Category: Sports

The Braves nearly let an early lead go to waste for the second straight night. However, Matt Kemp didn’t allow that to happen. The left fielder hit a go-ahead, two-run double in the eighth inning, the key blow in a 7-4 comeback win over the D-backs on Tuesday night at Chase Field.

After Atlanta loading the bases with two outs against Arizona reliever Jake Barrett, Kemp sent a double to right field to plate a pair of runs, with a third scoring on an error by Mitch Haniger to turn the Braves’ one-run deficit into a two-run lead. Jose Ramirez earned the win, helping the Atlanta bullpen combine for 6 1/3 scoreless innings.
“That’s a good ballgame to win, especially because they had a big inning against us again,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said after his team won for just the third time in its past 13 games. “We’ve been victimized by that over the last week. The guys keep coming back.”
Yasmany Tomas and Jake Lamb each drove in a pair of runs for the D-backs, who lost for the first time in five games against the Braves. Atlanta scored two runs in the first but came back to rally against Barrett, who allowed all three runs in the eighth on three hits and a walk.
“The whole bullpen has been used pretty hard, so he’s been run out there a bunch,” Arizona manager Chip Hale said. “It was all location for Jake tonight. If you look at the pitches, I went down and looked at them after the inning, he was supposed to go in here, the ball ends up out. Out, in. Just very, very poor location.”
D-backs starter Archie Bradley gave up three earned runs over five innings. Braves starter Rob Whalen lasted just 2 2/3 innings, giving up four earned runs on two hits with four walks and a pair of strikeouts.
Each of the D-backs’ first two hits plated a pair of runs. After Jean Segura, Michael Bourn, and Paul Goldschmidt drew consecutive walks with two outs in the third, Tomas slapped a two-run single to left. After Welington Castillo was hit by a pitch to reload the bases, Lamb snapped a 2-for-48 skid with a two-run, ground-rule double to right to put Arizona ahead, 4-2.
Tyler Flowers highlighted a two-run first with a RBI double and Adonis Garcia notched his third hit when he began the fourth with a double and scored on Kemp’s sacrifice fly. But the Braves stranded eight runners through the first three innings and 10 through the first seven innings before Kemp’s two-run double.
“The last week or two, I haven’t really been hitting that well with runners in scoring position,” said Kemp, who entered the eighth with four hits in his past 22 at-bats with runners in scoring position. “So it felt good to get it going for our team to put us up.”
It appeared it was going to be a short night for Bradley after he needed 55 pitches to get through the first two innings and faced 19 batters in the first three frames. But after allowing a double to Garcia to open the fifth, Bradley retired the last six batters he faced to get through five innings.
“It wasn’t great, wasn’t terrible, it was kind of in between,” Bradley said. “I struggled with command early on, kind of the whole game, just bouncing back and forth.”
Whalen retired eight of the first nine batters he faced and then none of the final six. The rookie right-hander, who has exceeded his previous career high by 48 innings, issued three consecutive two-out walks in the third inning before surrendering his first hit — Tomas’ two-run double. He surrendered another two-run double to Lamb and then watched Ryan Weber retire all seven batters he faced. The Braves’ bullpen allowed three hits over 6 1/3 scoreless innings.
“When Rob left, it was kind of like, how are we going to piece this thing together now?” Snitker said. “All the relievers did great. That was big for Weber to come in in that situation and get us to those other guys.”
Dansby Swanson recorded his third multi-hit performance and notched his first career RBI — a ninth-inning sacrifice fly. The heralded shortstop was selected by the D-backs with the first overall pick in the 2015 Draft and was traded to the Braves in December.
Julio Teheran (3-9, 2.90 ERA) will take the mound when Atlanta resumes the four-game series Wednesday at 8:40 p.m. CT. Teheran’s velocity was down a notch when he returned from the disabled list Friday and allowed the Nationals three runs over five innings.  Thunder Radio will bring you that broadcast beginning with the pregame show at 7:30.

The Nashville Sounds scored all seven of their runs on three home runs to rout the Omaha Storm Chasers 7-0 Tuesday afternoon at Werner Park.

