Category: Sports

Despite getting home runs from Bryan Anderson, Bruce Maxwell, Chad Pinder and Joey Wendle, The Nashville Sounds were swept in Tuesday night’s doubleheader at Isotope Park.
Albuquerque went into the bottom of the sixth inning of game one trailing 5-4. After a lead-off single from Jordan Patterson, Tucker Healy replaced Sounds starter Brandon Mann. Healy then hit the first batter he faced in Alex Castellanos to put the go-ahead run on base. David Dahl then pinch hit for Tim Smalling and roped a two-run triple to left to put the Isotopes up 6-5. Mike Tauchman then singled to left to score Dahl to add the insurance run to put Albuquerque up 7-5.
The Isotopes took an early 4-0 lead after scoring two in each the first and second innings. Tom Murphy scored two on a two-run double in the first to put the Isotopes up 2-0. Castellano lead-off the second with a solo home run to left and later in the inning Tauchman hit a RBI double to put the ‘Topes up 4-0.
In his first at bat since returning to Nashville, Sounds catcher Bryan Anderson launched a solo home run to right field to put the Sounds on the board as they trailed 4-1 after three.
With the bases loaded in the fourth, Matt Olson sent a sacrifice fly to right field to score Max Muncy to cut the ‘Topes lead in half. Colin Walsh then followed with an RBI single to right scoring Renato Nunez to bring the Sounds within a run.
Joey Wendle tripled to right and scored Muncy to tie the game at 4-4 in the top of the sixth. The Sounds were not done as Wendle then scored on a wild pitch with Olson batting to put the Sounds on top 6-5.
After the Isotopes rally in the bottom of the sixth, Albuquerque closer Simon Castro struck out the side in the top of the seventh to give the Isotopes a 7-5 win in game one.
Albuquerque then wasted little time jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning of game two. The Isotopes scored both of their runs in the first on back-to-back run scoring fielders choices from Ben Paulsen and Dustin Garneau.
Wendle then answered with a solo home run in the top of the sixth to narrow the deficit. The home run was Wendle’s 10th of the season.
The Isotopes then scored runs in the second, fourth and fifth innings to take a 5-1lead heading into the top of the sixth inning.
Chad Pinder led off the sixth with his 13th home run of the season to make the score 5-2 after six.
Pacific Coast League Player of the Week Bruce Maxwell came to the plate in the top of the seventh and launched a solo home run to bring the Sounds to within two as they trailed 5-3. Maxwell’s 10th home run of the season was his fifth of the current road trip. Unfortunately for the Sounds, Maxwell’s late homer did not spark a rally and the Sounds were swept in Tuesday night’s twin bill.
The series continues Wednesday with game three of the four-game set at Isotopes Park. The Sounds (52-45) will send left-hander Ross Detwiler (0-0, 0.00) and the Isotopes (43-53) will counter with Jeff Hoffman (4-7, 4.03). First pitch is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. CST.
The 2016 season is the Sounds’ 19th year in the Pacific Coast League and their second as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate. Season ticket memberships are available now by calling (615) 690-4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com.

The people responsible for the home run celebration fireworks at Great American Ball Park barely had time to reload in the fourth inning on Monday. Three homers in the bottom of the fourth helped power the Reds to an 8-2 victory over the Braves. It was Cincinnati’s third win in four games since the All-Star break, while Atlanta has dropped three of its last four.

