Zach Neal turned in eight dominant innings to lead the Sounds to a 2-1 win over the Memphis Redbirds in front of 9,316 fans Saturday night at First Tennessee Park.
The right-hander limited Memphis to just one run on three hits in his eight frames. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out four in his fourth win of the season. The eight-inning effort is the longest start by a Sounds hurler this year.
Neal cruised through the first two innings before Memphis scored the game’s first run in the third. Tommy Pham lined a two-out base hit up the middle to score Alberto Rosario to give the Redbirds a 1-0 lead.
The Sounds bounced back quickly with a run of their own in the fourth. Jake Smolinski collected a two-out walk in front of Andrew Lambo. The designated hitter then lined a pitch from J.C. Sulbaran into the right-center gap for a double that chased Smolinski around from first with the tying run.
Neal went back to work and was unhittable the rest of the way. When he retired Greg Garcia to end the third, it was the start of 16 consecutive batters set down in order.
Matt McBride started the seventh with a base hit off Memphis reliever Justin Wright and moved to second on Matt Olson’s groundout. It was then Bruce Maxwell who came through with the go-ahead run-scoring single. His line drive bounced off of Wright and trickled into left field to allow McBride to cruise home and make it 2-1.
Neal returned for the eighth and punctuated his big night by striking out the final two batters he faced – David Washington and Alberto Rosario.
Lefty Patrick Schuster got the ball for the ninth and worked around a two-out walk to slam the door for Neal and the Sounds.
Over his last two starts, Neal has allowed one run over 15 1/3 innings and has pitched the Sounds to wins of 3-0 and 2-1.
Game three of the four-game series is set for Sunday afternoon at First Tennessee Park. Right-hander Daniel Mengden (1-0, 0.00) starts for the Sounds against right-hander Jeremy Hefner (2-0, 3.42) for the Redbirds. First pitch is scheduled for 2:05 p.m.
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.
Zack Greinke tossed six quality innings as the D-backs snapped a six-game losing streak by beating the Braves, 7-2, on Friday night at Turner Field in the first game of a three-game series.
The D-backs gave Greinke (3-2) some early run support thanks to an RBI single by Nick Ahmed in the second and they capitalized on an error by Braves third baseman Reid Brignac to score a pair of runs in the third. David Peralta had an RBI single in that third inning, and Brandon Drury added his sixth home run of the season in the sixth.
“We didn’t help ourselves with catching the baseball,” said Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez. “You have to catch the ball behind [Blair]. The veteran guys can cover it up, the Greinkes can cover it up a little bit and he did today but some of the younger guys you can’t. You can’t extend innings.”
The Braves finally managed to break through against Greinke in the sixth when Adonis Garcia and Tyler Flowers each had RBI singles. It was not enough to spare Aaron Blair (0-2) from the loss. Blair was facing the team that drafted him and dealt him to Atlanta this past winter. After the game, the Braves optioned Garcia to Triple-A Gwinnett and activated Ender Inciarte off the disabled list.
The D-backs stumbled into Atlanta on a six-game slide and were in desperate need of a victory against the team with the worst record in baseball. Greinke did what aces are supposed to do — deliver a quality outing to help stop a bad streak. That’s the pitcher the D-backs were expecting when they signed Greinke to a six-year, $206.5 million deal last December.
Blair wasn’t sharp with four walks in his five innings, but he again competed and gave the Braves a chance to rally. Blair, who has now pitched at least five innings in each of his first three Major League starts, allowed three runs (two earned), and threw 92 pitches, including 54 strikes — both career highs.
The Braves had their ninth game this season with at least 10 hits, but also their 13th double-digit-strikeout game. It was the second straight 10-plus strikeout game for Atlanta and its sixth in the last 10 games. The Braves had seven such games over their first 18. Friday was the fifth time the Braves had at least 10 hits and at least 10 strikeouts. All of them have been at Turner Field and they are now 0-5 in those games.