Renato Nunez, Josh Rodriguez and Colin Walsh each hit a home run in the Sounds win. Nunez clubbed his 22nd homer with a solo shot in the first, while Rodriguez added a grand slam in the second and Walsh smashed a two-run blast in the fifth.

After Jaycob Brugman led off the game with a single, it was quickly erased when Walsh grounded into a 4-6-3 double play. With two outs in the first, Nunez unloaded on a 2-2 breaking ball to give the Sounds an early 1-0 lead.

After a base hit from Matt Chapman and a double from Matt McBride, Rangel Ravelo was hit by a pitch from Omaha starter Kris Medlen to load the bases for Rodriguez in the second inning. Rodriguez then launched a 485 foot moon shot to left field to extend the Sounds lead to 5-0. With the four RBI game Tuesday afternoon, Rodriguez plated a total of 11 RBI in the four-game series against Omaha.

The Sounds then padded on two more runs with Walsh’s two-run homer in the fifth. Brugman led off the fifth with a base hit to center to set the stage for Walsh. The switch-handed utility player then drove a 1-2 fastball over the left field wall to give the Sounds a 7-0 lead after 5.

Sounds starter Daniel Mengden pitched five shutout innings allowing just three hits while striking out six. The right-hander picked up his seventh win as a Sound and lowered his ERA to 1.66.

Mengden retired his first five batters before allowing a Bubba Starling single in the second inning. He retired 15 of the 18 batters he faced before giving way to the Sounds bullpen in the sixth inning.

Four Sounds relievers combined to finish the shutout of the Storm Chasers and each reliever did not allow a hit.

Sean Doolittle, Aaron Kurcz, J.B. Wendelken, and Tucker Healy combined for four strong innings out of the Sounds bullpen to finish the shutout. Kurcz, Wendelken and Healy each struck out a pair and Doolittle picked up a punch out of his own in the Sounds win.

The magic number currently sits at four games to clinch the American Southern Division., however, with a New Orleans loss to the Oklahoma City Dodgers tonight the number could move to three games.

The Sounds now travel to Memphis for a five-game series beginning Wednesday night at AutoZone Park. Right-hander Raul Alcantara (3-0, 1.01) starts for the Sounds against right-hander Deck McGuire (6-10, 5.63) for the Redbirds. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.

Tickets for the 2016 Pacific Coast League playoff dates at First Tennessee Park are now available for purchase at the Nashville Sounds box office and online at www.nashvillesounds.com. The 2016 season is the Sounds’ 19th year in the Pacific Coast League and their second as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate.

Maddy Jones(in black) of CCMS dribbles the ball past a Tullahoma defender on Monday night.

Facing their bitter rival Tullahoma on their home pitch was a tall order for the Coffee County Middle School soccer team on Monday. Rising to the challenge, the Lady Raiders used a strong defensive game plan, and a pair of goals by Maddy Jones, to capture a 3 to 0 win over the Lady Cats.
Jones found the back of the net early in each half as she scored in the 3rd minute unassisted and again in the 31st minute off an assist from Alexis Rayman. Reagan Ellison added a goal in the 29th minute to give Coffee County a 2 to 0 lead at intermission off an assist from Kyleigh Harner.
Coffee County’s defense was so disruptive; they allowed only 3 shots on frame for Tullahoma in the match, including a single shot in the 2nd half.  Keeper Lucy Riddle made the necessary 3 saves to record the shutout.
The Lady Raider soccer team will be back in action on Thursday when they welcome Harris to the home pitch. That match is set to kick off at 5 PM and Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you’re the broadcast as part of the 1st National Bank Hometown Sports Series.