Atlanta took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth, before Cincinnati pounced with five runs in the bottom half. Zack Cozart hit a solo homer against Braves starter Matt Wisler, before Joey Votto and Eugenio Suarez each added two-run shots. Cincinnati had been without a home run in each of its previous four games.
“The ball started to get up in the fourth inning,” Wisler said. “I came out the first couple innings, kept the ball down, even if I was missing in the middle they were usually down, they weren’t doing too much with it, but once they ball got up, they started teeing off on me.”
Brandon Finnegan started for the Reds and worked five-plus innings, allowing two earned runs, seven hits, one walk and striking out five in his first start since July 5. Finnegan faced three batters in the sixth but couldn’t record an out. It included Adonis Garcia’s leadoff homer, Freddie Freeman’s ground-rule double and Nick Markakis’ single that ended the lefty’s night. Blake Wood took over and retired the side in order to squash the rally.
“I just wanted to go out there and get ahead,” said Finnegan, who gave up four homers vs. the Cubs in his previous start. “As a pitcher when you get ahead, you can do a lot. It helps you out a lot more. You saw tonight that once I got behind, it kind of hurt me a little bit. Today was definitely a step forward.”
Wisler gave up six runs (five earned) and eight hits over five-plus innings with two walks and three strikeouts. In the Reds’ sixth, reliever Joel De La Cruz allowed an inherited run to cross on Tucker Barnhart’s RBI single. In the seventh with Eric O’Flaherty on the mound, Votto added an RBI single that scored Billy Hamilton, and the Reds’ first baseman later scored on pinch-hitter Ivan De Jesus Jr.’s bloop RBI single.
It was Cozart who started the home run barrage, when he led off the fourth by hitting Wisler’s 1-1 slider to left field. It was the 15th homer of the season for Cozart, who already tied the career high he set in 2012 with just under half of this year remaining. It was his first long ball since July 6.
Garcia’s fourth-inning homer, which traveled 376 feet and came off the bat at 100 mph according to Statcast™, was his sixth of the season and his first since June 26, a span of 17 games. Garcia finished the night 3-for-4 and scored two runs, his second straight multi-hit game after going 2-for-4 against Colorado on Sunday.
“I was just trying to stack some right-handers up there in this ballpark, just get them guys up more, because you never know what might happen, and he kind of did exactly what I hoped he would do,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “Hopefully he can get hot and get that ball in the air and carry it.”
Following Cozart’s homer in the fourth, Hamilton helped set up the rest of Cincinnati’s big inning with his single into center field. The speedster induced a balk off a pickoff throw to first base by Wisler and then stole third base on the first pitch to Votto. It was a 2-2 count when Votto took Wisler deep for his 15th homer of the season and first since June 30. Hamilton had three hits in the game and three steals.
Wisler cruised through his first three innings, facing the minimum and allowing two hits. But when the Reds turned over the lineup for the first time in the fourth, they teed off on the 24-year-old righty. Wisler has struggled with the second time through the order, with an average against him of .309 with eight homers allowed compared to a .236 average and three homers allowed.
Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips favored his right leg as he ran to first base after grounding into a fielder’s choice to the shortstop. He was lifted for De Jesus, who pinch-hit in the seventh. Phillips had returned to the lineup Monday after he missed two games with a right calf strain.
“He was able to play and could have finished the game, but we felt at that time it was smart to get him out of the game,” Price said. “I’m fairly confident he’ll be back out there tomorrow.”
The Braves send rookie Tyrell Jenkins to the mound for the second game against the Reds that begins at 6:10 p.m. CT on Tuesday. The right-hander is making his second career start after moving to the rotation from the bullpen. In his lone start on July 6, Jenkins pitched 4 2/3 innings and allowed one run on 64 pitches.  Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast beginning at 6 PM on Tuesday as part of the Braves Radio Network.

Monday night’s game between the Nashville Sounds and Albuquerque Isotopes has been postponed due to rain at Isotopes Park.
The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Tuesday, July 19 at Isotopes Park. Game one will begin at 5:35 p.m. CST with game two scheduled to begin approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one. Both contests will be seven innings.
The 2016 season is the Sounds’ 19th year in the Pacific Coast League and their second as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate. Season ticket memberships are available now by calling (615) 690-4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com.

Nashville Sound’s catcher Bruce Maxwell

Nashville Sounds catcher Bruce Maxwell has been named the Pacific Coast League Player of the Week for his performance from July 11-17, the league announced today.

In a shortened week due to the Triple-A All-Star break, Maxwell put up staggering numbers in a series win over the El Paso Chihuahuas.

The 25-year-old hit .647 (11-for-17) with 10 RBI, 7 runs scored, 4 home runs, 1 double and 2 walks. He hit safely in all four games and recorded a four-hit game and five-hit game just two days apart.

During the week, Maxwell led the PCL in average, home runs, RBI, total bases (24), slugging percentage (1.412) and OPS (2.096), while finishing tied for the league lead in runs and extra base hits (5). He had the second-highest on-base percentage (.684) and finished tied for second in hits.

