Tennessee Park. Right-hander Frankie Montas (0-1, 7.71) starts for Nashville against right-hander Fabio Castillo (4-3, 3.47) for Oklahoma City. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

The Braves capitalized on Oakland miscues to beat the A’s, 4-3, Saturday afternoon and take the series at the Coliseum.

Dansby Swanson went 2-for-4 with two RBI doubles, including one to left in the ninth inning after Danny Santana reached on an error from A’s shortstop Franklin Barreto. Swanson also doubled home Santana in the seventh after Santana reached when Barreto collided with left fielder Matt Joyce.
Earlier, Santana kicked off the scoring with an RBI double in the second, scoring catcher Tyler Flowers after he reached on a Barreto throwing error. The Braves tacked on one more run in the eighth on a Matt Adams sacrifice fly.
The A’s tied the game in the eighth when slugger Khris Davis turned around a 97-mph fastball from Braves reliever Arodys Vizcaino and blasted it to center for his 22nd homer of the season. The two-run shot went 458 feet, his longest of 2017 according to Statcast™.
The A’s lone damage off of Braves starter R.A. Dickey came in the fourth, when third baseman Ryon Healy singled home Davis. Dickey finished the day with six hits and three walks allowed in six innings, striking out four.
In his Major League debut, local kid Paul Blackburn was excellent for the A’s, giving up one unearned run on three hits and a walk across six innings. The right-hander from Antioch struck out four and left the game to a standing ovation in front of family and friends.
The A’s were on the doorstep of taking the lead in the fourth and the fifth, but Dickey was able to escape each inning with the game tied. Oakland tied it in the fourth with four straight one-out baserunners, drawing a walk and getting three singles. With the bases loaded, Dickey got a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning. Then, in the fifth, the A’s had runners on first and third with two outs, but Dickey froze Davis with a knuckleball and struck him out looking.
When Santana popped a ball to shallow left with one out in the seventh, Barreto and Joyce both raced to the ball. Barreto caught the ball, but the two collided, jarring the ball loose from the shortstop’s glove. Santana reached safely and scored the go-ahead run on Swanson’s double.

Marcus Semien’s first game in a Sounds uniform was a memorable one as he lifted Nashville past Oklahoma City 5-4 with a two-run, walk-off single. The win snapped a seven-game drought against the Dodgers.

The Sounds jumped out to an early lead as Semien, with the team on a rehab assignment from Oakland, scampered home on a wild pitch from Dodgers starter Scott Barlow. Nashville doubled its lead the next inning. Beau Taylor roped a double down the right field line and came home to score when Yairo Munoz lined a pitch back up the middle into center field.

In the top of the fourth inning Oklahoma City cut the lead in half. Willie Calhoun led off with a soft line drive into center field followed by a ground rule double to straight-away center field from Scott Van Slyke. Kyle Farmer drove in the first run for the Dodgers on a ground out to third. Bobby Wilson knotted the game at two runs apiece as he laced a single to left field.

Nashville loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning but came up empty. Mark Canha smoked a ground rule double into right center field, which kept Ryan Lavarnway from scoring. Taylor was intentionally walked to set up a double-play situation, which is exactly what Joe Broussard was able to induce. Matt McBride tapped a ground ball to the shortstop, Farmer who was able to begin the inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.

The game remained tied at two until the top of the seventh inning. Brett Eibner worked a two-out walk, which brought Willie Calhoun to the plate. Calhoun then unloaded on a 1-0 pitch from Felix Doubront and deposited it just inside the right field foul pole to put the Dodgers on top 4-2.

The Sounds sliced the lead in half in the bottom of the seventh inning. Kenny Wilson opened up the frame with a single and came around to score as Joey Wendle beat out a double-play attempt for a 1-4-6 fielder’s choice.

Matt McBride struck out to begin the bottom of the ninth inning but the next three batters all reached base to give the Sounds the victory. Munoz singled and advanced to third on Wilson’s double. Semien then stepped up to the dish and put the finishing touches on the ball game with a line drive walk-off single to center field to plate Munoz and Wilson.

In his second career Triple-A start, Ben Bracewell lasted four innings and yielded a pair of runs on six hits. He walked two and struck out three.

Munoz collected his first multi-hit game at the Triple-A level. The 22-year-old Dominican collected a trio of singles to go 3-for-4 on the evening.

Game three of the four-game series is set for Sunday night at First Tennessee Park. Right-hander David Hale (1-0, 3.60) starts for the Sounds against right-hander Scott Barlow (1-0, 0.00) for the Dodgers. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

In his first career ninth-inning appearance, Mike Foltynewicz nearly snapped a 23-year drought.

The 25-year-old Atlanta Braves right-hander flirted with the franchise’s first no-hitter since 1994 in a 3-1 win over the Oakland Athletics on Friday night. Oakland first baseman Matt Olson logged the first hit against Foltynewicz in style, clearing the right-field fence in the first at-bat of the final frame to break up the party.

Braves manager Brian Snitker immediately congratulated and relieved his young starter, who hit his career high with 119 pitches.