Baylee Nester

The CHS Volleyball team welcomed Fayetteville and Warren County to the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym on Monday for a round-robin doubleheader. The Lady Raiders earned a sweep on the day as they moved their record to 6 and 0 on the season.
Coffee County opened the evening with a rematch with Warren County. The Lady Pioneers were looking to avenge a hotly contested match from last Monday night won by Coffee County. After taking the first set 25 to 21, the Lady Raiders saw Warren County roar back to capture the 2nd set 25 to 11. This set up the decisive 3rd set that Coffee County won 25 to 23. Coffee County had balanced scoring on the night as Bailey Morgan, Baylee Nester and Kaylee Skipper all had 5 kills. Alliyah Williams had a pair of blocks for the Lady Raiders.
The Lady Raiders ended the evening with a 2 set sweep of Fayetteville. Coffee County won by set scores of 25-12 and 25-13. The win was powered by a strong service and net game as Coffee County got 14 aces in the 2 set win. Aerial Williams had 5 aces and Rachel Henley added 4. Morgan Hickerson came off the bench to record 4 of Coffee County’s 14 kills while Nester added 3. Alliyah Williams added another block.
The Lady Raiders hit the court again on Wednesday when they travel to Eagleville for an “in-school” game. First serve for that match is for 1:30 PM.

CHS Golfer John Parigger(file photo)

The Coffee County golf teams welcomed Shelbyville and Stewarts Creek to Willowbrook on Monday for their first home match of the year. Both teams shot exceptionally well on their home course as each team came away with wins in the 18 hole, three way match.
The Lady Raiders continued their early season dominance as they earned a sweep over the visitors. Ashley Gilliam had the low round for Coffee County as she shot a 1 over par 73. Savannah Quick added a 76 to give the Lady Raiders a team score of 149. Stewarts Creek finished at 176 and Shelbyville carded a 231. With the win, the Lady Raiders improved to 25-3 on the season.
The boys team picked up a pair of wins shooting 313 on the day.  Stewarts Creek came in at 329 and Shelbyville had a score of 353. Senior John Parigger led the way shooting a 3 over par 75 to capture the low round on the day. Austin Farris added a 77, Reid Lawrence carded a 79 and Josh Perry got around in 83. With the win, the boys improve their record to 30–6 on the year.
After the match, Coach Mike Ray had this to say about his golfers’ performance.

As Coach Ray said, the Raiders and Lady Raiders are back in action on Tuesday when they travel to Sewanee to take on Grundy County in an 9 hole match at the Sewanee Golf Course. That match will tee off at 4 PM.

Paul Goldschmidt delivered a walk-off homer to lead off the bottom of the ninth, lifting the D-backs to a 9-8 win over the Braves in the opener of a four-game series on Monday night at Chase Field.

