Category: Sports

Stanley Cup Playoffs(courtesy of NHL.com)

by Thomas Willis @TomAWillis / Digital Manager & Producer – Nashville Predators

Both the Nashville Predators and St. Louis Blues raced through their Round One series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and now the Central Division rivals will meet in the postseason for the first time ever.

The No. 3 and No. 4 finishers in the division, the Preds and Blues dominated their opponents – the Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild, respectively – en route to pulling off upsets in the First Round. Rivals for close to 20 years, the two clubs will now square off in a best-of-seven series that will begin in St. Louis sometime next week (with the schedule to be announced at a later date).

In the interim, let’s dive into the clubs’ five-game, regular-season series, four things that will define the playoff matchup and X-factors for both teams.

Season Series Refresh:

Nashville’s regular-season record versus St. Louis: 3-2-0

Scoring Leaders:

Goals: Nashville: Mike Fisher, Filip Forsberg, Calle Jarnkrok, Ryan Johansen, James Neal, Mike Ribeiro (2); St. Louis: David Perron, Vladimir Tarasenko (2)

Assists: Nashville: Filip Forsberg, Mike Ribeiro, Colin Wilson (3); St. Louis: Vladimir Tarasenko (3)

Points: Nashville: Filip Forsberg, Mike Ribeiro (5); St. Louis: Vladimir Tarasenko (5)

November 10, 2016, at Bridgestone Arena: Predators 3, Blues 1

After the Blues grabbed an early 1-0 lead, Calle Jarnkrok bookended the game-winning goal from James Neal with his second and third tallies of the campaign.

First, Colin Wilson threw a backhand feed into the slot where Jarnkrok rifled a shot by former Preds goaltender Carter Hutton at 18:26 of the second. Later, Neal and Jarnkrok both found twine in a 66-second span, with No. 18 netting the winning score by receiving a feed in tight and lifting it high over Hutton.

“It feels good,” Captain Mike Fisher, who returned from a three-game absence, said. “It was a big game against a really good team, and we got better as the game went on. It was a big win for us.

“We’re starting to play the way we know we can play. We’re just playing a lot better. We still feel like there’s room to improve in a lot of areas. It’s definitely a good sign that we’re finding ways to get points, and it’s nice to get a couple in a row.”

November 19, 2016, at Scottrade Center: Blues 3, Predators 1

Nine days after dropping a 3-1 contest in Nashville, the Blues returned the favor in their own barn.

A 1-1 score held until late in regulation when Kyle Brodziak scored with less than 13 minutes remaining in regulation. Four minutes later, Vladimir Tarasenko recorded his first of a team-leading two goals during the season series.

In an interesting note, this contest was the only matchup in the five-game season series that both teams’ No. 1 goalies, Jake Allen and Pekka Rinne, started and finished a game (Allen was pulled twice, while backup Juuse Saros started two games for Nashville and Carter Hutton did once for St. Louis).

“I thought we were good for two periods,” Nashville Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “They seemed to grab some momentum off of that power play to open the third period, and shortly after that, we just couldn’t seem to corral it. They gained some momentum… to start the third and we just couldn’t get going.”

“It was a close, tight game,” defenseman Roman Josi said. “It’s always tight games against St. Louis, not a lot of room out there. It was close, and they played better in the third.”

December 13, 2016, at Bridgestone Arena: Predators 6, Blues 3

Perhaps the most dramatic comeback of the Predators 2016-17 season, Nashville rallied from a three-goal deficit by scoring six unanswered goals.

Now on the Preds roster after being claimed on waivers, Brad Hunt’s first career goal put St. Louis up 3-0, less than two minutes into the second period. Roughly two minutes later, the comeback began in earnest, however, as James Neal netted his second of the season series with a wrister off the faceoff.

Filip Forsberg cut the deficit again, to 3-2, before the middle frame was out, and in the third, Mike Fisher scored twice, along with goals from Ryan Johansen and Mike Ribeiro.

“I think when it swung back the other way – and it was clearly evident – was James Neal’s goal just to get us on the board and get us going in the right direction,” Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “From that point, I thought our guys did an excellent job of playing the way we want to play.”

“It’s huge, confidence-wise,” forward Colton Sissons said. “We were coming in confident at home with a pretty solid record, but to have a comeback win like that against a team like the St. Louis Blues is huge for us.”