The remaining Oakland crowd gave Foltynewicz a standing ovation as he walked off the field.

“I don’t even know what to say right now,” Foltynewicz said after the outing. “It was a great time out there. Just everything, the energy. I was working well. I was working fast, just working downhill.

“My off-speed wasn’t really there. It was kind of a weird night. I was kinda like really effectively wild, you know? Some pitches, four in a row I wouldn’t get close to the zone and then I’d put (together) a really good sequence to get some hitters. It was a really fun night out there.”

The eight-inning effort lowered Folty’s ERA by 38 points. He finished the effort with eight strikeouts and four walks. But he was thinking about history all along.

Kent Mercker was the last Braves pitcher to complete a no-hitter on April 8, 1994, with Javy Lopez behind the plate. Before that? Setting aside a 1991 combined no-hitter, Phil Niekro was the second-to-last Braves starter to refuse his opponent a single hit — shutting out the Padres back in 1973.

The Oklahoma City Dodgers scored multiple runs in the first three innings and raced to a 12-6 win over the Nashville Sounds in front of a sellout crowd of 11,080 at First Tennessee Park Friday night.

Oklahoma City hitters racked up five multi-hit games, including a four-hit night from former Sound Max Muncy and a three-hit games from Alex Verdugo. The one-two combo at the top of the lineup combined to score six runs and drive in four.
Verdugo and Muncy each had three hits in the first three innings, and Muncy added his fourth of the game in as many innings.

The Dodgers scored two in the first, five in the second, four in the third, and a single tally in the fourth. Sounds (38-42) starter Corey Walter was charged with a career-high 11 earned runs in just 2 2/3 innings.

Nashville’s offense did what it could to keep the game tight in the first couple of innings but Oklahoma City’s prodigious offensive night was too much to handle.

A sacrifice fly from Renato Nunez evened the game in the first, but the five runs the Dodgers scored made it a 7-2 game.

Mark Canha got one back in the bottom of the second when he cracked his seventh homer of the season. Yairo Muñoz added a sacrifice fly to trim the deficit to 7-4, but that’s as close as the game would be the rest of the way.

Oklahoma City sent nine batters to the plate in both the second and third innings as they scored nine runs over the two frames.

The Dodgers’ bullpen trio of Ross Stripling, Josh Ravin, and Jacob Rhame limited the Sounds to one run over the final six innings.

Catcher Ryan Lavarnway tossed a 1-2-3 top of the ninth inning and had two hits at the dish. Canha and Matt McBride added multi-hit games for the Sounds.

The Sounds cut the lead in half in the bottom of the ninth inning when Beau Taylor picked up his first career Triple-A RBI on a ringing double off the center field fence.

Game two of the four-game series is set for Saturday night at First Tennessee Park. Right-hander Ben Bracewell (0-1, 0.00) starts for the Sounds against right-hander Scott Barlow (1-0, 0.00) for the Dodgers. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

Tori Bell’s high school softball career has been one of testing injuries and triumphant moments. Bookended by a pair of trips to the state tournament in her freshmen and senior years, Bell enjoyed a 4 year career that saw her play every game she was physically able to play. Bell also managed to wow teammates, opponents and fans with outstanding defensive plays and a thunderous bat.

That career came to a close on Wednesday and true to form, Tori went out on a high note in the Tennessee Softball Coaches Association’s Kentucky/ Tennessee All-Star softball game. Bell qualified for the interstate rivalry battle by winning the Tennessee All-Star game home run derby and a 4 for 6 plate performance in the June 13th all-star showcase at Trevecca. On Wednesday, Bell repeated the Home Run Derby sweep as she clobbered 21 home runs to easily out distance the 2nd place player who finished with 8.

In spite of a 2 for 6 day at the plate by Tori, the Tennessee All-Stars lost the best of 3 rivalry series 2 games to 1. Bell finished with a solo home run and 2 RBI in the 3 game series. Team Tennessee fell in the first game 5 to 3 before tying the series in Game #2 with a 2 to 1 win. Kentucky won the 3rd game 3 to 2 to capture their 2nd straight series win. Kentucky now leads the overall series 7 to 5. Bell now will move to the college ranks as she has signed to play with national power Chattanooga State in the fall.

(Thanks to Demarco Moore of the Manchester Times for his help in this story)

How filthy was Dinelson Lamet during the Padres’ 6-0 victory on Thursday night? Well, the Braves couldn’t quite believe it for themselves. So, with his club struggling to muster any offense in the top of the sixth, Atlanta skipper Brian Snitker asked that Lamet be checked for a foreign substance.