The Braves throw their ace, Julio Teheran, against the D-backs at 6:10 p.m. CT tonight in game #2 of the series with Arizona. While Teheran is winless on the season, he’s pitched seven innings in back-to-back starts, allowing only one run and eight hits in those two starts, and is 3-1 with a 2.17 lifetime ERA against the D-Backs. Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast of the game beginning at 6 PM.
A six-run second inning paved the way for the Memphis Redbirds in a 7-6 win over the Nashville Sounds in front of 8,123 fans Friday night at First Tennessee Park.
The Sounds plated runs in four separate innings after the Redbirds took a commanding 6-0 lead, but the rally fell short in yet another one-run loss.
The scoring in the six-run inning started right away when Anthony Garcia doubled and Jonathan Rodriguez singled to make it 1-0.
Three of the next four batters reached safely to load the bases for Jacob Wilson. The third baseman launched a 2-2 pitch from Dillon Overton off the left field foul pole for a grand slam and 6-0 lead.
With nobody on and two outs in the bottom of the second, Nashville’s Chad Pinder sparked a rally with a sharp single to left. Andrew Lambo reached on an error and Rangel Ravelo walked to load the bases.
This time it was Nashville’s turn to do the damage with the bases full as catcher Bruce Maxwell lined a bases-clearing double to left-center to cut the deficit in half at 6-3.
Over the next two innings, the Sounds continued to dig into the Redbirds’ lead. Renato Nunez brought home a run in the third with a single up the middle and Tyler Ladendorf singled home a run in the fourth to make it 6-5.
Rodriguez was at it again for Memphis when he belted a solo blast in the fifth to give the Redbirds a 7-5 lead. The Sounds brought it to within a run again in the seventh when Matt Olson’s single to right scored Renato Nunez who previously doubled.
The bullpen trio of Ryan Brasier, Daniel Coulombe and Tucker Healy kept it close by putting up three scoreless frames in the later innings.
In the bottom of the ninth, Sam Tuivailala retired Joey Wendle to start the inning but then issued back-to-back walks to Max Muncy and Nunez. The final pitch on the walk to Nunez was wild and allowed Muncy third base.
Tuivailala bounced back to strike out Olson for the second out, then got Chad Pinder on a fly out to right to end it.
Game two of the four-game series is set for Saturday night at First Tennessee Park. Right-hander Zach Neal (3-1, 3.14) starts for Nashville against right-hander J.C. Sulbaran (2-2, 4.18) for Memphis. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
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.
Three unearned runs in the first 2 innings spelled doom for the Red Raiders as Coffee County’s baseball team opened district tournament play on Thursday in Columbia falling 3 to 1 to the Lions.
Columbia scored twice in the 1st inning and once more in the 2nd inning against Red Raider starting pitcher Kohl Young who only gave up 5 hits through 4 innings of play. Wyatt Day came on in relief in the 5th inning with the bases loaded and no outs. Day got a pair of strikeouts and a beautiful diving catch by Deandre Wakefield to get out of the jam without allowing a run to score.
Coffee County loaded the bases in the 4th inning with no one out but could not get a run in as a pair of strikeouts and a fly out to shallow centerfield ended the Raiders scoring threat. Coffee County tallied their lone run in the 5th inning as Zach Wise led off with a double and moved to 3rd base on a single by Day. Noah Anderson brought Wise home on a sacrifice bunt only to see a pair of strikeouts once again end the Raider threat.
Day and Wakefield each finished the game with a pair of hits as both went 2 for 4. With his 2 hits and his run saving catch, Wakefield was named the Ascend Federal Credit Union player of the game.
The Red Raiders will fall to the loser’s bracket with the loss as they will be back in action on Saturday. Coffee County will take on the loser of Friday’s game between Lincoln County and Shelbyville at 2:30
The longest game in Nashville Predators history turned out just fine.
Mike Fisher scored at 11:12 of the third overtime in Game Four against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night at Bridgestone Arena to even the Second Round series at 2-2. It’s the first time the Preds have won a postseason game in overtime at home, a game that has already made its mark on the franchise.
