Category: Sports

Left-hander Dillon Overton threw 7 1/3 dominant innings to lead the Nashville Sounds to a 4-0 win over the Round Rock Express in front of 6,081 fans Monday night at First Tennessee Park.

The Sounds (42-28) took three games from the Express (38-32) in the five-game series and now lead the American Southern Division by four games at the midway point of the 2016 season.

The 7 1/3 innings set a career-high for Overton who improved to 8-4 on the season with the win. He has gone 25 1/3 innings without allowing an earned run. Over his last seven starts, he’s 7-0 with a miniscule 1.40 ERA covering 45 innings.

All four of the Nashville runs came in a big second inning. Renato Nunez and Matt Olson started the frame with back-to-back singles to put runners at first and second for Matt McBride who drew a walk.

With the bases loaded and nobody out, Joey Wendle plated the first run of the game with a groundout.

Rangel Ravelo followed with a solid base hit up the middle to score Olson to make it 2-0. With McBride at second and Ravelo at first, Bruce Maxwell ripped a pitch from Chi Chi Gonzalez into the left-center gap that went all the way to the wall. Both runners scored to give the Sounds a 4-0 lead after two innings.

It was all Overton the rest of the way as the southpaw got into a groove. Starting when he retired Jared Hoying to end the first inning, Overton set down 14 straight Round Rock hitters.

With one out in the sixth, Overton walked Delino DeShields, then allowed a base hit to Hanser Alberto. He escaped the jam by getting Brett Nicholas to bounce into a 4-6-3 double play.

Overton struck out a pair in the sixth before allowing back-to-back hits to start the seventh. He came back to strike out James Jones for the first out of the inning. Manager Steve Scarsone turned to reliever Tucker Healy who got out of the jam with no harm.

Healy came back out for the ninth and worked around a two-out base hit from Jared Hoying to lock down his fourth save of the season.

Tyler Ladendorf had his second three-hit game of the season while six other Sounds collected hits.

The Sounds head to Des Moines for a four-game series with the Iowa Cubs set to begin Tuesday night. Right-hander Chris Jensen (0-1, 6.00) starts for Nashville against Jake Buchanan (5-4, 4.97) for Iowa in game one. First pitch is scheduled for 7:08 p.m.

Zach Morgan dives back into 1st base to avoid a pick-off attempt against Central Magnet on Saturday.

An undermanned Red Raider baseball team fell in the semifinal round of the 13^th annual Crethan Hansert Memorial Baseball Tournament at Powers Field.   Missing several starters, Coffee County was eliminated in the semifinals by Warren County.  Warren County defeated Tullahoma in the finals to earn the tournament title.

Coffee County struggled at the bat and in the field on Sunday as the Raiders were held to 5 hits.  Noah Anderson and Austin Tensfield had a pair of doubles to account for the only extra base hits on the game.  Hayden Skipper had a single and scored Coffee County’s lone run on an RBI fielder’s choice by Colton Kerber.

The Raiders will attempt to gain a measure of revenge on Monday when they travel to McMinnville to take on Warren County in a doubleheader.  The first game is set to begin at 4:30 PM.

Julio Teheran recorded his first career one-hit shutout as the Braves extended their season-best winning streak to five games and completed a three-game sweep with Sunday afternoon’s 6-0 win over the Mets at Citi Field.