December 30, 2016 at Scottrade Center: Predators 4, Blues 0

The division rivals played another pair of closely grouped contests to end 2016, facing each other 17 days after Nashville’s 6-3 win in Music City.

It was rookie goaltender Juuse Saros and the goal-of-the-year by Viktor Arvidsson that defined Nashville’s shut out of St. Louis on the road. Saros made 25 saves to preserve a three-goal outburst in the second period for the Preds and kept the door shut for the first blank sheet of his career.

Late in the second period, Arvidsson pulled the puck back between his skates, while using speed to beat Jay Bouwmeester and then tucked the puck around Jake Allen. If the 3-0 lead for Nashville wasn’t enough to set the tone for the rest of the contest, Arvidsson’s goal was.

“I’ve tried it before in practices and stuff, some games, but I haven’t been able to put it in the net,” Arvidsson told NHL.com. “So it was nice to see it go in. I just felt I had a little more speed than the [defense]. That was it.”

“I think we just played a really smart game,” said Saros. “I think it really gives us hope in the future and kind of shows just what kind of team we are, so it’s a big thing.”

For the second consecutive meeting, the Preds chased Blues netminder Jake Allen.

April 2, 2017 at Scottrade Center: Blues 4, Predators 1

The final regular-season contest between the Preds and Blues likely holds more value than some of the others, due to it being the clubs’ only meeting in the last four months and it standing as the only time the Blues faced Nashville under new head coach Mike Yeo.

After Ken Hitchcock was fired on Feb. 1, Yeo ramped up the Blues’ emphasis on defense, guiding the club to 22-8-2 record down the stretch and third place in the Central Division.

Juuse Saros was in net for Nashville, who was playing their second game in two days. Ryan Johansen tallied with the Preds on a 5-on-3 power play to even the contest at one prior to the close of the first.

The Blues struck twice in the middle frame to take the lead for good and used the two points gained in the standings to ensure they finished one spot ahead of the Preds in the final season standings.

“I thought we played hard,” Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “The chances were in our favor, shots in our favor, made a couple mistakes… couple of mistakes or tough bounces and the game doesn’t go our way. There’s a lot of numbers that do go our way tonight, just not the scoreboard. I thought our guys played hard in the back-to-back situation.”

Moment of the Series: Dec. 30, 2016

It’s already been talked about once, but Viktor Arvidsson’s highlight-reel goal has to be the top image from the five-game season series.

Arvidsson’s move around a Blues’ d-man before depositing the puck into the back of the net helped put the energetic forward on the map – outside of just Nashville. Thirty-one goals for Arvidsson tied him for the Preds lead in the regular season, and two more in the playoffs (so far) has done the very same thing.

Game of the Series:  A three-goal comeback? Yes, that will do.

Nashville erased a 3-0 advantage for St. Louis when Mike Fisher’s first of two on the night found twine at 9:02 of the third for a 4-3 lead. Impressively, the three-goal comeback was not the Preds only example of the season, Nashville also rallied from three down to defeat the Stars, 5-3, on Feb. 12 at Bridgestone Arena.

Wins like that can serve as a rallying cry, and it’s possible the Preds comeback win on Dec. 13 even helped affect the outcome of their game against the Blues on Dec. 30.

It’s a small sample size, but the Preds have trailed just once so far in this postseason, a two-goal deficit they recovered from in Game Three (a 3-2 win in overtime).

Series Analysis: Four Things

New Coach: The 2016-17 campaign is one of two halves for the St. Louis Blues.

Previously two wins away from the 2016 Stanley Cup Final, a 24-21-5 record on Feb. 1 wasn’t good enough for Ken Hitchcock to finish out his sixth season behind the bench in St. Louis.

Enter associate coach Mike Yeo, who most recently had the lead job in Minnesota, and the Blues have looked like a very different team down the final two months of the regular season. Add in the Blues defensive domination of Yeo’s old club in Round One, and it would appear Nashville and St. Louis are looking at a lot of future one-goal games in their series.

Since Yeo took over in St. Louis, the Blues are allowing less than two goals a game on average, a mark that’s No. 1 in the NHL. Before that, they were giving up more than 3.1 goals per game.

Team Game: The Predators sweep of the No. 1 seeded Blackhawks in Round One is currently the story of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. How Nashville so effectively shut down the Hawks’ stars probably shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise.

