Link Report for Games of Saturday, May 6th

[Mass Haas]

Final, Game One: New Orleans (Nationals) 5, Nashville 4, 24 innings, completion of suspended game

 

Nashville Site Game Summary:

Link for nice Dennis Sarfate photo, text follows --

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/n...ewsId=1936

 

Sounds Fall To Zephyrs In 24-Inning Marathon

 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Nashville Sounds were on the short end of a 5-4 loss to the New Orleans Zephyrs as the teams completed their Pacific Coast League record-tying 24-inning marathon on Saturday evening at Greer Stadium.

 

Zephyrs catcher Wiki Gonzalez provided the game-winner when he drove in pitcher-turned-rightfielder Chris Schroder with a one-out RBI single up the middle off Mike Meyers that glanced off the glove of Sounds second baseman Jermaine Clark. Schroder had drawn a one-out walk and moved to second on a Josh Labandeira single.

 

The game-deciding run was the first scored by either team in 15 innings as both teams remained scoreless from the 10th through the 23rd innings.

 

The Sounds and Zephyrs completed the final six innings of the contest on Saturday after playing to a 4-4 tie through 18 innings on Friday night before the game was halted due to a curfew rule.

 

The 24-inning marathon, which finished with a game time of eight hours and seven minutes, was the longest in both teams' histories and matched the existing PCL mark originally set on June 8, 1909 in a game between San Francisco and Oakland then matched on September 10, 1911 in a game between Sacramento and Portland.

 

Several Pacific Coast League records were tied or broken in the contest.

 

Records set in the game include most at-bats by one team (Nashville with 81; previous mark was 64) and by both teams (166; previous mark was 109) as well as most pitchers used by both teams in a single game (17; old record was 14).

 

The Sounds and Zephyrs used 40 combined players in the game, matching the existing PCL mark (set in 1947). Nashville used nine different pitchers in the game (including shortstop Chris Barnwell) to match the single-game mark for one club (set in 1964).

 

The Sounds? 29 batting strikeouts were a new Pacific Coast League record (previous record was 20). The previous league mark for most combined strikeouts in a PCL game by both teams was 29. Nashville and New Orleans obliterated that mark with 48 combined K?s in the marathon.

 

One additional single-game record broken by the Sounds was hits allowed (22).

 

Nashville first baseman Brad Nelson struck out seven times to establish a new Sounds single-game and Pacific Coast League single-game record.

 

Barnwell's 11 at-bats in the contest set a new Sounds single-game record.

 

Dennis Sarfate made his sixth start of the season and went deeper into the game then he has gone all season, but did not factor into the decision ? his fifth no-decision of the year. He pitched six innings, surrendered two unearned runs, and struck out a season-high six batters.

 

The Sounds got on the board only two pitches into the game with a leadoff homer courtesy of Dave Krynzel. It was Krynzel?s first hit since April 17 when he collided with the center field wall while making a spectacular catch against Oklahoma. Krynzel?s home run, his second of the campaign, marked the 19th time this year the Sounds have reached home before their opponents, which is the best among all PCL teams.

 

The Sounds? one run would not be enough as the teams would exchange the lead four times throughout the game. The first exchange would occur in the top of the third inning. The Zephyrs scored two unearned runs off two singles and an error by Barnwell.

 

Barnwell bounced right back with a leadoff double in the bottom of the fourth, marking his 21st game in a row that he has reached base safely by hit or walk and also extending his hitting streak to eight games. Barnwell would later score from third on a squeeze bunt by Sarfate, who went 2-for-2 with an RBI to bring his average to .750 (3-for-4) and give him two runs batted in on the year.

 

Nashville scored another run in the seventh on a Brent Abernathy RBI single to extend the lead to 3-1.

 

The visitors came back with one run in the eighth when Tyrell Godwin was hit by an Allan Simpson pitch with the bases loaded to force home Brendan Harris.