Michael Conforto’s third-inning leadoff single accounted for the only hit surrendered by Teheran, who retired 27 of the 28 batters he faced, including each of the final 21.. The Braves staked their ace to a two-run lead in the third inning, when Ender Inciarte and Nick Markakis recorded two-out RBI singles off Jacob deGrom, who allowed three earned runs and five hits over six innings.
“Coming into this game, I wanted to do my part, and I know the guys have been doing great,” Teheran said. “Obviously, I didn’t want to be the one that lagged behind now that we’re playing well. So, I just wanted to do my part.”
En route to losing for the sixth time in their past eight games, the Mets allowed the Braves to extend their lead courtesy of Markakis’ sixth-inning leadoff home run against deGrom. Freddie Freeman’s RBI double off Antonio Bastardo during a two-run seventh inning highlighted his second four-hit game within the past five days.
“You have to give a little credit to the guy on the mound,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “I know how it is here, and it’s always our fault and we’re not hitting, but that guy pitched pretty good today. It’s not always, ‘Oh well you guys aren’t hitting,’ and ‘You guys stink.’ He was pretty good, so give him a little pat on the back.”
Teheran was in total control as he notched his third career shutout and first since May 20, 2014. The right-hander, who has posted a 1.89 ERA over his past 12 starts, ended his 120-pitch masterpiece with seven strikeouts. He kept his pitches away from the barrel of bats while commanding his fastball and keeping the Mets off balance with an array of sliders, curveballs and changeups.
“I think his stuff is a good matchup against [the Mets],” Braves catcher Tyler Flowers said. “They struggle with soft stuff in the zone. I knew it would be important to have a good feel for that today, which he typically does.”
Sunday was not deGrom’s finest outing of the season, but he pitched well enough to keep the Mets in contention. As has been the case for most of his starts recently, though, the right-hander did not receive any help from the Mets’ offense. Over deGrom’s last five starts, New York has tallied a combined eight runs. In that span, he has posted a 0-3 record despite a 2.81 ERA.
After deGrom opened the third inning by hitting Erick Aybar with a pitch, Inciarte, Freeman and Markakis notched three consecutive two-out singles. The Mets’ right-hander proved perfect during the fourth and fifth innings, but Markakis ended that stretch by beginning the sixth inning with his second home run of the season. The Braves had provided two runs or less of support in 11 of Teheran’s previous 11 starts.
As the Braves celebrated their second series sweep of the season, their mood was hampered by the revelation that Mallex Smith fractured his left thumb when he was hit by a Bastardo pitch during the seventh inning of Sunday’s game. A timetable for return won’t be announced until after Smith is further evaluated in Atlanta on Monday.
Bud Norris will take the mound when Atlanta begins a two-game series in Miami on Tuesday at 5:10 p.m. CT. The Braves are carrying a season-best five-game winning streak into Marlins Park, where they claimed a three-game series sweep in April.  Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast beginning at 6 PM on Tuesday as part of the Atlanta Braves Radio Network.

The Round Rock Express trimmed the American Southern Division race to three games with a doubleheader sweep over the Nashville Sounds in front of 7,388 fans Sunday afternoon at First Tennessee Park.

The Sounds’ offense struggled and managed two runs in game one and just one run in game two.

Round Rock used a four-run third inning to help score a 5-2 win in the first game Sunday afternoon. Doug Bernier started the scoring with a solo homer off Nashville starter Jesse Hahn.

After singles from James Jones and Hanser Alberto put runners at the corners with one out, Hahn lost command. He issued two walks to force in the second run of the inning, then hit batters with back-to-back pitches to force in two more runs.

With a 4-0 lead, Jones started the fourth with a triple to right-center. He scored on Delino DeShields’ base hit up the middle to boost Round Rock’s lead to 5-0.

The Sounds scored on an error in the bottom of the fifth, then got a solo blast from Matt Olson in the seventh but it wasn’t enough. Reliever Jimmy Reyes retired Arismendy Alcantara on a fly out to left field with two runners on base to end it.

Luke Jackson picked up the win after tossing 2 2/3 inning in relief, and Hahn was charged with the loss.

It was more of the same in game two as Round Rock jumped out to an early lead on another homer by Bernier. With Joey Gallo at second, Bernier deposited a pitch from Angel Castro in the left field seats for a two-run homer.

Nashville got one of the runs back right away when Tyler Ladendorf singled to left with one out in the bottom of the second. He moved to third on a base hit by Bruce Maxwell, and came in to score on Alcantara’s single to right.

That’s as close as they’d get, however, as the Express added a run in the third and kept the Sounds off the scoreboard the rest of the way.

Starter Richelson Pena went four innings and reliever Jose Monegro went the final three to pick up the win. Castro picked up a quality start but was tagged with the loss.

The series concludes with the finale Monday night at First Tennessee Park. Left-hander Dillon Overton (7-4, 3.30) starts for the Sounds against right-hander Chi Chi Gonzalez (3-5, 5.03) for the Express. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

The Coffee County Red Raider baseball team battled their way to a split on Saturday in pool play to advance to Sunday’s semifinals of the 13th Annual Crethan Hansert Memorial Baseball Tournament.  In the morning contest, the Red Raiders used a strong hitting attack to drop Central Magnet 9 to 3. In the nightcap, errors led to 6 unearned runs as Coffee County fell 8 to 3 to Grundy County.

Coffee County will take on Warren County in the 2nd semifinal game on Sunday.  That game is set to get underway at 4:00 PM.  In the first semifinal, Lincoln County will take on Tullahoma at 1:30 PM.  The finals will feature the winners of those 2 contest and will begin at 6:30 PM.  All 3 games will be held at Powers Field.

Atlanta center fielder Ender Inciarte displayed impressive instincts and hustle, willing himself around the bases to give the Braves a lead they would preserve en route to notching their second four-game winning streak of the season with Saturday night’s 4-3 win over the Mets at Citi Field.