The Preds’ top-four defensemen (Roman Josi, Ryan Ellis, Mattias Ekholm and P.K. Subban) did a brilliant job of forcing Chicago to the outside in the offensive zone and rarely allowed the opposition a second-chance opportunity. Josi and Ellis also chipped in timely scoring with Josi scoring twice in Game Four and Ellis burying the game-winner in Game Two.

Still, it’s been a five-man system that’s helped these four stars on the blue line keep the puck out of the net. Players like Colton Sissons, Austin Watson and Mike Fisher have helped front the attack up toward the blue line and in the neutral zone and the results have been stunning. In four playoff games, Nashville has given up one 5-on-5 goal (three total), including two shutouts.

“I’ve said it before, but I think as a team, we defend so well,” Preds goaltender Pekka Rinne said after Game Two. “They box out, let me see the puck, and tonight, there wasn’t probably one shot where I didn’t see it. The guys have been doing a really good job in front of me, and personally, [I’m] feeling good, just seeing the puck pretty good right now.”

Pekka Rinne: Yes, the Finnish netminder deserves his own section.

Rinne turned aside 123 of 126 shots in the Round One playoff series, for a gaudy stat line of a .976 save percentage and 0.70 goals-against average. Can Rinne maintain that kind of production? It may seem like an outlandish request, but his opponent for Round Two isn’t far behind.

Jake Allen has a .956 save percentage to go with a 1.47 goals-against average after his stellar performance (through four games) in the First Round. If Rinne stole Game One for Nashville (with a 29-save shutout), then Allen did the same against Minnesota, by making 51 saves in the Blues’ overtime triumph.

“He was amazing,” defenseman Josi said after Rinne’s Game One shutout. “What a great game by him. I thought we played pretty solid in the first, played a good first period, but after that they were all over us. Especially in the second, Peks made some unbelievable saves and he was great, not much more you can say.”

Offensive Wild Cards? With all the talk about defense, you may be surprised to hear the Preds and Blues each finished in the top half of League scoring during 2016-17.

Nashville averaged 2.90 goals per game (11th) through 82 regular-season games, while St. Louis was immediately behind them in the rankings (2.84 goals per game for 12th). The defensive gap isn’t much wider either, with the Blues ranking 13th (2.63 goals against per game) and the Preds 15th (2.68 goals against per game).

It may be reinforcements that swing the series for either team. For the Blues, Vladimir Sobotka has three points (1g-2a) in the playoffs after returning from the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) in April from a three-year absence. The forward left during the summer of 2014 to play with Avangard Omsk, but returned to St. Louis just before the end of the regular season and signed a three-year contract with the Blues.

The Blues may also get an added boost from top-center Paul Stastny, who returned from injury at the end of their First Round series against the Wild.

Likewise, Nashville is hoping to see the return of power forward Colin Wilson, who missed the entire Round One series with a lower-body injury. Wilson is yet to join the club for a team practice, but if he is able to take to the ice in Round Two, he would do so as one of the team’s most-proven postseason scorers.

Wilson paced the Preds with 13 points (5g-8a) during the 2016 playoffs and notched a team-high five goals in a 2015 Round One series versus the Chicago Blackhawks.

X-Factors: Special Teams (St. Louis) and First Line (Nashville)

The overall offensive and defensive numbers in the regular season are quite similar for the two teams – as was detailed above – but there’s a clear winner in the special teams edge.

The Blues registered a Top 10 power play and penalty kill during 2016-17, ranking third on the penalty kill (84.8 percent) and eighth on the power play (21.3 percent). In what’s likely to be such a tight series on the scoreboard and on the ice, can the Blues rely on their special teams to win them a game or two?

The JOFA line was very, very good for Nashville in Round One. When the Preds needed a goal late or wanted to hold a lead, Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette looked no further than Filip Forsberg, Ryan Johansen and Viktor Arvidsson.

The advanced analytics for the Preds first line were second-best in the NHL during the regular season and the trio didn’t slow down in Round One either. Johansen recorded at least one point in every playoff contest, while Forsberg and Arvidsson each scored twice.

Can they dominate against the Blues stout defensive front?

History:

Despite being divisional rivals for close to 20 years, the Preds and Blues, who are celebrating their 50th season in the NHL, have never met previously in the playoffs. Neither franchise has a Stanley Cup title to their credit.

In last year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, both clubs lost to the eventual Western Conference Champion San Jose Sharks. Nashville fell in seven games in Round Two, while St. Louis lost in six in the Western Conference Final.

