Albuquerque Silences Sounds, 8-1, in Opener
May 4, 2012 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Nashville Sounds News Release
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Starting pitcher Stephen Fife threw seven scoreless innings of three-hit ball as the Nashville Sounds dropped an 8-1 defeat to the Albuquerque Isotopes on Friday night in the opener of a four-game series at Isotopes Park.
Holding the Sounds to one hit through the first five innings and retiring a stretch of 11 straight at one point in the contest, Fife (3-2) set a season-high with seven strikeouts for the victory and extended his scoreless streak to 13 innings over his last two starts.
Albuquerque first baseman Jeff Baisley was a triple short of the cycle, going 4-for-4 with a homer and two doubles while scoring three and driving in two runs.
The seven-run defeat is Nashville's (8-19) largest of the season, and also drops the team into a tie with the 2008 Sounds with worst record in club history through 27 games of action.
Third baseman Taylor Green compiled his team-leading eighth multi-hit contest with a 2-for-4 effort while also extending his hitting streak to a season-high five games, the longest active on the club.
The Isotopes scored three unearned runs against Nashville starter Seth McClung in the bottom of the second after sending eight batters to the dish.
The rally began after a two-base throwing error from Green that allowed Scott Van Slyke to reach. Baisley then doubled down the right field line for the first run and later scored as former Sound Luis Cruz crushed an RBI two-bagger off the right field wall. In the ensuing at-bat, Albuquerque starting pitcher Stephen Fife singled up the middle for the third run.
The deficit climbed to 5-0 in the next frame as Nashville committed its second error of the contest that resulted in two more unearned runs. Josh Fields singled and moved to third from another double from Baisley, a broken-bat bloop to left field. Albuquerque catcher Tim Federowicz then lined an infield ball off of first baseman Jordan Brown that let both runners score.
Back-to-back jacks from Van Slyke and Baisley made it 8-0 in the bottom of the fifth and removed McClung from the contest. After a one-out walk to Josh Fields, Van Slyke unloaded his seventh homer of the season, a two-run line drive over the left field wall and into the Albuquerque bullpen. Baisley's fourth homer was a towering shot down the left field line.
The last back-to-back homers against the Sounds came from Memphis' Matt Carpenter and Andrew Brown on September 2, 2011 at AutoZone Park.
The Sounds busted up the shutout with their only run in the bottom of the eighth inning against reliever Scott Rice. Outfielder Logan Schafer led off the inning with a stand-up triple to deep center field and scored on the next pitch as second baseman Eric Farris hit a sacrifice fly to center.
McClung (0-3) gave up eight runs (three earned) on eight hits (both season highs) while fanning three in 4 1/3 innings.
The Nashville bullpen shutdown the Albuquerque offense, beginning with left-handed reliever Victor Garate's 1 2/3 shutout innings with two strikeouts. Righty Jim Henderson finished the game with two scoreless innings, which extended his scoreless streak to a season-high 14 innings to open the year.
The Sounds and Isotopes continue their series at 8:05 pm CT on Saturday evening at Isotopes Park. Nashville right-hander Mark Rogers (0-2, 4.76) takes the mound to face Albuquerque right John Ely (2-2, 5.06).
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