“We were just trying to do all we could do to just find a way, and everyone did a great job,” Fisher said. “Everyone in the lineup played solid, played hard. That was a great hockey game, and our fans had as much energy as anyone. Going out for that third [overtime period] they were unbelievable, and we tried to feed off of that a little bit too.”
Game Four couldn’t have gotten off to a better start for the Preds, as it took only 41 seconds for Colin Wilson to deposit his team-leading fourth goal of the postseason for a 1-0 lead. Mattias Ekholm’s point shot eventually found its way to the stick of Wilson, and the forward snuck it off the post and past Martin Jones for the fastest goal at home from the start of a postseason game in franchise history.
Brent Burns got it back for San Jose at the 3:08 mark of the opening frame, but Mike Fisher scored his first at 9:50, collecting a rebound at the side of the net and capitalizing for his third of the postseason to extend his point streak to four games and give his club a 2-1 advantage headed into the first intermission.
The only goal of the second stanza came on the power play for San Jose, as Joonas Donskoi’s shot found its way through the pads of Pekka Rinne. Nashville challenged the call for offside prior to the goal being scored, but the linesmen deemed the play to be valid, producing a 2-2 tie after two periods.
Burns got his second of the game to give San Jose their first lead of the night at 6:48 of the third period, but Nashville didn’t go away. After striking two posts to begin the third period, the Preds finally got one under the bar with less than five minutes remaining in regulation. James Neal pounced on a loose puck to the right of Jones and slammed it home for his fourth of the postseason to send the Preds to overtime for the first time in the 2016 playoffs.
Once OT was underway, the teams went back and forth. San Jose pushed a puck past Rinne, but the goal was disallowed due to goaltender interference. After that, it was save after save for Rinne – who ended up with 44 in total, before Fisher finally ended the contest after 1 a.m. (CT).
“You have to give credit to Pekka,” defenseman Mattias Ekholm said. “He kept us in the game all OT and all game long. We are going to be tired coming into the second overtime and third. Usually it’s just a simple shot and a rebound that will decide these kinds of games, and that was the case tonight, and we’ll take it. It’s a huge win for us, and we’ll enjoy it tonight, forget about it tomorrow. It’s a new game on Saturday.”
While the series is far from over, Thursday night’s/Friday morning’s contest was one that won’t soon be forgotten. The hope in the Preds locker room is that the result will pay dividends moving forward, but for now, Game Four will undoubtedly go down as one of the best in franchise history.
“I don’t care how these wins come if we have to play all night.” Rinne said. “It’s a 2-2 series right now, and you can’t say enough about San Jose too. They have a great team, and they played a strong game, but like I said, it shows a lot of character when you pull out a win like this.”
“Certainly, I think that our guys are playing confidently right now, and I said that about Game Two, Game Three and now with Game Four,” Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “It was a good game for us, so I thought our guys did a good job.”
Peter Laviolette on winning in triple overtime: “The guys played so hard, and when you get that deep into a game, there is a lot invested. I’m so happy for our guys for pulling it out and getting the win. We invested a lot. There is a lot of character in our room, and to win a game like that is big. If you think about the other scenario, it would have been 3-1 the other way. One win and three losses. This ties it up 2-2. It shortens the series, and our guys played like champs tonight.”
Colin Wilson scored his 10th career postseason goal on Thursday night, putting him alone in second place in the category in Predators franchise history.
Wilson’s five-game, postseason point streak has tied former Preds skater and current Sharks winger Joel Ward for the longest such streak in club history.
At 111:12, Game Four was the longest in Predators franchise history, eclipsing the old mark set last postseason in Game Four of Round One against Chicago.
Nashville is now 3-7 all-time in postseason overtime games and 2-3 all-time in games that go to multiple overtimes.
Mike Fisher’s goal on Thursday was his second-career, playoff overtime game-winning goal. His last was April 18, 2004 (versus Toronto) in the second OT (21:47 time elapsed)
Game Five between the Preds and Sharks is set for Saturday night in San Jose, a 9 p.m. (CT) start and Thunder Radio will bring you the action as part of the Fifth Third Bank/Nashville Predators Radio Network. Game Six, which is now necessary, comes Monday night in Nashville. A start time has not yet been announced.