The Phillies are not a home run-hitting team, but they showed some serious muscle late in Sunday afternoon’s 5-2 victory over the Braves at Citizens Bank Park.

They hit back-to-back-to-back home runs to break a tie and sweep the Braves. Cesar Hernandez hit a two-run home run off Arodys Vizcaino to hand the Phillies a two-run lead. Aaron Altherr followed and ripped a solo homer into the Phillies’ bullpen in center field, and Odubel Herrera hit a solo shot to left-center field against Ian Krol to make it a four-run game. The Phillies have won six of their last eight games to improve to 9-9.
“Very fun,” Herrera said through the Phillies’ interpreter. “You can imagine. That doesn’t happen very often.”
In fact, the Phillies had not hit back-to-back-to-back home runs since June 13, 2008, when Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell accomplished the feat in St. Louis. It was the first time they did it at Citizens Bank Park since May 18, 2004, when Bobby Abreu, Burrell and Jim Thome did it.
“It definitely motivated me,” Herrera said about following Hernandez and Altherr with another homer. “I wasn’t trying to hit it out of the park, but I wanted to make good contact.”
Vizcaino had never previously allowed two home runs in a game, but he has now allowed three home runs within his past three innings. Before this stretch, he had surrendered six homers over 100 2/3 career innings.
“I think it was a good pitch [to Hernandez],” Vizcaino said of a knee-high slider through an interpreter. “I think he was just sitting on it. He just went down and got it.”
Despite receiving nine strikeouts over seven strong innings from Mike Foltynewicz, the Braves suffered a sixth straight loss. They loaded the bases after Matt Kemp scored Freddie Freeman with a ninth-inning single. But Phillies closer Hector Neris notched shut the door when Tyler Flowers grounded out to end the game.
“Those guys in that room never quit,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “Eventually this thing is going to turn, and we’re going to get the hits and be on the other end of this kind of thing. But you’ve got to handle something like this in order for it to happen on the back end.”
Kemp knocked his first home run since returning from the disabled list the opposite way into the first few rows of stands in right field to break a scoreless tie in the seventh inning. Phillies right-hander Zach Eflin was cruising up to that point, with the homer his only blemish on the afternoon. He pitched seven innings of one-run ball, allowing just four baserunners while striking out three.
“I felt really good today,” Eflin said. “I did a good job of getting ahead in the count and getting early contact, trusting my sinker, and I stuck with that the whole game.”
A GIDP preserves outing filled with Ks: After showing off his nasty slider while notching his final three strikeouts during a perfect sixth inning, Foltynewicz surrendered three straight one-out hits, including Freddy Galvis’ RBI single, in the seventh inning. After receiving a visit from pitching coach Chuck Hernandez, the Braves’ young hurler was fortunate that his elevated 2-0 fastball to Andrew Knapp resulted in a groundball double play that kept the game tied, 1-1.
“A lot of pitches were up in that inning and they found the grass out in the outfield,” said Foltynewicz, who allowed four hits and one run over his seven innings. “But that double play was huge. It could have ended up much worse. It was just a big pitch at a big time.”
Julio Teheran will attempt to extend his dominance of the Mets when Atlanta opens a three-game series at Citi Field on Tuesday at 6:10 p.m. CT. Teheran has a 0.63 ERA over his past six starts against the Mets.

The Nashville Sounds rallied for five runs with two outs in the ninth inning but it was not enough as they were upended 6-5 by the Colorado Springs Sky Sox. Nashville is now 0-3 and has been outscored 18-7 in Sunday contests.

After being silenced for much of the day by the Sky Sox pitching staff, the Sounds finally broke through with two outs in the top of the ninth inning. Chris Parmelee ripped a double to get the rally started. The next six batters to come to the plate would reach base. Renato Nunez was then walked, followed by a two-run double by Bruce Maxwell to light up the scoreboard for the first time.

Ryan Lavarnway was next in line for the Sounds and he promptly singled up the middle to bring Maxwell home and cut the Colorado Springs lead in half. Next, Kenny Wilson beat out an infield single to the shortstop, then he and Lavarnway came around to score on a two-run double from Matt McBride. The rally finally came to an end when the lineup card flipped back over. Franklin Barreto hit a little flare right to the second baseman for the final out of the ball game.

The team from Music City mustered just four singles against Sky Sox starter Paolo Espino (3-0, 3.42), two of which were infield singles. On the day Espino struck out five Sounds hitters in his 6.2 innings of shutout baseball.

