Nashville Sounds fall to Iowa Cubs 2-1

Nashville Sounds Baseball

Des Moines, IA – The Nashville Sounds blew a one-run lead late Monday night at Principal Park, before losing in the 10th inning to the Iowa Cubs by a 2-1 final margin.

Down 1-0 in the ninth inning, the I-Cubs leveled the game on Lars Anderson’s solo home run off Sounds closer Donovan Hand (0-2), which forced extras.

In the 10th, Hand allowed running singles to the top of Iowa’s order with Javier Baez hitting the game-winning single through the hole at second base. Hand was charged the loss and his third blown save.

Earlier in the game, right-handed pitcher Jimmy Nelson helped guide the Sounds defensively, rendering the Cubs scoreless through six innings of two-hit baseball to log his eighth consecutive quality start of the season.

Nelson faced a jam in the fourth inning, with two runners in scoring position and no outs. The 24-year-old top prospect escaped without any damage by firing two strikeouts and getting catcher Eli Whiteside to groundout to end the inning.

He twirled nine strikeouts in the contest, matching a season-high and finishing one shy of a career single-game high. He walked three, uncorked one wild pitch and hit one batter.

Nashville starting pitchers have now allowed only 17 runs in the last 75.2 innings over a 14-game stretch for a 2.02 ERA.

Offensively, Sounds outfielder Jeremy Hermida gave Nashville its 1-0 advantage with a solo home run to dead centerfield off of the league’s ERA-leader Tsuyoshi Wada.

The home run marks Hermida’s third of the season and the team’s seventh over the last four games, after recording only two homers in their previous 11 contests.

Outfielder Eugenio Velez led the team with three hits for his 11th multi-hit game of the season. Infielder Irving Falu, 0-for-5, failed to record a base knock, closing his team- and season-best hit streak at 11 games, during which he batted .342 (13-for-38).

Wada kept the Cubs in the game by holding Nashville to one run on six hits over seven innings of work. Eduardo Figueroa (1-0) was awarded the win for pitching a spotless 10th inning.

Sounds relievers Dustin Molleken and Brent Leach combined to work two solid innings for Nashville before Hand stepped to the hill in the ninth.

The Sounds play the final game of their eight-game road trip Tuesday at 12:05 p.m. against the Iowa Cubs. Left-handed pitcher Brad Mills (2-0, 1.72) will make the start for Nashville, opposite Iowa’s RHP Chris Rusin (2-4, 3.58). Broadcaster Jeff Hem has the call on 102.5 The Game.

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