The Iowa Cubs scored three runs in the top of the eighth inning on their way to a 4-1 win over the Nashville Sounds in front of 5,857 fans at First Tennessee Park Thursday night.
In a 1-1 game, Kristopher Negron led off the eighth with a triple to the right-center gap off of Nashville reliever J.B. Wendelken. Moments later, Munenori Kawasaki singled to right to score Negron and give the Cubs a 2-1 lead.
Wendelken came back to strike out John Andreoli for the second out, but then allowed a run-scoring triple to Albert Almora Jr. On the next pitch, Wendelken uncorked a wild pitch to allow Almora to score and make it 4-1.
The Sounds went quietly in the eighth and ninth innings to suffer their third straight loss to fall to 12-15.
Henderson Alvarez made his second MLB rehab assignment start with Nashville and worked 4 2/3 innings. He allowed one run on three hits and three walks to go along with three strikeouts.
Nashville trailed when Alvarez exited but came back and tied the game in sixth when Joey Wendle raced home from third on a dropped popup by Cubs second baseman Arismendy Alcantara.
Relievers Eduard Santos and Daniel Coulombe kept it a 1-1 game until the trouble began in the eighth to allow Iowa to take control and win the series.
The Sounds welcome the Memphis Redbirds to Nashville for a four-game series set to begin Friday night. Left-hander Dillon Overton (1-2, 3.38) starts for the Sounds against right-hander Thomas Lee (1-2, 5.48) for the Redbirds. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
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.
Motlow State Community College has scheduled four separate summer basketball camps, all open to both boys and girls ages 6-15, according to Bucks’ head coach JT Burton.
Registration flyers are available on the Motlow athletics web site at MotlowSports.com. All camps will be held at Motlow’s Copperweld Arena inside Nisbett Center on the Moore County campus.
The first camp is a Fundamental Skills Camp scheduled for June 13-16. Each days’ session will run from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. The cost per camper is $175. Fundamental Skills Camp will focus on teaching the basic fundamental skills of basketball. Campers will be grouped by age, grade and ability.
Next comes a Shooting Camp June 20-21. Each day is from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. and the cost is $75. This camp will focus on all aspects of shooting technique from lay-ups to three-point shooting to free-throw shooting.
The third camp is also in June. The Post Skills Camp is June 23-24 from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. and the cost is $75. This camp will focus on every aspect of post play both offensively and defensively. Instruction will include the little things that can give a post player the competitive advantage.
The final camp is a second Fundamental Skills Camp and runs July 25 – 28. Each days’ session will last from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. and the cost is $175.
For further information regarding Motlow’s summer basketball camps contact Bucks’ Head Coach JT Burton at 931-393-1620 or by email at jtburton@mscc.edu.
Visit the official website of Motlow Athletics at <www.motlowsports.com> for rosters, schedules, stats and more. Interact with Motlow Athletics at <Facebook/MotlowSports> and <Twitter@MotlowSports>.
