RedHawks Blasted By Sounds

The Nashville Sounds pitching staff had another strong night, and a late surge by the Sounds offense helped them pull away with an 8-1 win over the Oklahoma City RedHawks Saturday night at Greer Stadium.

The Sounds (58-50) struck for a pair of runs in the second inning. Matt Clark led off with a bunt single around a defensive shift. On the very next pitch, Sean Halton doubled down the third base line to score Clark, giving Nashville a 1-0 lead.

Later in the inning Sean Zarraga hit a sacrifice fly to deep right field, with Domingo Santana making a nice running catch on the warning track.

RedHawks starting pitcher Rudy Owens quieted the Sounds offense over the next few innings. Between the third and sixth innings he held Nashville scoreless with one hit. After getting Hector Gomez to fly out to start the seventh inning, he had retired 12 consecutive hitters.

However, the Sounds were able to find a second wind against Owens shortly thereafter. With a runner at first and two outs, Kevin Mattison doubled and Irving Falu followed with a two-run single to make it 4-0.

The RedHawks (53-56) got on the board in the eighth inning when Carlos Perez lined a home run to left field. Perez's fifth homer of the season ended a streak of 22 consecutive scoreless innings for the RedHawks offense as well as a streak of 28 consecutive innings without an extra-base hit.

The Sounds added four runs in the bottom of the inning. Halton hit a two-run double, and Zarraga added a two-run single to push the lead to 8-1.

All four runs were against RedHawks reliever Kevin Chapman. Entering Saturday, Chapman had allowed three earned runs all season before being charged with three earned runs in the inning.

Five Nashville pitchers were able to contain the RedHawks for a second consecutive night, allowing just one run and four hits. They combined for seven strikeouts and no walks. Reliever Kyle Heckathorn (3-2) earned the win after retiring all five batters he faced, including two strikeouts.

For the fourth time in five games, the RedHawks were held to one or no runs. Over their last three games combined, they've scored just twice and totaled 12 hits.

Owens (5-5) tied a season high by going seven innings and took the loss. He allowed four runs and eight hits with two strikeouts and no walks. It was the 10th time in 19 total appearances Owens did not allow a walk.