 

With the Zephyrs down to their final strike in the top of the ninth, Henry Mateo scored from second on a two-out, two-strike single into left field by Harris off Simpson to tie the game up at four runs apiece.

 

Neither team would not strike again until the top of the 24th inning when Gonzalez delivered his game-winning single.

 

Before Friday night was over, the Sounds would have seven pitchers grace the mound with their presence. Every Sound in the bullpen except Meyers had a chance to visit the mound.

 

On Saturday night when the game resumed, Meyers (1-1) threw 5 1/3 innings and surrendered one run, giving him the loss. After Meyers surrendered the run, shortstop Barnwell was brought into the game marking his second mound appearance of the year.

 

New Orleans reliever Santiago Ramirez (2-1) earned the victory after tossing three scoreless frames and striking out four batters.

 

Mike Rivera?s 16 game-hit streak came to an end following an 0-for-7 effort. The 16 game-hit streak marked the longest by a Sounds player this year and is the second-longest by a PCL batter.

 

Corey Hart extended his hit streak to 10 games in the bottom of the first with a line drive over the head of the second baseman. Hart?s double-digit hitting streak gives the Sounds four current players with double-digit hitting streak this season, joining Barnwell (10 games, 4/23-4/28), Tony Gwynn (12 games, 4/14-4/25) and Rivera (16 games, 4/9-5/4).

 

AUDIO: Final Out Of The 24th Inning --

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/a...%205-5.wma

 

Nashville Game One Box Score:

Fine effort by Mike Meyers despite the loss...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nasaaa_1

 

Nashville Game One Game Log:

Reads like War and Peace -- actually, it only runs through the 18th; for whatever reason, MILB.com hasn't provided any game log updates on suspended games in the two years the logs have been in effect...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nasaaa_1

[Mass Haas]

Final, Game Two: Nashville 7, New Orleans (Nationals) 5, regularly scheduled game, seven innings

 

Nashville Site Game Two Game Summary:

Link for Nelson Cruz photo, text follows --

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/n...ewsId=1937

 

Sounds Use Six-Run Inning To Down Z's, 7-5

 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. ? After dropping their 24-inning game earlier in the evening, the Nashville Sounds bounced back to defeat the New Orleans Zephyrs, 7-5, in the seven-inning nightcap on Saturday night in front of a season-best crowd of 10,016 fans at Greer Stadium.

 

The victory improved Nashville's record to 20-9 on the year as the Sounds came back from an early deficit to avoid dropping back-to-back games for the first time since the opening weekend of the season.

 

New Orleans opened a big lead when it recorded four runs in the second inning on five straight hits, which included a home run and two doubles. Tyrell Godwin gave the Zephyrs an early lead when he homered in the top of the second inning, his second longball of the year.

 

The four runs were not enough for the Zephyrs to record their third win in a row, however, as the dormant Nashville offense emerged later in the contest.

 

The Sounds struck in the bottom of the fourth on a Jermaine Clark ground ball. Tony Gwynn, who opened the frame with a single, scored from first on the play to make it a 4-1 game after New Orleans first baseman Larry Broadway threw the ball away attempting to gun down the speedy outfielder at third.

 

New Orleans got that run back in the top of the fifth on a Mike Vento RBI groundout.

 

The Nashville bats awoke in the bottom of the fifth. After not scoring a run in 20 consecutive innings from the ninth inning of the 24-inning marathon until the fourth inning of this contest, the Sounds were able to score six in one inning to provide them a lead they would not give up.

 

Mark Johnson and Chris Barnwell led off the inning with consecutive singles then both scored later on a double by Gwynn to pull the home club within a run at 4-3.

 

The bats continued to fly as Corey Hart hit an RBI triple to tie the game up at 5-5. Hart would score off a Nelson Cruz double hit to the center field wall to give the Sounds their first lead of the night. Cruz, who paced the Nashville offense with a 3-for-3 evening, then scored an insurance run off a Brent Abernathy single.

