RedHawks Outduel Nashville, 5-4

Originally Published: Jun 20, 2010 5:27 PM CDT

Dave Carty
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

NASHVILLE, Tennessee -- Texas Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz failed to register a hit, going 0-for-4 in one of his final Triple-A rehab appearances, but the Oklahoma City offense picked up the slack to edge the Nashville Sounds 5-4.

The RedHawks smacked 11 hits, led by No. 9 hitter Kevin Richardson’s 3-for-4 performance.

Nashville (37-32) got on the board first, grabbing a run off starter Michael Kirkman on a sacrifice fly in the third inning.

In the next frame, Oklahoma City (39-30) pushed across two runs of its own. A Chad Tracy sacrifice fly evened the score and a Hernan Iribarren single made it 2-1.

First baseman Joe Koshansky tied the score in the bottom of the fourth on a single, scoring Brendan Katin.

The game’s lone home run came off the bat of Gregorio Petit, lacing a solo shot for his third of the season. Ryan Garko followed that up with a double to score Chris Davis, making the score 4-2 after five innings.

Sounds’ starter Chris Waters was chased after the fifth inning, giving up four earned runs and eight hits while earning the loss.

While Cruz failed to grab a hit, he increased the RedHawks’ lead to 5-2 on a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning.

The 2009 Major League Baseball All-Star is rehabbing a left hamstring strain, but is expected to return to the Rangers on Tuesday.

The Sounds tried to battle back in the sixth inning, plating two runs on hits by Luis Cruz and Adam Stern, but the Oklahoma City bullpen was flawless in relief of Kirkman.

Zachary Phillips and Pedro Strop combined for three innings, allowing just one hit and silencing Nashville’s comeback attempt.

Nashville concludes its four-game series against the RedHawks Monday at 7:05 p.m.