In the Sounds’ 19-5 win over the Chihuahuas on July 16, Maxwell went 5-for-5 with 6 RBI, 4 runs scored and the first multi-homer game of his career. He became just the fourth player in the PCL over the last five seasons to record a 5-hit, 6-RBI, 4-run game. Current A’s catcher Stephen Vogt accomplished the feat twice while playing with Sacramento in 2013.

This is the first weekly honor of Maxwell’s minor league career. He joins fellow Sounds Dillon Overton (April 18-24) and Jaycob Brugman (June 6-12) to garner weekly honors from the PCL this year.

In 58 games this season, Maxwell is hitting .316 (59-for-187) with 39 RBI, 24 runs, 11 doubles and 9 home runs. The 9 homers is already a career-high as is his current .519 slugging percentage and .906 OPS.

The first-place Sounds continue their eight-game road trip with a four-game series set to begin tonight in Albuquerque. They return home to First Tennessee Park on Friday when they begin an eight-game homestand.

The 2016 season is the Sounds’ 19th year in the Pacific Coast League and their second as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate. Tickets are available now by calling (615) 690-4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com.

2016 Middle Tennessee Longshots. Front row(left to right) Jayden Fellers, Cole Pippenger, Gaige Turner, Braden Williams & Tyler Craig. Middle row(left to right) Kyler Terry, Jayron Morris, Nolan Jernigan, Beau Murray & Boo Greene. Back row(left to right) coaches Keith Pippenger. Mike Jernigan, Jason Craig & Tim Fellers.

The Middle Tennessee Longshots baseball team claimed a 7 to 4 win in Sunday’s Baseball Players Association(BPA) World Series championship in Chattanooga. With the win, the Longshots were crowned as the 10 and under Gold Major champions as they finished the World Series with a record of 5 and 1. The Longshots, featuring a majority of players from the Manchester area, defeated the Murfreesboro Black Sox in the finals to claim the title. The Black Sox came out of the loser’s bracket to steal a win in the early game on Sunday by a final score of 9 to 7 before the Longshots dispatched them in the finale for the title.
The Longshots were 2 and 0 in pool play as they got wins over Sandy Plains, GA and the Nashville Knights. In bracket play the Longshots opened with a 9 to 4 win over the Georgia Tomahawks as Cole Pippenger was 3 for 3 at the plate. In the 2nd bracket game, Nolan Jernigan pitched a no-hitter and had a home run to lead the Longshots over the Nashville Knights 12 to 0. In the winners’ bracket finals, the Longshots needed a come-from-behind 7 to 6 win over the Murfreesboro Black Sox to punch their ticket to Sunday’s final. Trailing 6 to 4 in the 3rd, Jayden Fellers came on in relief to hold the Black Sox and Brayden Williams got a walk-off single in the bottom of the 6th to complete the comeback. Kyler Terry had a home run in the win for the Longshots.
In the first finals game on Sunday, Kyler Terry had a home run and Jayron Morris added 3 RBI in the losing effort for the Longshots. In the championship game, Cole Pippenger got the win on the bump and was 2 for 3 at the plate in the winning effort. Kyler Terry added another home run to make his 3rd round tripper of the tournament.
The win ends the summer season for the Longshots and ends their time in 10 and under competition. The team finished the year with a record of 40 wins and 9 losses. The team competed in 12 tournaments this season winning 6 tournaments while making 2 other tournament finals appearances. The Longshots will take off the rest of the summer before beginning 11 and under competition in the fall. The Longshots will also appear on Saturday’s Coffee Coaches Show broadcast live from Al White Ford/Lincoln. The Coffee Coaches Show begins at 10 AM each and every Saturday and the public is invited to come out and congratulate these young men on their outstanding season.

Having won the first two games of the series, the Rockies entered the finale at Turner Field looking for their first series sweep of at least three games against the Braves in Atlanta since September 1997. But in a scoreless tie after eight innings, Atlanta spoiled the opportunity on Chase d’Arnaud’s walk-off single to hand Colorado a 1-0 loss.

