Nashville Sounds
Nashville, TN – Joey Wendle’s walk-off base hit in the bottom of the 11th inning gave the Nashville Sounds a 6-5 win over the Round Rock Express in front of a sellout crowd of 10,370 fans at First Tennessee Park Friday night.
Wendle’s game-winner came just moments after Franklin Barreto started a rally with a two-out walk. The speedster swiped second and third base before trotting home on Wendle’s base hit off Round Rock reliever Tanner Scheppers.
The-back-and-forth contest started early with both teams scoring within the first two innings. Barreto wasted little time getting Nashville a lead when he clobbered a two-run homer to left-center to make it 2-0 in the first.
It was the start of a huge night for the 21-year-old infielder who went 4-for-5 with three RBI and three runs scored. He finished a triple shy of the cycle and reached base five times.
Round Rock answered back immediately with a pair of runs in the second. The first four batters of the inning reached against Zach Neal, and catcher Brett Hayes evened the game at 2-2 with a two-run single to left field.
The Sounds regained the lead in the third when Barreto sparked a rally with a leadoff double. After Express starter David Ledbetter retired the next two batters, Yairo Munoz came through with a run-scoring base hit to give the Sounds a 3-2 lead.
It remained 3-2 until late in the game as the pitchers settled in. Neal turned in a quality start with six strong innings in a no-decision. He allowed two runs on six hits, did not walk a batter, and struck out three.
When Neal left, the Sounds’ lead vanished. Round Rock produced four hits off Josh Smith in the seventh inning and got run-scoring knocks from Willie Calhoun and Will Middlebrooks to take a 4-3 lead.
Nashville responded again with Barreto in the middle of a rally. Kenny Wilson singled to start the home half of the seventh and moved to second when Joely Rodriguez balked. The southpaw retired the next two batters but then allowed a game-tying single to Barreto.
A 4-4 game turned in the favor of the Express without a hit in the top of the ninth. Jared Hoying reached on an error by Munoz to start the inning. He moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, stole third base, and then scored on a two-out wild pitch by Lou Trivino.
Round Rock’s 5-4 lead was short lived as Jaff Decker launched a solo homer on Tayler Scott’s first pitch of the bottom of the ninth inning.
The walk-off win for the Sounds was the eighth of the season and first against Round Rock.
Game three of the four-game series is scheduled for Saturday night at First Tennessee Park. Right-hander Chris Jensen (5-1, 5.45) starts for the Sounds against right-hander James Dykstra (2-8, 7.47) for the Express. 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
