Nashville Sounds
Round Rock, TX – In his first game back from Oakland, Franklin Barreto collected a season-high four hits to help the Nashville Honky Tonks come from behind to defeat the Round Rock Dance Halls 3-2 in 10 innings.
With the threat of a suspended game due to a travel curfew looming and the game knotted at two runs apiece in the bottom of the ninth inning, Honky Tonks reliever Dean Kiekhefer made quick work of the Dance Halls to give Nashville one more chance to win the game. Anthony Garcia came up big for the Honky Tonks with a two-out RBI single in the 10th inning to score Nick Martini who began the frame at second base.
Steve Lombardozzi came on to pinch run for Garcia who had advanced to second base on the throw and was thrown out at home trying add an insurance run on Barreto’s single to end the inning.
Raul Alcantara then closed the game out by getting Tommy Joseph to ground out on the 14th pitch of the at-bat with runners on first and second.
The Honky Tonks pieced together 10 innings on the mound via the bullpen. Bobby Wahl, the regular closer for Nashville started for the first time in four years. He tossed two shutout innings while striking out four batters and walking two. Carlos Ramirez allowed both of Round Rock’s runs in his two innings, J.B. Wendelken hurled three scoreless frames, Kiekhefer tallied two innings, and Alcantara finished it out in the 10th inning.
Nashville’s offense did not have trouble getting runners on base but struggled to bring them around to score on its own accord on the afternoon, so Barreto took matters in to his own hands. With two outs in the eighth inning Barreto laced a line drive home run down the left field line to tie the game at two runs apiece.
The game was scoreless through three innings thanks to some savvy pitching from Austin Bibens-Dirkx for Round Rock and Wahl and Ramirez for Nashville. The Honky Tonks broke the stalemate in the fourth inning. Franklin Barreto crushed a double off the left centerfield wall to begin a two-out rally. BJ Boyd then ripped a line drive back off Bibens-Dirkx who airmailed the throw to first base allowing Barreto to scamper home.
The lead was short-lived as the Dance Halls turned their 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead in the home half of the fourth inning. With two outs and runners on the corners, Luis Mendez tripled just inside fair territory in the right field corner to put Round Rock in front.
Nashville is now 4-1 in extra-inning games this season. The victory helped the Honky Tonks avoid going under .500 for the first time since May 10th when they were 16-17.
The Battle for the Boot will resume June 21st-24th in Nashville. The Honky Tonks will need to win three of the four games in the series to claim the Boot Trophy.
Monday is a league-wide off day. Nashville returns home to First Tennessee Park as the Sounds and will begin a seven-game homestand on Tuesday against the Reno Aces and Tacoma Rainiers. Neither the Sounds nor the Aces have announced a starting pitcher for Tuesday’s game. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05pm.
Post-Game Notes
With today’s 3-2 win, Nashville improved to 28-27 on the season.
Nick Martini extended his consecutive on-base streak to 42 games when he singled to lead off the game. Martini’s streak is the longest by a Nashville player in the Pacific Coast League era. It’s the longest active streak in the Pacific Coast League. Since April 14th, Martini has reached safely in every game he has played in.
With his single to lead off the game, Martini has now set a new career-high with an 11-game hit streak. He collected a hit to lead off the game in all five games in Round Rock.
Franklin Barreto went 4-for-5 with two runs a double, a home run and an RBI today. He is now batting .474 (27-for-57) with 12 runs, three doubles, two triples, four home runs, 12 RBI, and five stolen bases in 13 career games against Round Rock.
With Barreto’s eighth inning home run, Nashville has now homered in four straight games, their second-longest streak of the season behind a six-game stretch from May 13th-19th.
Nashville is now 4-1 in extra-inning games this season.
The 2018 season is the Sounds’ 41st in franchise history and fourth as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate. Single-game tickets are available now by calling 615.690.4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com