The Sounds found themselves facing an early deficit as Ryan Cordell blasted a home run in the first inning against them for the second time this season. After his hiccup to Cordell, Zach Neal (1-2, 4.87) settled in for the next four innings, inducing a plethora of ground balls.

The Sky Sox pounced on Neal in the sixth inning after Tyler Heineman got the frame started with a double off the third base bag. Kyle Wren lifted a fly ball into right field, which allowed Heineman to advance to third, then Lewis Brinson did the same thing to drive in the second run of the game for the Sky Sox. Two more Sky Sox would reach base via walk and a single, which set the table for Garrett Cooper to provide the dagger. Cooper launched an 0-1 pitch from Neal over the center field fence to make the score 5-0 Sky Sox.

Colorado Springs added what would turn out to be the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh when Nate Orf doubled, advanced to third on a ground out, and came in to score on a wild pitch from Aaron Kurcz (2-1, 4.82).
The Sounds continue a four game set with the Colorado Springs Sky Sox Monday night for game three of the series. Right-hander Daniel Gossett (0-1, 6.92) takes the mound for the Sounds against right-hander Brandon Woodruff (3-0, 2.20) for the Sky Sox. First pitch is scheduled for 7:40 p.m.

Second baseman Brandon Phillips gave the Braves the lead with a one-run double. After the Phillies took it back, Phillips homered with two outs in the ninth inning to give the Braves another chance on Saturday.

But Braves closer Jim Johnson couldn’t survive a bases-loaded situation in the bottom of the 10th inning. The Phillies hit three consecutive singles, two of them to infielders, before Maikel Franco won the game on a two-run, walk-off single with two outs.

The Phillies beat the Braves 4-3 to secure the series victory. The Braves (6-11) lost their fifth straight game after winning five straight.

The Braves had scored an unearned run for the in the top of the 10t inning. Dansby Swanson went to third base on first baseman Tommy Joseph’s throwing error and scored when third baseman Franco scooped Adonis Garcia’s two-out ground ball but threw wide to first base.

Phillips tied the game 2-2 when he smashed Edubray Ramos’s 1-0 pitch into the left-field seats in the ninth inning. His two-out double against Jerad Eickhoff in the fourth inning put the Braves ahead 1-0 before the Phillies scored two runs in the sixth inning against left-hander Jaime Garcia.

Game #3 of the series will get underway on Sunday at 12:35 PM CDT.  Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast as part of the Atlanta Braves Radio Network beginning at noon.

The Nashville Sounds used a flurry of hits in the final two innings to top the Colorado Springs Sky Sox 5-2. The Sounds trailed 2-1 through seven innings but erupted for four runs on seven hits in the final two frames to earn the victory.

The win was just the second for the Sounds all season in a game when they trailed after seven innings. Nashville is now 2-8 in such games.

Melvin Mercedes wasted no time settling in on a chilly evening in Colorado Springs. The second baseman ripped a triple to right field. Mark Canha drove in his fourth run of the season as he lifted a fly ball deep enough into center field to score Mercedes from third.

The Sky Sox matched the Sounds in the opening frame as Garrett Cooper scorched a two-out double over the head of center fielder, Kenny Wilson to score Lewis Brinson from first base.

After surrendering one run in the first inning, Chris Smith (0-1, 3.07) cruised through the next five frames en route to his first quality start of the season. The 36-year-old gave up one run on five hits in six innings. He was replaced by Tucker Healy (1-1, 2.70) who promptly was taken deep by Brett Phillips to give the Sky Sox the 2-1 advantage. Healy would earn the win, however as the Sounds scored two runs in the eighth inning.

The Sounds offense heated up in the eighth inning as they began the frame with four consecutive hits. Bruce Maxwell led off with a base hit to left field then advanced on the first hit of the season for Matt Chapman, a tapper to third base. With Kenny Wilson at the dish, the Sounds attempted a double steal. Maxwell was safe at third but Chapman was gunned down at second. With Wilson still at the plate, Colorado Springs’ David Goforth bounced a pitch in the dirt that eluded the catcher, Andrew Susac, allowing Maxwell to scamper home and tie the game at two.

Andrew Lambo crossed up the shift on a hit and run with Wilson to put runners on the corners and just one out. Mercedes then drove in the go-ahead run on a fielder’s choice to the shortstop as he was able to beat out the double play attempt.

