Iowa Cubs Edge Nashville Sounds 5-4 - Pacific Coast League

MLN - THE RAW FEED - www.mlntherawfeed.com - DES MOINES – In front of Iowa Cubs employees, baseball scouts, and some members of the media, the Iowa Cubs defeated the Nashville Sounds, 5-4, on Saturday evening at Principal Park in the opener of a five-game series.

No fans were admitted to the game because of city evacuation orders following the recent flooding in the area. With limited dates and an already packed schedule, the Cubs had little choice but to play Saturday's game in an empty stadium.

Josh Kroeger went 2-for-2 with three RBIs to pace the Iowa offense in a game where one could hear the players calling for the ball and hear the smack of leather from their gloves.

Nashville (27-40) saw its losing streak extend to a season high-tying six games and fell 11.0 games behind the front-running I-Cubs in the PCL American Conference Northern Division.

Kroeger gave the Cubs a 1-0 lead with a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the first inning.

Sounds catcher Vinny Rottino extended his hitting streak to 22 games with a single to open the second and tied the contest later in the frame when he scored on Adam

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Heether's RBI double.

Nashville grabbed a 2-1 lead in the fourth on a Chris Woodward sacrifice fly before the Cubs knotted the score in the fifth. Brendan Katin put the Sounds in front for the final time in the sixth when he slugged his 11th home run of the year, a solo shot to left off Iowa reliever Jose Ascanio.

The Cubs responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth to reclaim the lead in the back-and-forth affair before Woodward hit his first home run as a Sound in the seventh, a leadoff solo blast to left that greeted Iowa reliever Hector Carrasco and tied the score at 4-4.

The Cubs plated the winning run in the bottom of the seventh when Kroeger touched Steve Bray for a two-out solo homer to right, his eighth roundtripper of the year.

Carrasco (3-1) picked up his third win for Iowa after allowing one run in his two innings of work. Bray (1-5) took the loss after surrendering the game-deciding run in his two innings of action.

The Cubs and Sounds will continue the series with a regularly-scheduled doubleheader on Sunday afternoon starting at 1:05 p.m. Left-handers Sam Narron (3-1, 4.05) and Lindsay Gulin (2-4, 3.12) will start the twinbill for Nashville and face Iowa left-hander J.R. Mathes (3-3, 2.76) and right-hander Mike Burns (4-4, 2.61).

Friday's game that was postponed due to flood waters at and around the ballpark will be made up on Monday with a doubleheader starting at 11:05 a.m.
 

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