Atlanta recorded five hits in the first four innings, but Jon Gray didn’t allow a runner to second, stranding seven on the basepaths. Meanwhile, the Rockies couldn’t find an answer for Julio Teheran, who exited the scoreless tie after scattering three hits. The Braves entered Sunday’s game averaging only 2.6 runs per game for Teheran this year, which was the worst run support for any qualified pitcher in the Majors.
Both teams turned to their bullpens in the eighth, and neither allowed the other to break through. That was until, with runners on second and third in the ninth, d’Arnaud poked a two-out single into left off Gonzalez Germen for his second walk-off hit of the year .
Gray’s career high was 105 pitches — in his first career win on May 13 against the Mets. But on Sunday, he was finishing the seventh, no matter how many pitches he needed. With two down and Anthony Recker at first courtesy of a hit batsman, Gray avoided left-handed-hitting Jace Peterson with a five-pitch walk and challenged d’Arnaud, who had managed two singles. Gray went all secondary pitches — curve, changeup and, finally, a 1-2 slider on his 115th pitch for his eighth strikeout.
After giving up 10 runs across his final two starts before the All-Star break, Teheran retired seven batters in a row to start Sunday’s game and didn’t allow a single runner to advance past first base until the sixth inning. The Braves’ ace ran into trouble in the seventh, when he put runners on first and second with a two-out double and a walk. But Teheran settled in and induced an inning-ending groundout. Despite his seven shutout innings, the right-hander was once again denied his first win of the season at Turner Field, where he has posted a 2.90 ERA in 11 home starts.
Germen thought he had a strikeout to end the ninth on a full-count changeup to Peterson with two out and a runner at third. Despite the framing job by catcher Tony Wolters, home-plate umpire Tripp Gibson called ball four. d’Arnaud then delivered the winning single.
With the Rockies threatening to score in the eighth with one out and runners on first and second, Freddie Freeman fielded a sharp ground ball off the bat of DJ LeMahieu to initiate an inning-ending double play. The first baseman fired to second, where d’Arnaud touched the bag and tossed the ball to Chris Withrow at first just in time to get the final out. An inning later, Colorado once again put runners on first and second with one out. But Jim Johnson induced a 5-4-3 double play to escape any damage.
Freeman entered this weekend’s series batting .298 with 11 home runs and 27 RBIs in 32 career games vs. Colorado. But after entering the All-Star break hitting .345 in his past 15 games, the first baseman went 0-for-11 against the Rockies, capped by a four-strikeout game on Sunday.
Atlanta will kick off a nine-game road trip on Monday night, when it opens a three-game series against the Reds at Great American Ball Park. Matt Wisler will toe the rubber for the Braves, looking to end his woes away from Turner Field after posting a 14.00 ERA across his past two road starts. First pitch is set for 6:10 p.m. CT.  Thunder Radio will begin you the broadcast on the Atlanta Braves Radio Network beginning at 6 PM.

The Nashville Sounds fell just shy of a series sweep in a 5-2 loss to the El Paso Chihuahuas Sunday night at Southwest University Park.

Bidding for their fourth series sweep of the season after dominating the first three games of the set, the Sounds (52-43) went just 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left the bases loaded in the ninth. It was the theme of the night for Nashville as they left 11 runners on base in the setback.

It looked promising early as Colin Walsh gave the Sounds a 1-0 lead in the second inning when he belted a solo homer off Chihuahuas’ (54-40) starter Michael Kelly.

Chris Smith was dialed in against El Paso’s lineup in the early going. He worked around a bases loaded situation in the second and kept the Chihuahuas off the scoreboard for the first four innings.

Trouble found him in the fifth when Manuel Margot started the inning with a single to left field. He swiped second base and moved to third when Carlos Asauje singled to left.

It put two runners on for Hunter Renfroe who deposited a pitch from Smith over the left field wall for a three-run homer. His 22nd home run of the season gave the Chihuahuas a 3-1 lead.

The scored stayed 3-1 until the seventh when the Sounds drew closer thanks to a costly error. With Walsh at second and Bruce Maxwell at first with two outs, Jaycob Brugman lifted a fly ball toward the left field line. El Paso left fielder Auston Bousfield dropped the ball allowing Walsh to score easily. However, Maxwell was thrown out at the plate trying to even the game.

In the eighth, El Paso’s Diego Goris provided the Chihuahuas with two big insurance runs when he lined an offering from J.B. Wendleken up the middle to score Austin Hedges and Jabari Blash.

Trailing 5-2 in the top of the ninth, Maxwell, Arismendy Alcantara and Brugman collected three straight one-out singles to bring the go-ahead run to the plate.

The rally flamed out as right-hander Michael Dimock struck out Chad Pinder and retired Max Muncy on a pop up to end it.