“I think the tendency in a tied game or extra innings is try to hit home runs, and we’ve played some extra-inning games and that just has not worked out for me,” Goldschmidt said. “I was fortunate to get a pitch up and get it out of there.”
Welington Castillo hit a three-run double to put Arizona ahead, 8-7, in the seventh, but Freddie Freeman’s second homer of the night tied it at 8-8 in the ninth. It didn’t stay tied for long, however, as Goldschmidt’s fourth career walk-off blast ended it, a deep homer to left off Braves reliever John Gant (1-3).
“When he came up, I said to the coaches, ‘You know what, our first baseman’s up now. Let’s see us do the same thing.’ And I think the lengths of those balls were a long way, both of them,” D-backs manager Chip Hale said of the ninth-inning homers by Freeman and Goldschmidt.
Jean Segura went 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles, Michael Bourn also collected three hits and Yasmany Tomas hit a two-run homer as the D-backs overcame a five-run deficit to win for just the fourth time in 11 games.
The Braves built an early 5-0 lead, as Freeman hit a two-run homer in the first inning and Adonis Garcia hit a two-run blast in the second. Nick Markakis added to the offense with three hits to back starter Mike Foltynewicz, who allowed four runs on nine hits over six innings, issuing no walks and striking out seven.
“We had the lead and then we obviously gave up some runs, but to come back and just lose it again was just gut-wrenching,” Freeman said.
After missing Sunday’s game while nursing a sore left middle finger, Freeman drilled his first-inning home run on the first pitch he saw. Garcia’s two-run shot gave the Braves a 5-0 lead in the second, which ended with Freeman being thrown out attempting to score on Kemp’s single to left fielder Mitch Haniger. Freeman’s game-tying homer in the ninth completed his ninth career multihomer game, three of which have come in the 16 games he’s played at Chase Field.
“The tightness [in the finger] got better as the day went on and I started doing more things,” Freeman said. “Hopefully, tomorrow it’s even better.”
Tomas’ two-run blast to left-center in the third inning was his ninth homer of the month — all coming at home. He entered August with just three home runs at Chase Field, but now seems to be finding his power stroke. Tomas has homered in seven of his last nine home games, including each of the last four.
“It’s all about experience,” Tomas said through an interpreter. “I recognize better pitches and select a good pitch for making good contact.”
After the D-backs made it a 5-4 game, Foltynewicz stopped the bleeding by retiring 10 of the final 12 batters faced. But reliever Arodys Vizcaino squandered a three-run seventh-inning advantage by surrendering four hits, including Castillo’s bases-clearing double, and issuing a walk while facing just six batters. The former closer has allowed four runs in two of the three appearances he’s made since returning from the disabled list. He declined when asked to speak to the media after Monday night’s loss.
“It’s just command of his pitches,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “I don’t know if he’s feeling for things and he’s aware of that. I think you can try to throw strikes, but they’re just missing out over the plate. It’s an aggressiveness type of thing. He’s been down a long time. His velocity is good and his stuff is really not that bad. It’s pretty much location.”
After turning in his best start of the season last time out, D-backs starter Zack Godley had one of his worst on Monday. He threw a career-high 7 1/3 innings of two-run ball in a win over the Mets on Wednesday, but the rookie right-hander allowed two runs by the game’s third batter and was tagged with five runs by the end of the second in this one. Godley left after allowing a career-high seven runs in five innings, but Arizona’s rally in the seventh took him off the hook.
Rob Whalen will take the mound when Atlanta resumes this four-game series on Tuesday at 8:40 p.m. CT. As Whalen (1-2, 5.73 ERA) nears an innings limit that could shut him down by the end of the month, the rookie will attempt to build off a Friday start in which he limited the Nationals to one earned run over six innings.  Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast immediately following our 1st National Bank Hometown Sports Series broadcast of Coffee County Middle School football at Tullahoma tonight.

The Nashville Sounds got four hits from Joey Wendle and scored seven runs in the fourth inning on their way to a 12-3 rout of the Omaha Storm Chasers Monday night at Werner Park.

The big win, coupled with New Orleans’ loss, has lowered the Sounds’ magic number to five. At 75-55, Nashville is 20 games over .500, the high-water mark of the season. The win was Nashville’s 42nd of the season on the road – a PCL-era best for the Sounds.

Wendle’s four hits matched a season high, and the Sounds got three hits from Rangel Ravelo and Josh Rodriguez while Matt Chapman homered and Jaycob Brugman belted his second three-run homer in as many days.

Chapman got the scoring started when he drilled his first Triple-A homer, a solo shot into the left field seats to give the Sounds a 1-0 lead. Chapman hit 29 homers with Double-A Midland before joining the Sounds on August 17.

Wendle tripled and Ravelo drove him in with a single to right-center to extend the lead to 2-0 after two innings.

The Sounds broke the game open with a huge fourth inning. Chapman started the inning with a walk, and Wendle followed with an RBI double down the right field line. Bryan Anderson added an RBI double two batters later to give the Sounds a 4-0 lead.

After Rodriguez walked, Brugman crushed a pitch from Andrew Edwards into the left field seats for an opposite-field three-run homer. He finished 2-for-5 with 4 RBI on the night and has 10 RBI in the first three games of the series.

The inning continued and Wendle clubbed his second double of the frame, driving in another two runs to extend the lead to 9-0.

Omaha eventually got on the board with a single run in the sixth. It’s all they would get against Dillon Overton as the left-hander limited the Storm Chasers to one run on five hits in six innings. He picked up his team-leading 12th win of the season.

Nashville added runs in the seventh and ninth innings and cruised to their third straight win. They go for the series sweep Tuesday afternoon.

The series finale is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon at Werner Park. Right-hander Daniel Mengden (6-2, 1.79) starts for the Sounds against right-hander Kris Medlen (0-1, 6.14) for the Storm Chasers. First pitch is scheduled for 12:05 p.m.

