Category: Sports

A little less than 24 hours after blowing a ninth-inning lead, the Pirates staged a ninth-inning rally against a thin Braves bullpen, then added seven more runs in the 10th inning to cruise to a 12-5 win on Wednesday night at SunTrust Park.

After Gift Ngoepe’s go-ahead RBI double and Josh Harrison’s two-run single, David Freese, Jose Osuna and Jordy Mercer hit back-to-back-to-back homers off right-hander Josh Collmenter.
“Just considering where we’ve been at so far to this point of the season, it’s nice to know that guys are still going up there battling,” Harrison said. “We’re not quitting until that last out. You’ve got to make all the outs. If you give us a little breathing room, we’re going to try to take advantage of it.”
Collmenter, a long reliever, pitched the 10th because the Braves wanted to stay away from closer Jim Johnson and setup man Arodys Vizcaino. This decision also influenced the ninth, during which Jose Ramirez squandered a two-run lead when Osuna hit a two-run single.
Jace Peterson’s two-run double capped a four-run sixth inning that blemished what had previously been an impressive start by Pirates right-hander Trevor Williams. Peterson’s second-inning error gave Adam Frazier a chance to drill a three-run homer, which accounted for the three unearned runs allowed by Braves starter Julio Teheran. The right-hander retired 13 of the final 15 batters he faced and halted the struggles he’d endured while producing a 10.50 ERA in his previous five home starts.
“[Teheran] was incredible tonight,” Peterson said. “In the second inning, if I make that play up the middle, that limits the damage big time. It’s unfortunate we got the loss. But we battled back, and he threw great. Everything was explosive coming out of his hand tonight.”
Ramirez saw his 1.31 ERA rise to 2.08, as he squandered the Braves’ 5-3 lead in the ninth. The hard-throwing right-hander surrendered consecutive hits to open the inning, then issued a two-out walk to Freese before Osuna drilled a game-tying, two-run single to left field.
“He was the freshest one down there, and he has been doing a great job,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “That ninth inning is a different animal, until you’ve experienced it. It was a good opportunity to experience that, as he had been pitching well enough, and I had confidence in him to go out there and seal the game.”
Andrew McCutchen opened the 10th-inning rally with a leadoff single, then advanced to second base on Chris Stewart’s sacrifice bunt. This set the stage for Ngoepe to deliver his decisive double down the right-field line against Collmenter, who has allowed 15 earned runs over his past eight innings (six appearances).
“That guy’s a little funky up there,” Ngoepe said of Collmenter. “He just threw me a pitch that I could throw my hands out there, and put it in play. … Coming back from a game like last night, coming back today, all tied up in the ninth and it’s just chaos going, it’s awesome to be a part of the 10th inning.”
With a homer, a single and four walks, Frazier became the first Pirates player to reach base six times in a game, without an error, since Neil Walker on Aug. 12, 2012. Frazier is the first player in at least 100 years to walk four times with two hits, including a homer, while batting leadoff.
Collmenter became the fifth reliever in Braves history to allow seven earned runs or more, while working one inning or less. The most recent was John Smoltz, who allowed eight earned runs to the Mets, while recording just two outs, on April 6, 2002. Smoltz went on to record 55 saves that year — his first full season as a closer.
Bartolo Colon will take the mound to conclude the four-game series against the Pirates on Thursday. Colon, who turned 44 on Wednesday, has pitched more effectively during his past two outings, but he still hasn’t come close to meeting the expectations of his one-year, $12.5 million contract.

The cool weather cooled off the Sounds bats but they found other ways to score on a soggy night at First Tennesse Park. Patience at the plate, savvy base running, and dominant pitching were part of the Sounds’ recipe for success in their 4-0 shutout of the Omaha Storm Chasers.

The shutout for the Sounds was their second straight and third in the past six games. Nashville is 4-2 in shutout games this season.

Paul Blackburn became the fourth straight Sounds starter to record a scoreless outing, extending the rotation’s stretch to 29.0 consecutive scoreless frames. Blackburn lasted a season-high seven innings and allowed just five hits while striking out six batters. He threw 98 pitches for the second straight start to match his career-high.