Alcantara extended his hitting streak to nine games with a 2-for-4 showing. Smith was charged with the loss to drop him to 5-8 while Kelly got the win to improve to 5-0.

The Sounds head to Albuquerque to open a four-game set with the Isotopes Monday night at Isotopes Park. Left-hander Dillon Overton (10-4, 2.98) starts for the Sounds against right-hander Christian Bergman (1-2, 4.34) for the Isotopes. First pitch is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. CST.

The 2016 season is the Sounds’ 19th year in the Pacific Coast League and their second as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate. Tickets are available now by calling (615) 690-4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com.

Mike Foltynewicz surrendered two hits through the first seven innings and the Rockies had lost each of the previous 43 games in which they trailed after seven innings. Down 3-0 entering the eighth, things didn’t look promising until Colorado took advantage of multiple defensive miscues and a trio of wild pitches in claiming a 4-3 win over the Braves on Saturday night at Turner Field.

Trevor Story opened the ninth inning with a single off Jim Johnson and advanced to third base courtesy of two wild pitches that eluded A.J. Pierzynski, who was behind the plate for each of the five wild pitches charged to the Braves during Friday’s series opener. Story slid across the plate after Pierzynski was unable to handle the throw in the dirt shortstop Erick Aybar made after fielding Mark Reynolds’ decisive chopper with the infield playing on the edge of the grass.
“I saw something about that,” Story said of the skid that the Rockies mercifully put to bed. “That’s not very good. But we’re a determined group. Tonight showed the grit and toughness of our team.”
Reynolds, whose gamewinner was the 700th RBI of his career, said, “It was a good morale win for us — one of the better wins of the year. We’re not out of this thing yet.”
The Rockies, who have won the first two against the Braves and are challenging themselves to climb into contention instead of taking a seller’s attitude, tallied each of the three runs charged to Foltynewicz during the eighth, which included a couple borderline pitches, a run-producing wild pitch and Gordon Beckham’s errant throw that allowed Nick Hundley to score from second base on DJ LeMahieu’s game-tying infield single.
“This is a really good lineup,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “You can’t give them more than 27 outs. We did, and it hurt us.”
Foltynewicz surrendered just two hits (one of the infield variety) through the first seven innings and also provided a RBI single in the bottom of the seventh off Chad Bettis, who permitted three earned runs and six hits in 6 2/3 innings. Pierzynski gave the Braves an early lead when he hit a two-run homer in the second.
Before Friday’s 11-2 victory, Rockies manager Walt Weiss emphasized a simplified offensive approach. Get on base for the next man. It looked as if Weiss needed to deliver a reminder when the Rockies managed just three baserunners against Foltynewicz in the first seven innings. But the three-run eighth to tie the game came on four singles, a walk and a wild pitch.
“Foltynewicz was as good as anybody we’ve seen this year; he was commanding 97 [mph], threw 100 and had a real good slider,” Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. “We knew early on it was going to be tough to score runs off of him. But we hung in there, made him work, got his pitch count up later and strung some real key at-bats.”
Foltynewicz had completed 14 consecutive scoreless innings before he allowed each of the first three batters he faced in the eighth to reach safely. The righty stared at home-plate umpire Scott Barry after his once-promising night ended with Hundley’s RBI single. Reynolds came home on Hunter Cervenka’s wild pitch and Hundley scored from second base when Beckham dove to stop LeMahieu’s sharp grounder and then made an errant throw that skipped across the dirt and grazed Freddie Freeman’s nose before coming to rest in front of the first-base dugout.
“I pitched my butt off tonight,” Foltynewicz said. “It was just really unlucky the way it unfolded there in the eighth. I put my bullpen in a bad situation.” More >
Rockies lefty Boone Logan faced five batters in the eighth, four of them left-handed. Advantage, Logan. Nick Markakis managed a one-out single to right — just the 10th hit by a lefty in 64 at-bats — but Logan worked around trouble. He walked his one righty, Adonis Garcia, to put two on with one out, but he forced an Ender Inciarte flyout and a Pierzynski groundout. Weiss visited before the Garcia walk, but Logan said he was OK to stay on the mound.
“I knew I had to bear down, dig deep for the last two guys,” said Logan, whose win was his first since July 9, 2014, 107 games ago. “I really didn’t want to come out that inning.”
Defensively, this hasn’t been a pretty series for Pierzynski, who was also charged with a passed ball on Friday night. But the 39-year-old catcher had some fun at Bettis’ expense. His two-run shot in the second inning was his first homer since Sept. 29, 2015. His bunt single to beat the shift in the seventh helped put Inciarte in position to score on Foltynewicz’s two-out single.
“Folty pitched great,” Pierzynski said. “He deserved a better fate. You go into the eighth and we had a three-run lead. He made a lot of great pitches, and they hit some balls that found some holes. We’ll give them credit. But he’s pitched really great his past couple starts.”
Righty Jon Gray (5-4, 4.67 ERA), who leads the Rockies with 10 quality starts, will face the Braves in the final game of the series at 12:35 p.m. CT on Sunday. Gray’s 95 strikeouts rank second among National League rookies.  Pitching for the first time since he tossed a scoreless inning in Tuesday’s All-Star Game presented by MasterCard, Julio Teheran will get the start in Sunday afternoon’s series finale. Teheran owned a 2.46 ERA before he allowed five earned runs in both of his final two starts before the All-Star break.  Thunder Radio will bring you the action as part of the Braves Radio Network beginning at noon.