Tickets for the 2016 Pacific Coast League playoff dates at First Tennessee Park are now available for purchase at the Nashville Sounds box office and online at www.nashvillesounds.com. The 2016 season is the Sounds’ 19th year in the Pacific Coast League and their second as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate.

As Nationals manager Dusty Baker often says, “The Braves never give up.” And that was proven once again on Sunday afternoon at Turner Field as Atlanta rallied for a 7-6 win on Jace Peterson’s walk-off home run in the 10th inning.

With the score tied at 6, Peterson — who also crashed into the wall in center to make a catch in the third inning — swung at a 3-2 pitch off Shawn Kelley and hit the ball into the right-field seats for his seventh home run of the season.
“I was totally comfortable walking Peterson,” Kelley said. “But I went with the slider and left it right there.”
“I’ve faced [Kelley] in the past, and he has a really good slider,” Peterson said. “He hung that slider, and normally he doesn’t do that at all. Normally he’s pretty consistent with his slider. Fortunately enough for me, it was up in the zone and I was able to put a good swing on it.”
It was a game that saw the Nationals make a season-high five errors.
The game was scoreless until the third when Washington scored four runs off right-hander Joel De La Cruz. Bryce Harper highlighted the scoring with a three-run homer.
Atlanta answered by scoring three runs in the bottom of the inning off left-hander Gio Gonzalez. Nick Markakis drove in two runs with a double, while Markakis scored on an error by center fielder Trea Turner.
But the Nationals would add to the lead in the sixth, when De La Cruz allowed a two-run homer to Chris Heisey — his eighth of the season.
Atlanta tied the game with a two-run eighth that also featured a 64-minute rain delay. Matt Kemp highlighted the scoring with a solo homer, while an error by Yusmeiro Petit put Atlanta in position to tie the score at 6 on Gordon Beckham’s double-play grounder.
“We swung the bats well this series,” Markakis said. “We didn’t win as many games as we wanted to, but we battled back, we had some good at-bats and faced a great team with some good pitching. That’s all you can ask for is to go out there, do what you’re supposed to do and hope for the best.”
The Nationals’ five errors were the most they had in a game since July 15, 2011. The first error occurred in the first when shortstop Danny Espinosa bobbled a ball off the bat of Dansby Swanson. Two innings later, Espinosa made a throwing error that allowed a run to score for the Braves. Later in the third, Turner caught a fly ball off the bat of Kemp, but dropped the ball on the transfer to allow Markakis to score from third base. In the sixth, Daniel Murphy’s wild throw to first base allowed Anthony Recker to score. Then, in the eighth, Petit made a throwing error that put runners on second and third with no outs. The Braves would later tie the score.
“We didn’t play a good game at all,” Baker said. “We would have been lucky to win the game with five errors. The game is not meant to be played with 32 outs to 27 outs.”
Peterson had never previously played center field at the big league level, but his athleticism was appreciated when he prevented at least one additional run from scoring during the ugly third inning when he caught Heisey’s long drive just before smacking into the center-field wall. The versatile utility man was dazed momentarily but he remained in the game and helped pull the Braves within two runs with an infield single in the sixth inning. Then on a 3-2 pitch in the 10th, he put his final mark on the game with his walk-off homer.
“It was fun,” said Peterson about the game. “To go out there and play center field and be able to get another look in that position was fun. I enjoyed it, and I was able to make a good play. It was a fun game, and we needed a win. Fortunately it worked out for us.”
Baker was hoping not to use many relievers in the four-game series against the Braves. As it turned out, the relievers pitched a combined 10 1/3 innings and allowed 11 runs (six earned). On Sunday, Mark Melancon and Oliver Perez were not available. Melancon had pitched three straight games, and Perez was out because of back tightness and is listed as day to day.
“We didn’t have any more pitching after that and our pitching was dragging as it was,” Baker said. “With all the rain delays, the travel and the heat — you don’t want to make any excuses — but this has been a tough road trip. We just have to regroup in Baltimore and put this behind us.”
Kemp began the bottom of the eighth with the first homer he’s hit at Turner Field since joining the Braves. After the rain concluded, Gordon Beckham grounded into a double play that plated Jeff Francoeur with the tying run. The Braves would have likely turned to Freddie Freeman as a pinch-hitter under the circumstances, but the first baseman was not available after receiving an injection in his middle finger on his right hand after Saturday’s game. He said he hopes he can play in Monday’s series opener in Arizona.
“It’s actually been hurting since Spring Training,” said Freeman. “I’ve been grinding it out. I got a shot during the All-Star break, as well. It just kind of finally wore off. It’s pretty painful every single day, but it got to the point yesterday where I swung a bat before the game in the cage and it kind of blew up on me again.”
Atlanta will travel to Arizona to begin a four-game series on Monday at 8:40 p.m. CT. Mike Foltynewicz will start for the Braves, who are expected to have Dansby Swanson and Ender Inciarte in the lineup. Swanson, Inciarte and Aaron Blair were acquired from the D-backs in exchange for Shelby Miller in December.  Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast as part of the Braves Radio Network.