The verdict: Lamet’s stuff was real — and it was spectacular.
Lamet used his nasty three-pitch mix to shut down the Braves over seven scoreless innings, allowing just four hits and striking out eight. The rookie right-hander also brushed aside potential controversy with the poise of a veteran. Umpires inspected a dirt mark on the side of Lamet’s pants, quickly ruling that he had done no wrong.
“Some guys put the sunscreen and all of that,” said Snitker. “I didn’t know if he had something on there because he kept going to it all of the time. So, I just wanted them to check it.”
Said Lamet: “I just kind of smiled, because I knew they weren’t going to find anything. You’re going to see that mud on my pants before the game, you’re going to see that mud after the game. It’s just something I always do. I always touch my mouth, I always [touch] the mound.”
Lamet got right back to work and completed the longest outing of his young career. In fact, he might have been at his best in the immediate aftermath, punctuating the sixth inning with a nasty slider to get Matt Kemp looking.
“That’s their job to make me lose concentration. For me, it was just about staying focused out there, keep making pitches and getting outs.”
Wil Myers and Hunter Renfroe, continuing their duel for the Padres’ home run lead, made sure Lamet had more than enough offense to work with. Myers took sole possession in the third with a two-run shot off Braves starter Jaime Garcia. But Renfroe, who went 3-for-4, added a two-run blast of his own in the fifth, tying Myers with 16 dingers apiece. Fellow rookie Manuel Margot also had three knocks, his second consecutive multi-hit effort.
Garcia allowed six runs over six-plus innings, while striking out six. The Braves lefty has allowed six earned runs in each of his past three starts. He hadn’t allowed more than four earned runs in any of the previous 12 starts made this season.
“I’m very disappointed in myself,” Garcia said. “It’s a tough one. Those guys are good hitters at the top of the strike zone. I was trying to execute a changeup at the bottom of the strike zone [against Myers in the third inning] and it stayed up. It’s a tough one.”
On Tuesday, a misinterpretation of the Petco Park ground rules cost Myers a homer. He left no doubt Thursday. Myers crushed 1-0 changeup off the Western Metal Building, putting the Padres on top, 3-0, in the third. Upon his return to the dugout, a couple of teammates playfully informed Myers they thought the play should be reviewed. But — this time, at least — there was no need for it.
“I’m glad I cleared the wall,” Myers quipped. “There was no question about that one. I was happy there was no review.”
Even by Renfroe’s absurdly lofty standards, Thursday’s homer was a moonshot. Garcia tried to dot the outside corner with a changeup, and Renfroe crushed it 444 feet to straightaway center field. It was the longest homer of Renfroe’s young career and the longest at Petco Park this season.
Mike Foltynewicz will be on the mound when a three-game series in Oakland begins Friday at 9:05 p.m. CT. Foltynewicz has allowed two earned runs or fewer in four of his past five starts.

The Round Rock Dance Halls claimed the Battle for the Boot trophy with a 10-0 win over the Nashville Honky Tonks in front of a sellout crowd of 10,210 at First Tennessee Park Thursday night.

The inaugural two-game home-and-home series went to Round Rock with wins on May 5th at Dell Diamond and Thursday night’s drubbing.

The series finale belonged to Round Rock from start to finish as the Dance Halls started the scoring in the second and never looked back.

Brett Nicholas sent a pitch from Nashville starter Zach Neal deep into The Band Box for a solo home run and 1-0 lead. The barrage continued in the third when Jared Hoying plated a run with a double, and Ryan Rua made it a 3-0 game with a run-scoring base hit to left field.

The Dance Halls out-hit the Honky Tonks, 17-3, and got multi-hit games from five different players. Jurickson Profar led the way with a perfect 4-for-4 night at the plate.

Round Rock added two runs in the fifth, two in the sixth, two in the seventh, and a single tally in the ninth. Neal allowed four runs on 10 hits in four innings and was tagged with the loss.

The offense never materialized for Nashville in the loss. Hits came from Jaff Decker, Ryan Lavarnway, and Beau Taylor. Decker’s single in the first extended his hitting streak to a season-best nine games.

Nashville managed only two at bats with runners in scoring position and came up empty both times.

Clayton Blackburn stymied Nashville’s lineup for six innings. The right-hander earned his second win of the season by limiting Nashville to the three hits while racking up nine strikeouts.

The Sounds welcome the Oklahoma City Dodgers for the first of a four-game series set to begin Friday night at First Tennessee Park. Right-hander Corey Walter (2-3, 3.38) starts for the Sounds against right-hander Justin Masterson (6-4, 3.98) for the Dodgers. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

Coffee County’s Benjamin Reid was selected last week as a member of the 2nd team of the Tennessean All-Midstate soccer team. Benjamin, a rising senior, was selected as a defender. Reid and Lincoln County’s James Fee were the only District 8AAA players selected for the team as Fee was also listed as a 2nd team defender.
Reid, a 3 year starter for Coffee County, served as the only junior captain for this year’s District 8AAA regular season champion Red Raider squad. Reid was selected as the District 8AAA Defensive Player of the Year and a member of the All-District team for the 3rd year in a row. Earlier in June, Reid was selected by the readers of the Tennessean as the YMCA Good Sportsmanship Award winner. Reid was one of only 4 juniors selected to the 1st or 2nd team.
Reid will be a guest on Saturday’s Coffee Coaches Show to talk about his award filled summer. The Coffee Coaches Show is broadcast live each Saturday morning from 10 to 11 AM from the showroom of Al White Ford/Lincoln. The Coffee Coaches Show is heard exclusively on Thunder Radio at 107.9 FM and AM 1320. It can also be heard online at www.WMSRradio.com