Nashville posted a pair of insurance runs in the ninth inning as the first four batters reached base. Chris Parmelee, Ryan Lavarnway walked, and Maxwell stroked a double to left field to drive in two runs.

Bobby Wahl shut the door on the Sky Sox in the bottom of the ninth inning to earn his third save of the season.

The Sounds continue a four game set with the Colorado Springs Sky Sox Sunday afternoon for game two of the series. Right-hander Zach Neal (1-1, 3.77) takes the mound for the Sounds against Paolo Espino (2-0, 4.76) for the Sky Sox. First pitch is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.

Phillies manager Pete Mackanin combed through the batter-pitcher matchups hours before Friday night’s game against the Braves at Citizens Bank Park and found only limited success against Bartolo Colon.

But the Phillies picked up 11 hits and four runs in seven innings against Colon in a 4-3 victory. Colon had been 10-3 with a 3.01 ERA in 14 starts against the Phillies the previous three seasons with the Mets. The Phillies had picked up more than six hits against him in just four of those 14 starts. They had never had more than 10, which happened once, in July 2014.
“You know what you’re going to get from him,” Phillies left fielder Aaron Altherr said. “He’s always going to throw that little running fastball and the sinker. You’ve just got to be ready to hit when it’s a strike. He throws a lot of those.”
Cesar Hernandez, Altherr and Cameron Rupp led the way with multi-hit games.
“To their credit, they were getting hits off of me and fortunately for me, a lot of those hits didn’t necessarily turn into runs,” Colon said through an interpreter. “So, I’m grateful that even though they got a lot of hits, we kind of contained them. I definitely wouldn’t say I had any bad luck.”
Phillies right-hander Jeremy Hellickson (3-0, 1.88 ERA) had another strong start. He allowed three hits, two runs and struck out five in seven innings. He has pitched seven or more innings in back-to-back starts.
The victory snapped the Phillies’ seven-game losing streak to the Braves, which dated to July 31. Atlanta has lost four straight since bouncing back from a 1-6 start with five straight wins.
“I feel like we’re just a tick away from something really good happening,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “It’s one of those things where we’ve just got to keep playing. I don’t think we’re that far off.”
Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman crushed a solo home run to right field in the sixth inning to cut the Phillies lead to one run. The ball left his bat at 109 mph and travelled a projected 425 feet, according to Statcast™. It was Freeman’s seventh home run of the season, but just his ninth RBI.
“That was a good one,” Freeman said of the shot that hit the right field’s second-level facade. “When you don’t really feel it hit the bat, those are good ones. I just need to keep doing that and hopefully do it when guys are on base.”
Hector Neris, who became the Phillies’ unofficial closer Thursday, made things interesting in the ninth. He allowed a solo homer to Adonis Garcia to start the inning to cut the Phillies’ lead to one.
Seconds later, the teams left the field for a 24-minute rain delay. Once play resumed Neris retired Freeman and Matt Kemp before allowing singles to Nick Markakis and Brandon Phillips to put the tying run at second base. But Neris struck out Tyler Flowers swinging on a splitter to end the game.
“Will I continue to pitch or not?” said Neris, asked what he was thinking during the rain delay.
He wasn’t thinking, “Oh, boy, once the rain ends I’ve got to face Freeman?”
“Nah,” Neris said, smiling.
Jaime Garcia will take the mound when this three-game series resumes Saturday at 6:05 p.m. CT. Garcia limited opponents to a .167 batting average on sliders put in play last year, but that mark stands at .529 (9-for-17) through this season’s first three starts.  Thunder Radio will bring you that broadcast as part of the Atlanta Braves Radio Network beginning at 6 PM

With no outs and a runner on first base in the top of the eighth inning for the Sounds a bank of lights at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark went out causing the series finale between the Sounds and the Oklahoma City Dodgers to be suspended. The game will be completed the next time the Sounds visit Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark June 22-25.

On a gusty, damp Friday evening the Sounds offense hit another dry spell. Nashville lit up the scoreboard just once through 7+ innings against the Oklahoma City Dodgers.

20-year-old Julio Urias (0-0, 1.93) kept the Sounds batters off balance all night long as he tossed 5.2 shutout innings and allowed just two hits while striking out six batters. Sounds starter, Paul Blackburn (0-2, 2.12), turned in another stellar performance. Blackburn was spared the loss when Franklin Barreto went deep in the eighth inning to tie the game at one. Blackburn gave up a single run on three hits while tying a season-high with eight strikeouts. In the three games he has started this season the offense has mustered just three runs.