The Nashville Sounds plated four runs in the seventh and eighth innings in route to their 13-7 win Sunday afternoon over the Omaha Storm Chasers at Werner Park.

For the second consecutive day, Jaycob Brugman and Josh Rodriguez led the Sounds to a win over the Storm Chasers. Brugman would go 4-for-5 with a home run and three RBI and Rodriguez would club two homers in a 2-for-5 outing. Brugman’s four-hit night is his sixth four-hit game of the season with the Sounds.

With the Sounds trailing 6-5 going into the top of the seventh inning, the Sounds rallied for four runs in both the seventh and eighth innings.

Arismendy Alcantara stepped up to the plate in the seventh with the bases loaded and hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Colin Walsh to tie the game at 6-6. Brugman then launched a three-run homer to right to give the Sounds a 9-6 lead after seven.

Rangel Ravelo made it a 10-6 game when he reached on a fielder’s choice that scored Matt Chapman from third.

Josh Rodriguez then belted a three-run home run in the top of the eighth to extend the Sounds lead to 13-6.

The Sounds scored their first two runs of the ball game on wild pitches from Storm Chasers starter Jake Junis.

In the top of the first inning Matt Olson struck out swinging with Alcantara at third base, however the ball went to the back stop allowing Alcantara to score to give the Sounds a 1-0 lead.

After the Storm Chasers tied it at 1-1 in the bottom half of the first on a Hunter Dozier RBI double, a second wild pitch allowed the Sounds to take a 2-1 lead in the third.

With the bases loaded in the third, Junis second wild pitch allowed Brugman to score to give the Soundsa 2-1 lead.

Omaha then tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom half of the third inning on a RBI single from Whit Merrifield scoring Reymond Fuentes from second.

Rodriguez then quickly put the Sounds back on top with his first home run of the night, a two-run shot to left that gave the Sounds a 4-2 lead.

Rodriguez’s two home run night is the first since Chad Pinder and Bruce Maxwell both had two homer nights on July 16 at El Paso.

Omaha then rallied for a four-run fifth inning highlighted by a Hunter Dozier three-run home run to put the Storm Chasers up 6-4.

Matt Olson roped an RBI single in the sixth to score Joey Wendle from second to bring the Sounds within a run in the sixth before their back-to-back four-run innings in the seventh and eighth.

Omaha then added a late solo home run from Merrifield to make it a 13-7 Sounds lead.

Eduard Santos came on in relief of Sounds starter Jharel Cotton in the sixth inning and fired two shutout innings allowing just one hit and striking out four. Santos picked up his first win of the year and the loss was charged to Omaha’s reliever John Lannan.

The Nashville Sounds (74-55) magic number now to clinch the American South Division sets at seven games with just 15 games to play.

Game three of the four-game series is scheduled for Monday night at Werner Park. Left-hander Dillon Overton (11-5, 3.48) starts for the Sounds and the Storm Chasers have yet to announce their starter. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

Tickets for the 2016 Pacific Coast League playoff dates at First Tennessee Park are now available for purchase at the Nashville Sounds box office and online at www.nashvillesounds.com. The 2016 season is the Sounds’ 19th year in the Pacific Coast League and their second as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate.