Final: Oklahoma City 10, Nashville 7

Sounds Lose Slugfest To RedHawks, 10-7
Packed House Watches Schafer Belt Two Homers For Nashville

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Brett Wallace belted a pair of homers to lead the Oklahoma City RedHawks to a 10-7 victory over the Nashville Sounds in front of 9,047 fans on Friday evening at Greer Stadium.

With the slugfest victory, the RedHawks gained a split of the four-game set with Nashville (30-45) and won the season series by a 13-3 margin. The Sounds finished their homestand with a 4-4 record.

Center fielder Logan Schafer hit a pair of home runs as part of a 4-for-5 evening for the Sounds, missing the cycle by a double. It marked the first multiple-homer game of his six-year career as well as the first two-homer effort by a Sound this season.

Corey Patterson added a season-best 3-for-4 evening for the Sounds, who out-hit Oklahoma City, 13-10, in the losing effort.

Sounds starter Wily Peralta endured a rough first inning, giving up four runs and facing eight batters before departing with two outs in the frame after tossing 45 pitches.

With the bases full of RedHawks with two outs following a pair of walks sandwiched around a single, Peralta hit Fernando Martinez with a pitch to force home Brandon Barnes (3-for-6) with the game's first run. Catcher Landon Powell followed with a two-run single to center before Jordan Kreke chased the right-hander from the contest with a bloop RBI single to right that gave the visitors a 4-0 lead.

Johnnie Lowe followed Peralta with a solid relief effort, working 4 1/3 scoreless frames and allowing only one hit. He worked around five walks and fanned a season-high five batters in his longest outing of the season.

Nashville halved the deficit to 4-2 in the home half of the opening frame.

Schafer led off the bottom of the first inning with a solo homer to deep right-center off Oklahoma City left-hander Brett Oberholtzer, his sixth homer of the year and the Sounds' third game-opening longball of the season. Jeff Bianchi followed with a double down the left field line and later scored on Andy Gonzalez's two-out bloop single to shallow right.

AUDIO: Schafer's 1st HR

The Sounds pulled within a run at 4-3 in the third. Schafer led off with a fly ball to right that Brad Snyder lost in the lights. The ball dropped on the warning track, Schafer ended up on third with a triple, and then scored on Bianchi's ensuing groundout to short.

Nashville evened the contest with an unearned run off Oberholtzer in the fourth. With one out, Eric Farris hit a grounder to deep short and advanced all the way to second when Kreke fired wide of first. Patterson followed with a game-tying single to right but was thrown out as he attempted to advance to second on the play.

Schafer powered the Sounds to a 5-4 lead in the fifth when he led off with his second homer of the night, a line drive shot onto the Family Leisure beyond the wall in the right field corner.

AUDIO: Schafer's 2nd HR

Oklahoma City jumped right back in front in the top of the sixth with a three-run rally against Sounds reliever Victor Garate. Pinch-hitter Angel Sanchez drew a walk to open the frame and later scored the tying run on a Snyder sacrifice fly before Wallace (2-for-4) gave the RedHawks a 7-5 lead with a mammoth home run to right, a two-run shot that landed on Chestnut Street on the fly, at least 450 feet from home plate. The go-ahead dinger was the third baseman's 11th of the year.

The RedHawks extended the lead to 9-5 in the seventh against Garate on Barnes' one-out, two-run single to center.

Schafer continued his solid night in the seventh with an RBI single off Jonnathan Aristil to bring in Patterson, who singled to open the frame. After advancing to third on a Bianchi single, Schafer later scored to reduce the Sounds' deficit to 9-7 when Oklahoma City reliever Mickey Storey misfired to first base on a pickoff attempt.

Wallace slugged his second home run of the night to lead off the eighth, swatting an opposite-field shot to left-center off Garate to stretch the visitors' lead to 10-7.

After Storey worked 1 2/3 scoreless frames of relief for Oklahoma City, Hector Ambriz worked around a leadoff Patterson single to work a scoreless bottom of the ninth to preserve the win and notch his first save of the year.

Oberholtzer (1-1) backed into his first career Triple-A victory after departing the game on the short end of a 5-4 deficit before the RedHawks' sixth-inning rally. The southpaw allowed five runs on eight hits over his five frames of action.

Garate (2-5) absorbed the loss for the Sounds after suffering a blown save and surrendering six runs in his two innings.

First baseman Travis Ishikawa went 0-for-3 in his sixth rehab game for Nashville, during which he has batted .222 (4-for-18).

A pair of Sounds had season-best hitting streaks snapped in the contest: catcher Jason Jaramillo had a six-gamer end with an 0-for-4 evening and outfielder Jay Gibbons went 0-for-2 to snap his five-gamer.

The Sounds embark upon a seven-game road trip tomorrow that includes stops in Albuquerque (AAA-Dodgers) and Round Rock (AAA-Rangers). Right-hander Mark Rogers (2-4, 5.68) will take the hill for Nashville in Saturday's 8:05 p.m. CT opener of a four-game series at Isotopes Park. Albuquerque will counter with left-hander Michael Antonini (1-5, 5.14).

Nashville Box Score
I wonder what kind of athlete Wily Peralta is? How could he possibly screw up his mechanics so bad he's suddenly pitching the way he's pitching? This season has turned out to be way beyond what would have been my worse case for Wily. Hopefully Victor Garate never pitches to Brett Wallace again, 2 bombs in 2 innings, wonderful. At least Johnnie Lowe was clutch and Robert Wooten pitched 2 scoreless.

Inquiring minds want to know if Logan Schafer will get a shot to make the big club next year? Maybe they'll keep both Morgan and Schafer so we have 4 CFs on the MLB roster! Schafer's OPS will be more than .780 after today's power barrage, not too shabby for a CF, about all he needs now is a haircut. Jeff Bianchi chipped in a 2-4 effort including the double, as did Andy Gonzalez. Corey Patterson's night detailed above.

Nashville Play By Play
Wooten's performance, something positive on the pitching side.

Okla. City Top of the 8th

Sean Halton remains in the game as the first baseman.
Brett Wallace homers (12) on a fly ball to left field.
Mike Hessman singles on a ground ball to left fielder Corey Patterson.
Jake Goebbert reaches on a fielder's choice, fielded by pitcher Victor Garate. Mike Hessman to 2nd.
Pitcher Change: Robert Wooten replaces Victor Garate, batting 4th.
Defensive Substitution: Hainley Statia replaces pitcher Victor Garate, batting 9th, playing third base.
J. B. Shuck grounds into a force out, fielded by shortstop Jeff Bianchi. Mike Hessman to 3rd. Jake Goebbert out at 2nd. Shuck to 1st.
Landon Powell lines into double play, center fielder Logan Schafer to first baseman Sean Halton. J. B. Shuck doubled off 1st.

Okla. City Top of the 9th

Jordan Kreke grounds out, pitcher Robert Wooten to first baseman Sean Halton.
Angel Sanchez pops out to first baseman Sean Halton in foul territory.
Brandon Barnes lines out to left fielder Corey Patterson.