Right-hander Chris Bassitt Earns First Triple-A Win In Relief
Nashville, TN – The Sounds jumped out to an early lead and the pitching staff held Colorado Springs to five hits to give Nashville a 2-1 victory at First Tennessee Park on Sunday afternoon.
Nashville hitters had drawn a league-leading 45 walks coming into the game and they added to that total with seven more free passes. The offense had just four hits but it was enough for the Sounds to pull out the victory.
They grabbed the early lead in the first courtesy of a Kent Matthes double. The outfielder’s second double in as many games brought in Billy Burns and Max Muncy to put the home team up 2-0. Nashville has now outscored the opponent 12-1 in the first inning of games.
The contest entered a rain delay just before the start of the 5th inning that lasted one hour and one minute before play resumed. The score held at 2-1 though and Nashville improved to 6-5 on the year.
Fernando Rodriguez made the spot start on Sunday, lasting 2.1 innings and surrendering a run on two hits. Chris Bassitt, who was slated to start but entered in relief before the delay, went back out following the downpour and earned his first Triple-A win. The right-hander threw just 68 pitches (45 pitches) over 4.2 shutout innings. Bassitt gave up three hits and recorded three strikeouts.
The bullpen arms continued their hot streak as Eury De La Rosa recorded his second hold with a scoreless eighth and Ryan Cook picked up a save with a hitless ninth. Through the last four games, the ‘pen has allowed just two runs over 21.1 innings (0.84 ERA).
Nashville will finalize their opening home series at First Tennessee Park tomorrow against the Sky Sox. Left-hander Barry Zito (0-0, 6.10) is set to go against Taylor Jungmann in the 7:05pm finale.
