Nashville Sounds
Reno, NV – The Nashville Sounds started their eight-game road trip with a 4-3 loss to the Reno Aces at Greater Nevada Field Thursday night.
After jumping out to an early 3-0 lead, the Sounds surrendered four unanswered runs to drop their fourth consecutive game.
Starters Frankie Montas and Jake Buchanan matched zeroes through the first two innings before the Sounds broke through against Buchanan in the third.
Melvin Mercedes started the rally with a one-out double, and then moved to third on a wild pitch. Jaff Decker’s RBI groundout gave the Sounds a 1-0 lead. They weren’t done as four consecutive two-out hits plated another two runs.
Franklin Barreto singled, Matt Olson singled, Renato Nunez drove in a run with an RBI single, and Joey Wendle knocked in a run with another base hit to give the Sounds a 3-0 lead.
Montas went back to work and retired the side in order in the third. The right-hander set down the first 11 Reno batters he faced before finding trouble in the fourth.
With two outs in the inning, Christian Walker belted an opposite field homer, his 26th blast of the season to cut the Nashville lead to 3-1. Zach Borenstein followed with a double to right field, and Willians Astudillo launched a two-run blast to even the game at 3-3.
Montas gave way for newcomer Logan Bawcom who was signed by the Athletics to a minor league contract earlier in the day. Bawcom climbed the bump for the fifth and was greeted with a double off the bat of Kristopher Negron. Evan Marzilli followed with a deep fly ball to left-center field that allowed Negron to tag up all the way from second and give the Aces a 4-3 lead.
The Sounds didn’t muster much offense the rest of the way. The only hit for Nashville over the final four innings was a single off the bat of Barreto in the seventh.
Bawcom tossed a scoreless sixth, and Raul Alcantara and Felix Doubront shut down Reno’s high-powered offense the rest of the way.
Barreto and Nunez had two hits apiece in the series-opening loss.
Game two of the four-game series is scheduled for Friday night at Greater Nevada Field. Right-hander Corey Walter (2-5, 5.82) starts for Nashville against right-hander Taylor Clarke (0-0, 0.00) for Reno. First pitch is scheduled for 9:05pm CST.
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