The Dodgers got the scoring started in their first trip to the plate. In the bottom of the first inning Blackburn issued a one-out walk to Cody Bellinger who promptly swiped second base. Alex Verdugo brought him home on a seeing-eye single through the left side of the infield to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead.
In the second inning Bruce Maxwell drew a two-out walk. Kenny Wilson ripped a double into the right center field alley and Maxwell attempted to score from first but was gunned down at home by shortstop Charlie Culberson to preserve the lead for the Dodgers. The hit extended Wilson’s hitting streak to a team-high nine games.

Barreto followed up his four-hit night on Thursday with a game-tying solo home run to lead off the eighth inning Friday. Melvin Mercedes was subsequently walked. Then with a 2-2 count on Mark Canha a bank of lights at the stadium went out causing a delay and ultimately a suspended ballgame.
The Sounds begin a four game set with the Colorado Springs Sky Sox Saturday evening. Right-hander Chris Smith (0-1, 4.15) takes the mound for the Sounds against a pitcher yet to be named for the Sky Sox. First pitch is scheduled for 5:00 p.m.

Jacob Langham of CHS baseball

The Coffee County Red Raider baseball traveled to McMinnville on Thursday for a non-district doubleheader with Warren County.  The 2 teams agreed to move Friday’s game, scheduled to be played at Powers Field, to Thursday night following the regularly scheduled game with the Pioneers.   Coffee County needed a pair of come from behind rallies but ended up settling for a doubleheader split.  The Raiders lost the first game 8 to 7 before winning the nightcap 6 to 5.

In the first game, a run in the first inning by Coffee County was quickly eclipsed as Warren County plated 5 runs of their own in the bottom of the first.  In a game you heard here on Thunder Radio, Coffee County battled back to take the lead in the 3^rd inning with 5 runs of their own.  Grant Sadler had the big knock as he drilled a 3 run tater.  Warren County scored 3 in the 5^th inning to retake the lead for good.  Jacob Langham finished with 3 hits, including a double, and 3 runs scored.  Sadler was named the Crazy Daisies player of the game.

In the nightcap, Warren County again started strong plating 3 runs in the first inning.  They extended their lead to 4 in the 4^th inning before Coffee County rallied to tie the game in the 5^th at 4 runs apiece.  After Warren County retook the lead in the top of the 6th, Coffee County found the moxie to but the Pioneers away.  Jacob Duncan had an RBI single in the 6^th to tie the game and Langham delivered an RBI double to plate the winning run.  Langham once again finished the game with 2 singles and a double as the junior shortstop drove in 2 runs.   Nathaniel Tate pitched 5 innings to get the win for the Raiders.

The Red Raiders will conclude the regular season with a district series against Tullahoma beginning on Tuesday.  Coffee County will host Tullahoma on Tuesday at Powers Field for Senior Night.  That game gets underway at 6 PM with Senior Night Activities taking place at 5:30.  Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you that broadcast.

Download the broadcast at: www.WMSRradio.com/downloads

Katie Rutledge of CHS softball (Photo by John St. Clair, stclair-sports.com)

The Lady Raider softball team of Coffee County visited Wartrace on Thursday for a non-district game with Cascade.  The matchup was the first ever visit of Coffee County to Cascade in the 28 year history of Coffee County softball.  After being held to 1 hit and losing 1 to 0, it may be another 28 years before the Lady Raiders visit again.

Cascade used the short game effectively by turning a lead-off walk in the 1^st inning into the winning run.  After bunting her to 2^nd base, the Lady Champions got a single to plate the difference maker.  Kaylee Skipper took the loss allowing only 4 hits in the game while striking out 3.  Coffee County, however, struck out 11 times as they were limited to 3 base runners on the night.

Katie Rutledge had Coffee County’s lone hit, a single in the 4^th inning.  Rutledge was stranded at 2^nd base as the Lady Raiders never got a runner to 3^rd in the loss.  Haley Hinshaw and Raven Rogers each got aboard on walks.

Coffee County is scheduled to travel to McMinnville on Friday for a non-district game with Warren County weather permitting.  That game is set to begin at 5 PM and Thunder Radio will be there to bring you all the action.  Lucky Knott will bring you the play-by-play beginning with the pregame show at 4:50.