 

Sounds reliever Joe Winkelsas, who joined the club earlier in the day from Double-A Huntsville, came on in relief of spot starter Wilton Chavez in the top of the third. Winkelsas filled the Nashville roster spot left open after knuckleballer Jared Fernandez was called up to Milwaukee on Friday.

 

Winkelsas (1-0) allowed one run over five innings, marking the deepest he has gone into a game this season, and struck out a season-high six batters to record the win in his first Nashville appearance. Z?s reliever Kevin Gryboski (1-4) was credited with the loss after surrendering two runs in his 1 1/3 innings of work.

 

Barnwell?s single extended his on-base streak to 22 games in a row and bumped his hitting streak to nine games. Hart?s RBI triple extended his hitting streak to 11 games, which is currently the longest active streak on the team.

 

The Sounds will face off against the Zephyrs on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. for game three of the four-game series. Veteran left-hander Justin Thompson (2-0, 4.43) will take the hill for the Sounds to face a yet-to-be-determined New Orleans hurler.

 

Nashville Game Two Box Score:

Surely Frank Kremblas considers veteran reliever Joe Winkelsas' five-inning, 57-pitch stint heroic -- nine ground ball outs, six K's, no walks -- completely saved the rest of the pen, nice story...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nasaaa_1

 

Nashville Game Two Game Log:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nasaaa_1

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....328/SPORTS

 

Sounds lose a 24-inning marathon

New Orleans captures 8-hour, 7-minute victory

By MAURICE PATTON

Tennessean Staff Writer

 

Wiki Gonzalez's 24th-inning one-out single scored Chris Schroder from second base with the winning run Saturday night as New Orleans defeated Nashville 5-4 in the conclusion of a game that was suspended after 18 innings Friday night.

 

In the regularly scheduled game, which was shortened to seven innings, the Sounds rebounded with a vengeance. Scoring a season-high six runs in the fifth inning, the Sounds rallied for a 7-5 victory ? avoiding back-to-back losses as they have since dropping three straight to open the season.

 

"Once we lost the first game, it was important to try to come out and just win a game," said Nashville outfielder Tony Gwynn, who had a pinch-hit single in the Friday portion of the early game and keyed the comeback with a two-out, two-run double in the victory. "They'd lost 11 straight games; they were hungry."

 

The 24-inning contest, which took 8 hours, 7 minutes to play, tied a Pacific Coast League record for longest game. San Francisco and Oakland played a 24-inning contest on June 8, 1909, as did Portland and Sacramento on Sept. 10, 1911.

 

For the Sounds, the game set franchise records for most innings played and longest time played. Previously, Nashville had lost a 20-inning contest to Omaha in the 1990 American Association playoffs and had lost a 5-hour, 7-minute, 15-inning game to Colorado Springs in its 1998 home opener.

 

"I'm sure everybody was tired, playing 31 innings in less than 24 hours," Sounds Manager Frank Kremblas said following the two contests.

 

Nashville set a PCL record for most strikeouts by a team with 29, surpassing Spokane's previous mark of 20 set on June 20, 1974 against Hawaii. Nashville and New Orleans combined for 48 strikeouts; the previous record was 29, set by Spokane and Hawaii.

 

Sounds first baseman Brad Nelson's seven strikeouts established a new league mark, also.

 

Salt Lake's Dallas McPherson set the previous record with six in an 11-inning game against Las Vegas on July 9, 2004.

 

Nashville and New Orleans used a total of 17 pitchers; the previous league record was 14, set three times ? with the Sounds involved in two of the prior games. Hawaii and Salt Lake City originally set the record on April 19, 1964; the Sounds and Colorado Springs matched it on April 11, 1998, and again on June 24, 2003.

 

Both the Sounds and Zephyrs used 20 players, falling two short of the record set by Portland in 1947 and matched by Vancouver in 1958.