The Sounds jumped out to an early lead for the ninth straight game as Matt Olson laced a double to right field in the opening inning. For Olson it was his team-leading 32nd RBI of the season. Then in the second inning the Sounds hitters displayed their patience at the plate, drawing four consecutive walks, which gave Jaycob Brugman an RBI the easy way and made it 2-0. On the night, Omaha starter Josh Staumont issued seven free passes.

As the rain began to fall from the sky in the fifth inning Franklin Barreto led off by roping a double to left field and advanced to third on a groundout. Matt Chapman stepped up to the plate and grounded a ball to the second baseman Ramon Torres who went home with the throw as Barreto was going on contact. Torres’ throw was low and unable to be corralled by catcher, Parker Morin, which allowed Barreto to slide in safely.

Nashville closed out the scoring in the seventh as Melvin Mercedes bunted his way aboard then advanced to second on a balk and to third on a groundout. He then came in to score on a wild pitch from Mark Peterson to give the Sounds their fourth and final run.

Tucker Healy and Simon Castro put a bow on the ball game as they both tossed scoreless innings. For Healy he has now gone 11 1/3 straight scoreless innings, which matches him with Chris Smith for the longest such stretch this season.

Jaycob Brugman saw his career-long hitting streak snapped at 11 games as he went 0-for-1 but drew three walks. Olson extended his streak to nine straight games with a base hit.

The Sounds continue their nine-game, eight-day home stand tomorrow night against the Omaha Storm Chasers. Right-hander Raul Alcantara (0-1, 1.50) starts for Nashville against right-hander Yender Ceramo (0-3, 3.93) for Omaha. First pitch is slated for 6:35 p.m.

Cade Giles signs to play college baseball surrounded by family and coaches. Front Row(left to right) – Jeannie Giles, mother; Cade Giles; and Shelby Giles, sister. Back Row(left to right) Ryan Sulkowski, CHS Athletic Director; David Martin, CHS baseball coach; Brittany Williams, extended family.

Coffee County senior baseball player Cade Giles accepted a college scholarship on Tuesday to play college baseball at Chattanooga State. Giles will attend the Chattanooga community college in the fall. Giles, who was named the District 8AAA Most Valuable Player this season, is expected to compete for the starting job at 3rd base for the Tigers.

When asked what attracted him Chattanooga State, Giles was quick to point out that there is “a level of competition in all their practices and workouts.” Giles also loved the campus and the facilities. Furthermore, the relative close distance from home was a draw as well.

Coach David Martin called out Giles’ work ethic as the key to his future success at Chattanooga State. “Cade simply refuses to fail” said Martin. “That is one reason why he was a key leader in many of our late game comebacks this season.” Giles, who spent the first 3 years of his high school career at 2nd base, moved to 3rd base for most of his senior season for the Raiders due to an injury to Noah Anderson. “Cade learned the position quickly and allowed us to keep the same personnel in our hitting order” said Martin. “He has a very good baseball IQ.”
Chattanooga State competes in the Eastern Division of the Tennessee Community College Athletic Association and is coached by Greg Dennis who just finished his 14th season at the helm of the Tiger program.  Giles is the 2nd Red Raider baseball player to accept an offer to play college baseball in the last 2 years.

There is a recent trend of winning sweeping through Music City and Tuesday night was no different. Daniel Mengden was superb and the offense put on another show as the Sounds trounced the Omaha Storm Chasers 10-0. It was the third shutout in five games for the Sounds.

Mengden’s dominant performance followed suit with what Jharel Cotton and Daniel Gossett had done the previous two nights. The 24-year-old hurled seven shutout innings to extend the Sounds’ season long streak of 22 consecutive scoreless innings from the starting pitchers. The previous high was 20 1/3 innings. Mengden surrendered just three hits, struck out five batters, and issued no free passes en route to his second straight win.

Offensively for the Sounds it did not take long for Jaycob Brugman to set a new career-long hitting streak of 11 games. Brugman led off the home half of the first and stroked a 2-2 pitch in to center field. During his streak, he is batting .396 (19-for-48) with eight runs scored and six driven in.

