Oklahoma City, OK — The Nashville Sounds lost to the Oklahoma City RedHawks, 11-6, in the high-scoring opener of a doubleheader on Wednesday evening at AT&T Bricktown Ballpark.
After rallying from an early four-run deficit to take a third-inning lead, the Sounds surrendered six late runs to the RedHawks in suffering the loss.
Nashville took a short-lived 1-0 lead in the opener against Oklahoma City starter Tanner Scheppers. Lorenzo Cain (3-for-4) tripled in the top of the first frame and scored when Mat Gamel followed with an RBI single to right. The Sounds missed an opportunity to do more damage, leaving the bases loaded as Scheppers retired shortstop Luis Cruz on a flyout to escape the jam.
Oklahoma City responded immediately in the home half of the initial frame, scorching Sounds starter Chris Waters for five two-out runs to grab a 5-1 advantage.
A pair of walks came back to haunt the Nashville lefty as Gregorio Petit and Chris Davis each drew a free pass before trotting home on Chad Tracy’s three-run homer to left, the infielder’s team-leading 17th roundtripper of the year. After a fielding error by Gamel at third base extended the inning, former Sound Hernan Iribarren plated the other two runs in the frame with a two-run single off Waters.
Cain continued his solid night in the second when he drove home Ray Olmedo with an RBI single to make it a 5-2 contest. Olmedo had opened the inning by drawing a walk from Scheppers.
Nashville stormed back into the lead at 6-5 in the third with a four-run frame against Scheppers. After Brendan Katin led off with a single, Erick Almonte (3-for-3) ripped a one-out RBI double to right to pull Nashville within 5-3. After a Cruz single, Almonte came around to reduce the deficit to one when RedHawks left fielder Matthew Brown mishandled Olmedo’s fly ball. Cruz tied the game when he hustled home on a Scheppers wild pitch before catcher Anderson De La Rosa lifted a go-ahead sacrifice fly to center to bring home Olmedo.
The RedHawks pulled back in front in the fifth against Waters. After Davis led off with a double to center, Cruz booted Ryan Garko’s grounder to short, allowing Davis to come plateward with the game-tying run on Nashville’s third error of the evening. Jarrod Saltalamacchia (3-for-4) followed with a go-ahead RBI double to the wall in left.
Later in the frame, with runners on the corners, reliever Tim Dillard struck out Kevin Richardson but Oklahoma City executed a double steal on the play, with Saltalamacchia swiping home to increase the lead to 8-6.
Oklahoma City put the game out of reach in the sixth with three more runs against the Sounds’ bullpen, stretching the lead to 11-6. Saltalamacchia’s two-run single off David Johnson highlighted the frame.
Reliever Warner Madrigal (1-0) worked 2 2/3 scoreless innings behind Scheppers to pick up his first win of the year for Oklahoma City.
Waters (5-5) took the loss for the Sounds after giving up eight runs (four earned) on eight hits in his 4 1/3 innings of action. It marked just the third time in 16 starts that the left-hander surrendered more than three runs.