The Nashville Sounds used a season-high 19 runs and 20 hits to bury the El Paso Chihuahuas, 19-5, Saturday night at Southwest University Park.

Bruce Maxwell had a huge night as he matched a franchise record with a five-hit game. He went 5-for-5 with two home runs, a career-high six RBI, and he scored four runs.

The 19 runs was just one shy of matching the franchise record of 20 runs done twice. In the three games the two teams have played, the Sounds (52-42) have scored 43 runs on a staggering 56 hits.

Along with Maxwell’s multi-homer game, Nashville shortstop Chad Pinder launched two home runs of his own. Both of Pinder’s blasts were two-run shots – one in the third inning and the other came in the fourth.

The scoring for Nashville was fast and furious. They plated a pair of runs in the first, and then got another two in the third. They scored five runs in the fourth and a single tally in the fifth before exploding for eight runs in the sixth inning. It’s the second time this season the Sounds have scored eight runs in a single inning.

In the eight-run frame, run-scoring hits came from Joey Wendle (two-run double), Colin Wash (RBI single), Matt Olson (RBI double), Maxwell (three-run homer), and Arismendy Alcantara (solo homer).

Maxwell and Alcantara became the third pair of teammates to smash back-to-back home runs for the Sounds this year.

Maxwell, Alcantara, Jaycob Brugman, Pinder and Wendle all had multi-hit games. Brugman went 4-for-5 with 3 RBI and 3 runs scored. It’s his fifth four-hit game of the season with the Sounds and second in as many games.

Pinder went 3-for-5 with 4 RBI and 3 runs scored while Wendle went 2-for-5 with a pair of RBI and runs scored.

Zach Neal was the benefactor of all the run support. Still working up his pitch count after spending several weeks in the Athletics’ bullpen, Neal worked five innings and picked up the win to improve to 7-2 on the season.

El Paso (53-40) starter Daniel McCutchen was charged with nine earned runs in four innings.

With the win, the Sounds are 18-1 against the Pacific Conference. They’ll go for the third series sweep of the season in the finale.

The fourth and final game of the series is scheduled for Sunday night at Southwest University Park. Right-hander Chris Smith (5-7, 4.22) starts for Nashville against Michael Kelly (4-0, 3.60) for El Paso. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. CST.

The 2016 season is the Sounds’ 19th year in the Pacific Coast League and their second as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate. Tickets are available now by calling (615) 690-4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com.

Recognizing their play over the next couple of weeks could determine whether they are buyers or sellers at the Trade Deadline, the Rockies provided an efficient Jorge De La Rosa with sufficient support and opened the season’s second half with Friday night’s 11-2 win over the Braves at Turner Field.

Though the Rockies have won just eight of their past 20 games and sit seven games below .500 (41-48), team management has contended it may opt not to sell veterans like Carlos Gonzalez, who backed De La Rosa with three hits, including a first-inning RBI single off Braves starter Lucas Harrell. Colorado put an exclamation point on the victory when Ryan Raburn recorded a pinch-hit ninth-inning grand slam off Dario Alvarez after Arodys Vizcaino exited with an apparent right oblique strain.
“Every game from now on is important, even more important than the ones we played in the first half,” Gonzalez said. “We have a shot. We have a good group. We said that in Spring Training. We’ve been through tough times. Hopefully, we’re staying positive, and I think great things are ahead of us.”