The first three batters in the second inning for the Sounds reached base with softly hit singles. Ryan LaMarre proceeded to crush a bases clearing triple into the right center field alley and give the Sounds a 3-0 lead. It was the ninth consecutive game Nashville opened up the scoring. Melvin Mercedes sacrificed himself for the sake of LaMarre who came in to score on a fly ball to left field to make it 4-0.

Matt Chapman continued to torch Pacific Coast League pitching as he led off the third inning with a mammoth home run to left. It was his tenth home run on the season, all of which have come in the month of May. His ten home runs this month are tied for the second most in a single month for any Sounds hitter since 2005 and lead all of professional baseball. Chapman’s solo blast also marked the 42nd home run for Nashville in May which tied June 2011 as the most explosive month for the Sounds since 2005.

The offense did not stop there for the Sounds in the third. Joey Wendle and the birthday boy Matt McBride laced back-to-back two-baggers to add to the total. Chris Parmelee then smoked a pitch right back up the middle that caught Storm Chasers pitcher, Christian Binford, trickled into shallow left field and allowed McBride to come home. It was the second straight inning the first four Sounds to come to the plate recorded a base hit.

Chapman and Wendle began the fourth inning with back-to-back triples and McBride drove in Wendle on a sacrifice to add to the already comfortable Sounds lead. Wendle collected his fourth hit in the eighth inning with an RBI single. The four hits for Wendle matched a career high, which he last accomplished in 2015. He finished a home run shy from the cycle.

The Sounds continue their nine-game, eight-day home stand tomorrow night against the Omaha Storm Chasers. Right-hander Paul Blackburn (2-4, 3.89) starts for Nashville against right-hander Josh Staumont (3-3, 3.32) for Omaha. First pitch is slated for 6:35 p.m.

Sarah Pearson clears a hurdle in Monday’s TSSAA state pentathlon at MTSU.

After hitting a hurdle in her first pentathlon event, then scratching on her first 2 long jumps, Sarah Pearson saw herself in next to last place at Monday’s TSSAA state pentathlon.  But the junior, in her 3^rd trip to the state pentathlon, was able to handle the pressure and rally in the final 3 events to capture a Top 10 finish.  Pearson ended up setting season best marks in the high jump, shot put and 800M to finish in 10^th place.

Coach Nathan Wanuch was proud of Pearson commending her for “fighting valiantly through injuries.”  He went on to say, “it speaks volumes about her talent to put up that kind of performance in spite of the pain and the lack of practice time in the jumping events.”  Pearson was happy with her performance in the final 2 events as she set new personal records (PR’s) while also setting her sights on a return next season.  After the event, Pearson had this to say:

Sarah Pearson clears 4′ 10″ in the high jump in Monday’s TSSAA state pentathlon at MTSU.

Pearson ran a time of 16.78 in 100M hurdles and she jumped 14’10.75” in the long jump.  Pearson captured a 4^th place event finish in the high jump as she cleared 4’ 10” and a third place finish in the shot put with a new personal record 30’ 10 ¼”.  In the 800M run, Pearson finished with a time of 2:34.15.

Pearson returns to MTSU’s Dean Hayes Track on Thursday, along with teammate Karson Young, for the girls’ individual finals.  Pearson will run in the 300M hurdles while Young will compete in the 100M hurdles, the long jump, the triple jump and the high jump.  The day’s events will get underway at 9 AM.  For a complete schedule, visit:  http://tssaa.org/2017-tssaa-state-track-meet-schedule/

The Nashville Predators receive the Campbell Bowl as the NHL Western Conference champions[Photo courtesy of Nashville Predators]

Colton Sissons recorded a hat trick and the Preds defeated the Anaheim Ducks by a 6-3 final in Game Six to advance to their first Stanley Cup Final in franchise history. It’s undoubtedly the most monumental victory the team has ever had, and although they’re not done yet, they’re going to enjoy this one for the night.

“It’s a dream come true,” goaltender Pekka Rinne said. “But it’s a funny thing, though. With everything that’s happening around us, you still feel hungry, and now we have a chance to play for the Cup. It’s a pretty amazing feeling. And you’ve been working for that for a long, long time.”

Game Six couldn’t have started any better for the Preds, as Austin Watson threw a puck at the net just 1:21 into the contest, and the shot found its way off an Anaheim defender and past Jonathan Bernier for a 1-0 Nashville lead. Sissons doubled that number at the 8:47 mark, wiring a shot into the twine to give the Preds a 2-0 advantage after one period.

Despite the score, it was Anaheim who carried the play for the majority of the first two periods, and they cut the lead in half early in the second when Ondrej Kase slid a puck into a yawning cage past Pekka Rinne to get the Ducks on the board, a score that stood after 40 minutes.

Once the third period began, Sissons took over. First, he banged home a loose puck in the front of the net, and after Anaheim battled back to tie the game at three, it was Sissons again, this time one-timing home a feed from Calle Jarnkrok to put the Preds up for good. Empty-net goals from Filip Forsberg and Austin Watson sealed it, and as the clock ticked down to zero, the Predators players made a beeline for their goaltender, the last team standing in the Western Conference.

“We started the year with all belief in this team to be able to go and try and win a Stanley Cup,” forward James Neal said. “Every single team says that and starts their journey through the regular season into the playoffs and so many teams make it to the playoffs and get a chance to play, and now we’re down to two. You love every guy in this dressing room, and what an unbelievable job they did tonight.”

To clinch it is one thing. But to do it at home, in front of the fans who have played such a key role in the team’s success, not only on this run, but from Day One of the franchise – that’s even better.

“Nashville has really taken on a life of its own,” Predators Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “I think the downtown and the energy that’s down here, I think our fans who have been so supportive for so many years, especially the last couple of years in the playoff runs that we’ve had, the energy that they bring into the building, and you guys see it just like we feel it on the bench. It goes to a level that I’m not sure goes anywhere else in the National Hockey League. And it’s a great relationship. Our fan base and our team is a terrific relationship, and they were there again for us tonight. It wasn’t our prettiest game out there. And they were right there with us the whole time.”

With their win in Game Six on Monday, the Predators captured their first Western Conference championship in franchise history. But that’s not the end goal. And now they’ll play for the sport’s ultimate prize.

“I’ve said it earlier in the playoffs that this team has a tremendous amount of composure; there’s so much confidence in this dressing room of what we can accomplish together if we play the right way,” defenseman P.K. Subban said. “Today maybe we didn’t get the start that we wanted, we got a couple of goals early but we still didn’t feel that we were playing our best hockey. But good teams find a way and we found a way.”

It’s moments like these where names became those of the household variety, and Colton Sissons’ hat trick in Game Six will do a world of good in adding his name to that list.

“It feels good; I’m not going to lie,” Sissons said. “I don’t think I even dreamt of this moment, scoring a hat trick in a Western Conference-clinching game. I can’t speak enough for just our whole group. We’ve been through some challenges together and we stuck together no matter what, just believed and here we are.”

The Predators will be jetting off to either Ottawa or Pittsburgh before May 29 in time for Game One of the Stanley Cup Final.

But no matter the opponent, no matter the venue, the Predators are Western Conference Champions. And no one can ever take that away.

“It’s almost like a thing you don’t want to think about too much,” Rinne said. “You have been holding it back, and in the back of your head you’ve been thinking about the Final, and then when the buzzer goes off, it’s an amazing feeling.”

Notes:

With his goal in the third period, Filip Forsberg recorded his 14th career postseason tally to become Nashville’s all-time leading goal scorer in the postseason.

Game One of the 2017 Stanley Cup Final is set for Monday, May 29 in either Ottawa or Pittsburgh. Game Two comes May 31 before the series will shift to Nashville for Games Three and Four on June 3 and 5, respectively.

Pete Weber’s call of the final seconds

Mike Foltynewicz bested Gerrit Cole through the first five innings and Ender Inciarte recorded a career-best five hits as the Braves received another stellar effort from their bullpen during Monday night’s 5-2 win over the Pirates at SunTrust Park.

Brandon Phillips belted his 200th career home run during a two-run third inning, and Matt Adams hit his first home run with the Braves to cap a three-run fifth inning against Cole, who allowed five earned runs for the first time since Opening Day and surrendered a season-high 10 hits over 4 2/3 innings. The Pirates’ ace entered having allowed two earned runs or fewer in each of his past seven starts.
“Their ability to put the bat on the ball tonight was very good,” Cole said. “I definitely made my fair share of mistakes in pitch selection and execution. They did a good job — a handful of broken bats fell for hits, a lot of screamers either at guys or in the gap.”
Foltynewicz allowed just one run through the first five innings, but exited after John Jaso’s RBI single accounted for the Pirates’ third consecutive hit to begin the sixth inning. Jason Motte entered and promptly retired three straight to strand runners at the corners and highlight the efforts of the recently stingy Braves bullpen, which hasn’t allowed a run in its past 20 1/3 innings or a hit over its past 15 1/3 innings.
“[Motte] is the player of the game,” Foltynewicz said after winning his third straight start. “It’s a very tough situation to put anybody in, with no outs and runners at the corners. To come out like that, that was the whole game right there. It’s awesome to see that. We’ve got one of the best bullpens in the game right now. So turning the ball over to any of them is no problem.”
After Josh Bell, Alen Hanson and Jaso chased Foltynewicz with three consecutive singles, the Braves called upon Motte, who hasn’t allowed a run over his past 10 1/3 innings. The former Cardinals closer recorded consecutive strikeouts of Francisco Cervelli and Jordy Mercer before inducing a Jose Osuna groundout that ended what proved to be the Pirates’ final threat.
“That’s a big situation; you’ve got the tying run up,” Motte said. “I was just coming in to try and leave it where it was. I came in trying to make my pitches, and I was able to do so and keep the ballgame where it was.”
Proving yet again the value of his production in the leadoff spot, Inciarte matched his previous career-best hit total through his first four plate appearances, then secured his first five-hit game with an eighth-inning single. His third-inning RBI single accounted for Atlanta’s first run, and his fifth-inning leadoff single helped extend that frame long enough for the recently acquired Adams to hit a two-run homer that traveled a projected 390 feet, per Statcast™.
“Inciarte just had a really good evening,” Cole said. “He was able to spoil a bunch of pitches in the first and had good at-bats throughout the game.”
Jim Johnson induces a groundout from Josh Harrison to secure the save in the Braves’ 5-2 victory over the Pirates
R.A. Dickey will take the mound when Atlanta and Pittsburgh resume the series Tuesday night. The knuckleballer has allowed eight home runs at home in 30 1/3 innings pitched.

Daniel Gossett dealt and the offense mashed as the Sounds capped off their eight-game road trip with a 9-3 handling of the Sacramento River Cats.

Gossett (2-4, 3.89) was spectacular as he mowed through the River Cats (16-27) line up to the tune of eight shutout innings including retiring the final 14 batters he faced. He needed just 91 pitches to get through a career-high eight innings and struck out six River Cats along the way while yielding just four singles.

Everyone got in on the action for the Sounds (20-19) offensively. All nine batters recorded a base hit and came around to score. For the second straight game Matt Olson did the heavy lifting as he drove in four of the nine runs on the night for the Sounds. Over the eight games in California Olson drove home 13 runs including seven in the final two games.

Like the previous seven games on the road trip the Sounds opened up the scoring. Chris Parmelee got the third inning started by roping a base hit into right field followed by singles from Kenny Wilson and Jaycob Brugman. The run scoring single for Brugman extended his hitting streak to ten games, which matches a career-long. With runners on the corners, Olson flexed his muscles and took the ball over the fence the opposite way to make it 4-0 Sounds.

Matt Chapman stayed hot in the fourth inning by leading off with a solo dinger, his ninth of the season, all of which have come in the month of May. Joey Wendle launched a two-run blast in the fifth inning to give the Sounds three homers on the night. Monday night’s trio of home runs gave the Sounds seven multi-home run games on the eight game road trip.

The River Cats avoided being blanked on back-to-back nights with a two-out rally in the ninth inning off Aaron Kurcz. Ryder Jones doubled, Austin Slater was hit by a pitch, and Jae-Gyun Hwang took Kurcz deep to put up a three spot on the scoreboard.

The win puts Nashville above .500 for the first time since April 8 when the Sounds were 2-1 after defeating Round Rock. They had been right at .500 six times since then but were never able to get over the hump.

The Sounds went 6-2 on the road trip, outscored their opponents 64-23 and outhit them 88-58.

The Sounds begin a nine-game, eight-day home stand Tuesday night against the Omaha Storm Chasers. Right-hander Daniel Mengden (1-1, 3.38) starts for Nashville against right-hander Christian Binford (3-0, 1.80) for Omaha. First pitch is slated for 6:35 p.m.

This might not have been as wacky as the 19-inning game these same two teams played in 2011. But a long rain delay combined with an exchange of ninth-inning rallies certainly made things interesting as the Braves completed a 6-5 win over the Pirates during the wee hours of Wednesday morning.

Nick Markakis gave the Braves life when he delivered a game-tying, two-out double off Tony Watson, and Matt Adams further endeared himself to his new teammates when he laced an opposite-field, walk-off single against the Pirates’ closer at 1:52 a.m. ET.
Watson had been granted a lead when Jordy Mercer’s two-out, two-run single off Jim Johnson in the top of the ninth ended the Braves bullpen’s scoreless streak at 23 innings.
“We were like, ‘If we are going to wait here this whole time, we might as well win the game,'” Braves second baseman Brandon Phillips said. “I think this is the longest I have been at the field. That is crazy, but baseball is life, and I’m happy we got the [win].”
With the Pirates leading 3-2 entering the seventh, the two teams sat through a three-hour, 12-minute rain delay before play resumed at 12:51 a.m. ET. Phillips and Matt Kemp recorded seventh-inning RBI singles to give the Braves a one-run lead that was preserved until the eventful ninth inning unfolded.
“The fight was there. They got their closer in and we’re down, and we fight back,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “Mercer gets a big hit after David Freese’s walk, and you put yourself in the position you want to be in: Watson with an opportunity to close. We’ll continue to play. We’ll continue to fight.”
Mercer’s sixth-ining solo shot — his first career opposite-field home run to clear an outfield wall — off R.A. Dickey sneaked just over the right-field wall to give the Pirates a two-run advantage that was reduced to one run when Adams opened the bottom half of the inning with his second home run since joining the Braves on Sunday.
Adams’ home run accounted for the last blemish on Tyler Glasnow’s line; he recorded a career-high three hits and managed to limit the Braves to just two runs despite allowing a season-high nine hits.
“We’ve had some wild finishes here,” Hurdle said. “The game ended up all over the place. At the end of the day, we were one run behind them.”
After Adams doubled and scored on Kurt Suzuki’s single in the fourth, Dickey’s two-out single brought Ender Inciarte to the plate with two on and a chance to record a hit in his eighth straight at-bat. But Glasnow escaped further damage when left fielder Adam Frazier hauled in Inciarte’s fly ball near the warning track.
Stingy bullpen: Alen Hanson’s two-out single off Sam Freeman in the seventh inning snapped the Braves bullpen’s streak of not allowing a hit over 16 consecutive innings, an Atlanta record. But Freeman and Arodys Vizcaino kept the scoreless streak alive until Johnson surrendered two singles and issued a walk before allowing the go-ahead single to Mercer, who kept the at-bat alive by fouling off a pair of two-strike pitches
“Normally J.J. doesn’t do that and things happen,” Phillips said. “It [stinks] that it happened, but we picked him up today. He was still in the dugout, and he was cheering us on. That is what we all do, and that’s what veterans do. I know everybody was happy to go home.”
Julio Teheran will take the mound when Atlanta and Pittsburgh resume their four-game series Wednesday night at 6:35 PM CT. Teheran has produced a 13.00 ERA over his past four home starts.