Nashville Sounds
Reno, NV – The Nashville Sounds jumped out to an early lead and held on late to defeat the Reno Aces in a Saturday night slugfest. The Sounds used a seven-run first inning to take the lead and survived an eight-run flurry by Reno to take a 2-1 series lead.
The Sounds did not waste any time getting the bats hot. They erupted in the opening inning to spot Ben Bracewell a 7-0 lead. Just like Friday night, Franklin Barreto cranked a one-out first inning home run to spark the rally. Matt Olson backed up Barreto with a solo blast of his own to give Nashville back-to-back jacks in the second straight game. Joey Wendle, Yairo Muñoz, and Kenny Wilson also got in on the act with run-scoring hits in the inning.
Four more runs crossed the plate in the second inning thanks to a pair of two-run blasts. Renato Nuñez smacked his 29th home run of the season to match a career-high. Muñoz slugged a two-run shot of his own four batters later to extend the Sounds lead to 11-0.
The Aces lit up the scoreboard in the bottom of the second inning. Five singles yielded by Bracewell led to a trio of Reno runs. The Aces continued to claw away at the Sounds lead in the third. They posted another three-run frame on four more hits to trim the deficit to 11-6.
Reno continued its comeback attempt with a pair of runs in the fourth inning as the pressure continued to mount on the Sounds pitching staff. Felix Doubrount quelled the Aces threat for an inning and a third as he kept Reno off the board despite allowing a pair of hits.
Nashville eased the tension in the sixth inning with a two-run frame. Olson got the inning started with a single, his third hit of the night. He came around to score two batters later as Wendle tripled off the left field fence. Matt McBride brought Wendle home with a sacrifice fly two batters after that to make it a 13-8 ball game.
Chris Carter flexed his muscles with a moon shot that left the premises of Greater Nevada Field in the eighth inning. The two-run blast was Carter’s second in as many nights. The Carter bomb was the fifth long ball of the game for Nashville, which matched a season-high.
The final game of the four-game series is scheduled for Sunday afternoon at Greater Nevada Field. Right-hander Zach Neal (7-4, 5.43) starts for Nashville against left-hander Eric Jokisch (7-4, 4.38) for Reno. First pitch is scheduled for 3:05pm 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
