Nashville Sounds
Papillion, NE – The Sounds were clinging to a 3-2 lead entering the ninth inning but a pair of singles and a costly error lifted the Omaha Storm Chasers to the 4-3 victory.
Logan Moon legged out an infield single to start the ninth inning rally for Omaha. Billy Burns followed that up with a base hit through the left side of the infield to bring Dean Anna to the plate. Anna laid down a bunt back to Sounds closer, Simon Castro who airmailed the throw into foul territory allowing the tying and winning runs to score.
The game did not stay tied for long. Mark Canha continued his hot hitting by leading off the frame with a double. Two batters later, Taylor crushed a double into deep right center field to bring home Canha from second.
With one out in the top of the third inning Franklin Barreto golfed a solo home run onto the berm beyond the left center field fence to give the Sounds a 2-1 advantage.
Hahn retired the first two batters he faced in the home half of the third inning before running into some trouble. A pair of singles and a walk loaded the bases. Then Frank Schwindel hit a ground ball up the middle forcing Sounds shortstop Joey Wendle to range to his left. The ball went off Wendle’s mit and trickled into center field for the Storm Chasers’ second unearned run of the game.
The Sounds starter was chased from the game with one out and two runners aboard in the fifth inning. In his 4 1/3 innings of work the right-hander allowed a pair of unearned runs on five hits while walking three and fanning six. Patrick Schuster came out of the bullpen and eliminated the threat by inducing a ground out and recording a punch out.
The Sounds regained the lead with two outs in the top of the fifth inning when Matt Olson drove a 2-2 pitch into the opposite field gap to score Wendle from first base. Olson would be the final base runner for Nashville as the Storm Chasers retired the final 13 Sounds hitters to come to the plate.
Omaha had opportunities to tie the game prior to the ninth inning on multiple occasions but the timely strikeouts from the Sounds pitching staff squashed those chances.
Wendle extended his hitting streak to seven games with his one-out single in the fifth inning.
Game three of the four-game series is scheduled for Saturday night at Werner Park. Right-hander Frankie Montas (0-1, 5.19) starts for Nashville against left-hander Onelki Garcia (1-1, 5.46) for Omaha. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05pm.
The 2017 season is the Sounds’ 40th in franchise history and their third as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate. Single-game tickets are available now by calling 615.690.4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com
