RedHawks Split Doubleheader in Nashville

The first game turned into a shootout, while the second was a pitchers' duel.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 12:20 pm

By: News On 6

RedHawks Split Doubleheader in Nashville

Originally Published: Apr 13, 2011 9:3 AM CDT

Corey DeMoss
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Oklahoma City RedHawks split a doubleheader Tuesday in the first two games of a four-game series with the Nashville Sounds.

The two games saw vastly different performances, with both offenses lighting up the scoreboard in the first game and both pitchers dominating the second.

The Sounds (4-2) started the day with a bang, scoring five runs in the first inning of the first game. Nashville belted three home runs in the inning, a two-run homer by Brendan Katin and solo shots from Mike River a and Taylor Green.

Oklahoma City (2-4) cut into that lead with two runs in the second inning thanks to an RBI double by Tommy Manzella and an RBI single by Oswaldo Navarro. The Sounds responded with a run in the bottom of the inning on a sacrifice fly by Brett Carroll to extend the lead to 6-2.

The RedHawks pitchers held Nashville scoreless for the rest of the game, and the offense picked up the slack. Manzella drove home another run in the fourth to cut the lead to three, and then OKC tied it with three more runs in the seventh to send the game into an extra inning.

Manzella struck again in the extra frame, leading off the eighth with a home run for his third RBI of the game and giving the RedHawks their first lead of the day. The OKC pitchers finished things off in the bottom of the eighth for a 7-6 win.

Reliever Jose Valdez (1-0) earned his first win of the season after pitching 1.2 scoreless inning and giving up one hit and striking out two. Nashville’s Jim Henderson (0-1) gave up Manzella’s game-winning homer and was credited with a loss.

The second game of the day featured a pitchers’ duel between Oklahoma City’s Jordan Lyles and Nashville’s Amaury Rivas. Both pitchers held their opponents scoreless through the first three innings, until Lyles made his only major mistake in the fourth.

Lyles allowed a two-run homer to Katin in the fourth inning to give the Sounds a 2-0 lead. Those were the only runs Lyles allowed, but it was all the support Rivas needed.

The RedHawks got on the board in the fifth inning on a pinch-hit RBI double by J.B. Shuck, but could not muster any more offense. The Sounds won 2-1, giving Rivas (2-0) a victory and Lyles (0-1) a loss.

The teams will continue their series at 12:05 p.m. Wednesday.