Inciarte sped into second base to begin the eighth inning with a double and then alertly took third base when right fielder Curtis Granderson caught Jeff Francoeur’s fly ball and unhurriedly threw it back toward the infield. Inciarte then raced home with the decisive run when Addison Reed’s wild pitch rolled just a few feet behind Mets catcher Rene Rivera, who was ready to apply the tag before the ball was knocked out of his glove.
“That was two of the gutsiest, greatest baserunning plays I’ve ever seen, I think,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “It’s just kind of taking advantage of the situation and not taking anything for granted and just letting things play out and reacting.”
The Mets, who have lost five of their past seven games, grabbed an early three-run lead, with Yoenis Cespedes homering in the third inning and Wilmer Flores highlighting a two-run fourth with another solo shot off Braves rookie right-hander Aaron Blair. But Atlanta then tallied one run over each of the next three innings. Francoeur hit a two-out homer in the sixth off Steven Matz, who allowed two runs over six innings, and Tyler Flowers opened the seventh with a game-tying homer off Jim Henderson.
“This is a tough one,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “You can’t lose these kind of games. You got to win these games. When times are tough, these are big games.”
After the Braves dented the scoreboard with Chase d’Arnaud’s two-out RBI single in the fifth, Francoeur and Flowers hit their home runs within a span of six pitches. This marks just the seventh time this season the Braves have hit two home runs in a game, but they’ve now done so three times within their past nine games. Flowers now stands with Freddie Freeman as the only Atlanta players who have hit more than three homers.
After Flores reached on an error by shortstop Erick Aybar, Loney followed with a double off Jim Johnson, who was pitching because Atlanta’s closer, Arodys Vizcaino, had pitched the previous three days. Third-base coach Tim Teufel opted to send Flores home, but the throw from the cutoff man Aybar beat Flores to the plate, preventing the tying run from scoring. On the ensuing at-bat, Ty Kelly hit a deep fly ball that likely would have been enough to plate Flores had he remained at third.
“I’m always ready,” Flores said. “I was running as hard as I could, because you never know when they are going to send you.”
After allowing at least six runs in three of his past five starts, Blair took advantage of the chance to get at least one more. Blair surrendered the solo homers to Cespedes and Flores but retired each of the final eight batters he faced and issued just one one walk while completing six innings for the first time since April 29.
Matz exited after the sixth with a one-run lead, but Henderson did not allow that advantage to last long. On his first pitch out of the bullpen, Henderson fired a 91-mph fastball to Flowers that was promptly launched 424 feet into the seats in left field, and he was charged with his second blown save of the season.
Julio Teheran will take the mound when this three-game series concludes on Sunday afternoon. Teheran has posted a 2.13 ERA over his past 11 starts. This will be the first time the right-hander has faced the Mets this season.  Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast of the contest beginning at 12 PM as part of the Atlanta Braves Radio Network.

Chad Pinder hit a tie-breaking home run in the sixth inning to lift the Nashville Sounds to a 3-2 win over the Round Rock Express in front of a sellout crowd of 10,390 Saturday night at First Tennessee Park.

It’s the third consecutive sellout for the Sounds (42-27) who extended their American Southern Division lead to five games over the Express (36-31). The three straight capacity crowds match a Sounds record for consecutive sellouts in the PCL era.

Both teams got a pair of runs in the second inning to get the scoring started early. Round Rock’s Drew Robinson belted a booming two-run homer off Henderson Alvarez to get the Express out to a 2-0 lead.

With one out in the home half of the second, Ryon Healy singled and moved to second when Matt Olson drew a walk. After Joey Wendle was retired for the second out, Matt McBride roped a double to the wall in left field that scored Healy and Olson to even the game at 2-2.

Alvarez went through the third with no problems but he was pulled from the game before the start of the fourth inning. After taking his warm-up pitches, Alvarez left the game after a visit from Sounds athletic trainer Brad LaRosa.

Aaron Kurcz was forced into action and promptly delivered three scoreless innings. He allowed just one hit and one walk while racking up four strikeouts.

Pinder’s solo blast came on the first pitch delivered by Round Rock starter Kyle Lohse in the bottom of the sixth. It was his ninth homer of the season and fourth over his last five games.

Nashville reliever Ryan Doolittle pitched a scoreless seventh and got the first two outs in the eighth before handing over to J.B. Wendelken. With two on and two out, Wendelken retired Drew Robinson to end the threat.

Wendelken continued in the ninth and pitched around a one-out error to pick up his fifth save of the season. Kurcz got his third win of the year and Lohse was tagged with the loss.

