Nashville Sounds Win 2-1 over Memphis Redbirds

Nashville’s Sean Halton Goes 3-for-4; Three Doubles

Nashville, TN – Tied 1-1 with two outs in the ninth inning, the Nashville Sounds benefitted from a balk charged to Memphis reliever Jorge Rondon to score outfielder Sean Halton from third for the 2-1 win over the visiting Redbirds.

Halton cracked his third double of the contest with one out in the final frame and moved to third on Caleb Gindl’s groundout. In the following at-bat, home plate umpire Kellen Levy ruled that Rondon did not come to a final stop during his delivery, constituting an advance on the base paths to give Nashville the win. Rondon was charged with the loss, his first.

Gindl helped knot the game earlier in the game 1-1 in the fourth inning on a broken-bat single into shallow left field. The hit scored Hunter Morris from third and almost another, but the runner on second, Sean Halton, was beat to the plate on a throw from Jamie Romak.

The Redbirds got on the board early, when lead-off hitter Adron Chambers scored from first on a throwing error by starting pitcher Tyler Thornburg, who hurried a throw to first on Kolten Wong’s sacrifice bunt. Chambers single to left field to start the game.

After the unearned run in the first, Thornburg settled in to pitch four scoreless frames, finishing with six strikeouts, two walks and five hits. The 24-year-old tossed a season-high 92 pitches in the no decision, with 62 going for strikes.

Pitching out of the ‘pen, Donovan Hand tossed two scoreless frames with three strikeouts, including one strikeout double play to close the sixth and another against Brock Peterson with a runner on third to end the seventh. The outing was Hand’s fifth scoreless appearance of the season.

Michael Olmsted and Kyle Heckathorn (1-0) combined to pitch the final two scoreless innings for Nashville; Heckathorn netting the win.

Second baseman Scooter Gennett slapped a base hit through the gap at second to extend his hit streak to a Sounds best eight games, tying Anderson De La Rosa’s recent tear. The Florida-native entered the contest with the Pacific Coast League’s third-best batting average of .417; now sits at .406. Gindl also kept his streak alive at five games with his RBI-single in the fourth.

The win, paired with Thursday’s victory in the series opener, is the first time the Sounds have recorded back-to-back wins this season, improving to 7-12 on the year.

The Nashville Sounds look to win their first series on Saturday night in Greer Stadium’s 6:35pm start. Getting the nod for Nashville will be RHP Mike Fiers (0-0 0.00) against the Redbirds lefty John Gast (2-0, 0.00).

The game will be preceded by Nashville’s NEWS 2 Fireworks Extravaganza. Jeff Hem will call the game live on 102.1 ‘The Light’.

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