Nashville Sounds
Nashville, TN – The Oklahoma City Dodgers got a dynamite performance from starter Jharel Cotton in a 9-6 win over the Nashville Sounds in front of 8,538 fans Friday night at First Tennessee Park.
Cotton allowed two unearned runs on just two hits in six innings. The right-hander struck out nine batters on the way to his seventh win of the season.
Oklahoma City’s Rob Segedin started his 4-for-4 night with a base hit to right-center to start the second inning. He moved to third on O’Koyea Dickson’s double and then scored on a groundout by Zach Walters.
Two batters later, Max Muncy hit a groundball to Barnes who bobbled, allowing Muncy to reach safely and Bruce Maxwell to score with the go-ahead run.
It stayed 2-1 until the sixth as Cotton and Sounds’ starter Nick Tepesch exchanged zeroes in the middle innings.
Barnes made up for his miscues on defense when he launched a grand slam off Tepesch in the top of the sixth. The slam gave the Dodgers (44-36) a 5-2 lead and came after the first three batters reached safely.
After four in the sixth, Oklahoma City plated another four in the seventh to open up a 9-2 lead. Barnes added another RBI with a base hit to right field, and Dickson drove in a pair of runs with a double to the gap in left-center.
The Sounds made noise late when Matt McBride launched a three-run homer to the left field seats to cut the deficit to 9-5 in the seventh.
Matt Olson started the ninth with a double and quickly moved to third on McBride’s second hit of the night. Maxwell made it a 9-6 game with a sacrifice fly. Alcantara sent a single to right to bring the tying run to the plate but Dodgers’ reliever Matt West retired Chad Pinder and Max Muncy on back-to-back pitches to shut down the rally.
Tepesch allowed five runs on seven hits in six innings and was hit with the loss in his Sounds debut.
Game three of the four-game set is scheduled for Saturday night at First Tennessee Park. Right-hander Jesse Hahn (1-3, 3.60) starts for Nashville against right-hander Trevor Oaks (0-0, 9.00) for Oklahoma City. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05pm.
The 2016 season is the Sounds’ 19th year in the Pacific Coast League and their second as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate. Tickets are available now by calling 615.690.4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com