Games three and four of the five-game set are scheduled for Sunday afternoon as part of a doubleheader. Right-hander Jesse Hahn (1-2, 2.57) is the game one starter for Nashville against left-hander Andrew Faulkner (3-0, 8.78) for Round Rock. In game two, the Sounds send right-hander Angel Castro (0-3, 5.83) to the mound against right-hander Richelson Pena (0-0, 7.71) for the Express. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. Game two will start approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one.

Warren County took advantage of some sloppy defense by Coffee County in a 7 to 1 win over the Raiders on Friday in Day #2 of the Crethan Hansert Memorial Baseball Tournament.  Missing several starters due to other obligations, Coffee County will attempt to bounce back on Saturday in hopes of advancing to Sunday’s semifinals.

Coffee County is back in action on Saturday when they take on Central Magnet at 11 AM and Grundy County at 6:30 PM.  The semifinals will begin at 1 PM on Sunday afternoon ad all games are at Powers Field.
Scott Hansert will be a guest on Saturday’s Coffee Coaches Show as he will talk about the tournament. The Coffee Coaches Show is heard each Saturday morning at 10 AM and is broadcast live from Al White Ford/Lincoln in Manchester.

Facing the club that drafted him in the 21st round back in 2011, John Gant earned his first career Major League win, allowing just one run on two hits over 6 2/3 innings to lead the Braves to a 5-1 series-opening victory over the Mets on Friday at Citi Field.

The Braves have now won three straight games, their longest winning streak since taking four in a row from April 15-19 — their first four wins of the season.
“Our confidence keeps building,” Braves outfielder Ender Inciarte said after his team improved to 21-46. “We score some runs and we get more comfortable. We stop thinking about what we’re not doing and we just let it fly.”
Gant was acquired last season in the deal that sent Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe to New York. He began his outing by surrendering a leadoff double to Curtis Granderson, who came around to score on a RBI groundout by Yoenis Cespedes, but he did not give up another hit until Asdrubal Cabrera hit a two-out double in the sixth.
Matt Harvey got the start for the Mets and looked strong early, needing just 21 pitches to get through the first two innings. The right-hander ran into some trouble from there, though, surrendering back-to-back RBI doubles in the third to Inciarte and Freddie Freeman, and RBI singles to A.J. Pierzynski and Nick Markakis in the fourth and fifth, respectively, en route to his ninth loss of the season.
“A couple of balls they hit were over the heart of the plate,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “As we all know about pitching, it’s about locating your stuff and if you make a mistake over the plate, hopefully they don’t do damage and they did.”
Gant retired 20 of the 22 batters he faced after surrendering Granderson’s double and didn’t allow his second hit until Cabrera doubled with two outs in the sixth inning. Complimenting his fastball with a vulcan changeup and an effective curveball, the rookie cruised through his second career start with little trouble. He induced three consecutive groundouts to end the first inning and another off Cespedes’ bat following Cabrera’s double.
“I was just thinking in my head, ‘Bear down and don’t let them score,'” Gant said. “God willing, it worked out.”
Harvey had seemingly figured it all out after his horrific start to the season, allowing just two runs over 20 innings in his last three starts, but on Friday he took a step back. Of the seven hits he allowed, four went for extra bases after giving up just two extra-base hits in his last three outings combined. More >
Freeman has been red-hot, going 13-for-25 with three doubles, a triple and three home runs dating back to Monday. But the Braves’ first baseman would not have had the chance to deliver the game-winning hit off Harvey without the assistance of Inciarte, who drilled his two-out double on a 96-mph 2-2 fastball from the Mets’ hurler. Inciarte has recorded six extra-base hits over his past 45 at-bats. He’d previously totaled four extra-base hits through his first 114 at-bats of the season.
“That was just guys putting good at-bats on [Harvey],” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “They know it’s a tough ride when they get in the batter’s box against a guy like that. They grinded out some at-bats and didn’t miss pitches.”
Wilmer Flores was absent from the Mets’ starting lineup Friday because of a left hand contusion that he suffered after being hit with a pitch Thursday. The infielder was called on to pinch-hit after the Mets loaded the bases against Chris Withrow in the seventh inning. But he struck out on three pitches against left-handed reliever Hunter Cervenka, who has recorded eight strikeouts while limiting right-handed hitters to one hit in 11 at-bats dating back to May 28.
Aaron Blair will take the mound when Atlanta and New York resume this series on Saturday at 7:15 p.m. CT. Blair has allowed at least six earned runs in three of his past five starts, but he retired nine of the final 10 batters he faced against the Reds on Monday. Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast of that game on the Braves Radio Network beginning with the pregame show at 6 PM.