 

Nashville led 4-2 through seven innings, aided by Dave Krynzel's leadoff homer in the first and RBI base hits by Corey Hart, Vinny Rottino and Brent Abernathy.

 

However, the Zephyrs ? who had lost 11 of 12 games entering the series ? scored in the eighth and ninth to force extra innings.

 

New Orleans had its leadoff hitter reach base six times in extra innings before finally scoring the go-ahead run off Sounds reliever Mike Meyers, who came on when the game resumed in the 19th inning.

 

Nashville catcher Mike Rivera saw his 16-game hitting streak stopped as he went 0-for-7.

 

For the Sounds, the loss was just their third in their last 15 games.

 

Five straight two-out base hits turned the second game for Nashville, which trailed 5-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning. Gwynn's two-run double sparked the rally, with Jermaine Clark, Hart, Nelson Cruz and Abernathy each following with RBI hits.

 

"Once we get started scoring, we're a tough team to get out," Gwynn said.

 

Roster moves: To aid a depleted bullpen, Joe Winkelsas was added to the Nashville active roster Saturday, filling the spot vacated when pitcher Jared Fernandez was called up Friday by Milwaukee.

 

Winkelsas was 1-1 with a 2.13 earned run average and three saves in 10 relief appearances at Class AA Huntsville. The 32-year-old has 55 minor league saves over his 10-year career.

 

It didn't take long for Winkelsas to see action, as he relieved starter Wilton Chavez in the third inning of Saturday's regularly scheduled game against New Orleans.

 

Winkelsas, who had thrown in three of the past four days before Saturday's appearance, worked the final five innings for his first Class AAA win since pitching for Richmond (Braves) in 2002.

 

They call it 'the streak': Tony Gwynn's infield single in the fourth inning gave him hits in seven straight games, following his pinch-hit single in Friday's portion of the 24-inning contest.

 

Gwynn is also the only Sounds player to hit safely in every home game.

 

Chris Barnwell and Corey Hart also extended streaks, with base hits in the decisive fifth inning. Barnwell has now hit in nine straight games, Hart in 11.

 

Home sweet home: With the late win Saturday, Nashville is 11-3 at Greer Stadium.

 

What they said: ?Tony had a big hit to get us a couple of runs, and every hit after that was just as big if not bigger.? ? Kremblas, regarding Gwynn?s two-out, two-run double to spark the six-run fifth.

[colbyjack]

Which dovetails into my next, which is that the 2-year A-ball program should be utilized for very hard throwers with less than good command, like Neugebauer, Jones, etc. However, for more refined pitchers like Gallardo and Inman (neither of whom have big strike zone problems at all), learning to get guys out in the zone is more important because they can't necessarily blow the ball by the hitters.

 

While it's an interesting idea, my desire to keep both Gallardo and Inman where they're at for the year has a lot more to do with their future health than their development. I have no doubt that either one could carve up hitters at the next level (and I'm starting to believe Inman just might carve up batters two levels higher), but I don't want to push either one because of the wear & tear on their arms. With each level up there are increased pitch counts, and Inman is on the team he is because it is assembled to have a few piggy-backs taking place. This places a different burden on the bullpen, and their are also roster ramifications. I'd rather not see any pitcher accumulate more than about 25 innings from the season before. Bumping Inman up a level would increase his work load. If you're tempted to bump him up again, the workload goes up again. Ideally I would like to see a young pitcher throw 100 innings at low-A, 125 at high-A, 150 at AA and 175 at AAA (possibly combined between AAA & the big-leagues, since it's hard to tally 175 innings in the minor leagues given the short season). That way when they make the big-leagues for good they are conditioned to handle a jump to 200 IP should they be ready and successful enough to do so.

 

I remember this was a concern with Mark Prior since he spent virtually no time in the minors. Who knows how many of his current problems go back to how he was handled early in his career.