The CTC Champion Lady Raider track team of Coffee County Middle School(Photo Provided)
The Lady Raider track team of Coffee County Middle School won their 4th straight CTC Conference Track Meet on Wednesday as they finished first out of a field of 6 teams. The Lady Raiders dominated the relay races and scored well in each of the field events to finish comfortably ahead of West Tullahoma for the crown. The final scores in girls’ competition was Coffee County 121, West Tullahoma 69, South Franklin 64, Warren County 45, North Franklin 42 and East Tullahoma 11
The CTC runner-up Red Raider track team of Coffee County Middle School(Photo Provided)
The Red Raiders had several strong performances in the field events, and a 1st place finish in the 4x200M relay, but came up just short to West Tullahoma finishing in 2nd place for the 2nd consecutive year. This is the 6th straight year for the Red Raiders to finish in the top 2 in the conference. For the boys scores: West Tullahoma 93, Coffee County 84, South Franklin 60, North Franklin 56, East Tullahoma 41 and Warren County 33
Individual finishers for Coffee County were:
Jenna Garretson
Girls
Shot Put: Marissa Douglass-2nd
Discus: Marissa Douglass-1st, Marley Perry-4th
High Jump: Julia Duncan & Jenna Garretson 3rd (Tie)
Long Jump: Jenna Garretson-1st, Julia Duncan-2nd
4x100m relay: 1st-Gracie Pippenger, Laura Bogard, Ashley Evans, Marissa Douglass
1600m: Kaytee Christian-6th
100m: Marissa Douglass-2nd, Karie Wooten-6th
4x200m relay: 1st-Gracie Pippenger, Ashley Evans, Mady Gravitt, Willow Hobbs
400m: Ryan Green-3rd, Emilee Roberson-5th
800m: Felicia Medina-2nd, Jasie Willis-6th
200m: Willow Hobbs-2nd, Jenna Garretson-3rd
4x400m relay: 1st-Journey Arnold, Emilee Roberson, Emma Singleton, Jade Arnold
Hayden Skipper
Boys
Shot Put: Brandon Jernigan-2nd, Gilberto Infante-3rd
Discus: Brandon Jernigan-2nd, Gilberto Infante-3rd
High Jump: Hayden Skipper-2nd, Blanton Brown-3rd
Long Jump: Blanton Brown-2nd, Hayden Skipper-5th
4x100m relay: 4th-Blanton Brown, Gabe Sons, Gilberto Infante, Hayden Skipper
1600m: Larson Meltzer-4th
4x200m relay: 1st-Blanton Brown, Gabe Sons, Gilberto Infante, Hayden Skipper
400m: Jalen Morris-2nd
4x400m relay: 3rd-Jalen Morris, Larson Meltzer, Landon Crabtree, Tucker Anderson
Because the Mets’ offense is built around home runs, it tends to come and go in spurts.
But when it goes, it doesn’t tend to stray for long. Less than a day after the Mets mustered one hit in a loss to the Braves, they bludgeoned four home runs to back Steven Matz in an 8-0 victory at Citi Field, winning their sixth consecutive series. It had been a full decade since the Mets last scored six series wins in a row.
Lucas Duda’s pair of homers highlighted the scoring off Braves starter Jhoulys Chacin, who also served up two-run shots to Rene Rivera and Asdrubal Cabrera in 4 2/3 innings.
That provided plenty of cushion once again for Matz, who has enjoyed the most free-flowing run support of any Mets starter. Improving to 4-0 with a 0.67 ERA since a seven-run clunker in his season debut, Matz has received 35 runs of support over his last four starts. The Mets have outscored their opponents 31-1 while Matz has been an active pitcher in those games.
Once again, the long ball was the Mets’ preferred method of attack. Rivera’s two-run shot in the second inning gave the Mets their first lead, and they never looked back from there. An inning later, Cabrera and Duda hit two-run shots over a four-batter span to put the game mostly out of reach. Duda hit his second homer of the game, a solo shot, in the fifth.
Everything Chacin has provided through this season’s first month has been gravy for the Braves, who were simply taking a chance that the veteran pitcher was healthy when he signed a Minor League deal this winter. But as Chacin surrendered a career-high four home runs, including three two-run shots within a span of seven batters, he at least provided reason to wonder how long he is capable of being a reliable option in the rotation. If he is removed at some point within the next month, the Braves could promote Tyrell Jenkins or Lucas Sims to fill the spot.
All but unhittable in his previous three starts, Matz still managed to save some of his best work for the Braves. The left-hander retired eight straight batters to open the game, then another 11 in a row after Chacin singled with two outs in the third. Working for the most part with a multi-run lead, he needed 106 pitches to complete 7 2/3 innings.
Aaron Blair will oppose Zack Greinke when Atlanta opens a three-game series against the D-backs on Friday at 6:35 p.m CT. Blair was a top prospect in the D-backs’ organization before the Braves acquired him in the blockbuster deal that sent Shelby Miller to Arizona in December.
Zach Neal turned in eight dominant innings to lead the Sounds to a 2-1 win over the Memphis Redbirds in front of 9,316 fans Saturday night at First Tennessee Park.