While De La Rosa surrendered just two runs over six-plus innings, Harrell was tagged for seven runs — five earned — over 3 2/3 frames. Charlie Blackmon sparked Colorado’s four-run third inning with a leadoff double and DJ LeMahieu added a two-out RBI triple during a two-run fourth. The Braves, who entered the second half hoping to avoid a 100-loss season, did not score until tallying a run in both the fifth and sixth innings.
“[Harrell] was just off tonight,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “That happens. When you pitch so well, you expect him to go out and last seven innings against this club. It’s a good-hitting club, but he’s faced good hitting clubs before. It just wasn’t his night.”
De La Rosa was visibly irked when A.J. Pierzynski and Ender Inciarte dribbled singles through the infield with one out in the second. But De La Rosa enticed Erick Aybar to tap a 1-2 split-finger pitch to shortstop Trevor Story to begin a double play and preserve a 1-0 lead. De La Rosa, whose resourcefulness kept the Braves off the board until the Rockies’ offense could heat up, is 4-2 with a 2.68 ERA in his last six starts after a brief exile to the bullpen.
“Ever since he came back from the bullpen, he’s been himself, pitched really well, put us in position to win games,” Rockies manager Walt Weiss said.
Though they faced a 7-0 deficit through four innings, the Braves had chances to make things interesting. But after Jeff Francoeur’s RBI single left two on with none out in the sixth, De La Rosa retired the next three batters he faced. Atlanta put two on with none out in the seventh before Boone Logan replaced Adam Ottavino and extinguished that threat by getting Freddie Freeman to ground into a double play on one pitch.
“We were a hit away from getting back in it,” Snitker said. “They always are. It was just a couple of the fielding plays that led to two or three runs that kind of hurt more than anything, and the grand slam in the ninth didn’t help either.”
It’s an All-Star arm, too: Gonzalez’s power bat earned him a third career Midsummer Classic trip this week, but his arm is also formidable. The Braves appeared to have a rally in the fifth, on Brandon Snyder’s RBI double — his sixth extra-base hit in 20 at-bats this season. But when Snyder rumbled plateward on Adonis Garcia’s single, Gonzalez threw to the plate on the fly from right field and catcher Nick Hundley made the easy tag. According to Statcast™, Gonzalez’s throw sailed 233 feet and was clocked at 97 mph.
Though he had two good starts after he was unexpectedly placed in Atlanta’s depleted rotation before the break, Harrell started the second half by providing the reminder he’s a short-term fix. The veteran right-hander committed a costly throwing error that led to two unearned runs in the third inning and then surrendered a pair of extra-base hits before ending his night by allowing Nolan Arenado’s RBI single in the fourth.
“I didn’t get ahead,” Harrell said. “When you’re 2-0 and 2-1 on everybody, they know fastball is coming. I wasn’t throwing my offspeed pitches for strikes, and I fell behind. They are a good hitting team, and you can’t fall behind those guys. It’s just one of those things I need to work on and be more aggressive.”

Friday was the 1,000th Major League game for Gonzalez — 915th with the Rockies after breaking in with the Athletics in 2008. His games played rank 10th on the list of active players from Venezuela.
The Braves were charged with five wild pitches — their highest total since July 24, 2002. The Atlanta record of six was set when knuckleballer Phil Niekro pitched a complete game against the Astros on Aug. 4, 1979.
Right-hander Chad Bettis (7-6, 5.65 ERA) is 3-1 in his last five starts but with a 5.79 ERA. The Rockies have given him 31 runs of support in those games. Bettis hopes to regain his form, although he wouldn’t mind that the scoring keeps up, when he faces the Braves at Turner Field at 6:10 p.m. CT on Saturday.
Coming off a career-high 10-strikeout performance he completed against the White Sox on Sunday, Mike Foltynewicz will return to the mound for Saturday’s game against the Rockies. The Braves hope Foltynewicz spends the season’s second half providing further indication he has the potential to be a front-line starter.  Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast on the Braves Radio Network at 6 PM.