Nashville Sounds
New Orleans, LA – The Nashville Sounds launched four home runs and got a solid performance from starter Chris Jensen en route to a 7-5 win over the New Orleans Baby Cakes Friday night in New Orleans.
Franklin Barreto got the party started immediately when he drilled the first pitch of the game from William Cuevas over the center field wall for a leadoff home run and 1-0 lead for Nashville.
Ryan Lavarnway, Chad Pinder, and Yairo Munoz added solo blasts for the Sounds (47-52). The four homers are the second-most for Nashville in a single game this season.
The third inning was full of fireworks for both sides. Lavarnway started the top of the inning with his sixth home run of the season to give Nashville a 2-0 lead.
After Cuevas retired Matt McBride on a fly out, the right-hander drilled Barreto in the back with a pitch. He was immediately ejected from the game by the home plate umpire. New Orleans Manager Arnie Beyeler and pitching coach Scott Budner were also ejected during an argument.
McBride extended the lead to 3-0 with a sacrifice fly in the fifth, and Pinder started the sixth with a solo homer to right field to make it a 4-0 game.
New Orleans picked up a run with the help of a Barreto error in the sixth. Other than that, Jensen worked a relatively stress-free outing to lead the Sounds to their third straight win.
Munoz cracked the fourth home run of the night with one out in the seventh. It was his fourth home run with the Sounds and 10th of the 2017 season.
Reliever Ryan Dull replaced Jensen and worked a perfect seventh inning. Working on rehab assignment, it took Dull only eight pitches to get through the inning.
Felix Doubron worked a scoreless bottom of the eighth, but Tucker Healy ran into trouble in the ninth. Healy allowed three hits and three walks before giving way to Patrick Schuster who finished it after four the Baby Cakes scored four runs in the inning.
Game two of the four-game series is set for Saturday night in New Orleans. Right-hander Zach Neal (1-4, 4.09) starts for the Sounds against right-hander Scott Copeland (6-9, 6.00) for the Baby Cakes. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00pm CST.
The 2017 season is the Sounds’ 40th in franchise history and their third as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate. Single-game tickets are available now by calling 615.690.4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com
