Nashville, TN – The Nashville Sounds beat the Oklahoma City Dodgers in the series opener 4-2 as Tim Dillard earned his 40th career win with the Sounds.
Wei-Chieh Huang made his first career appearance in Triple-A and with Nashville this season, working as the “opener”. He pitched the first two innings and sent down all six batters he faced, striking out three of them.
Huang was relieved by Dillard in the third inning and retired the next six batters he faced, making it 12 straight batters to start the game.
The Sounds allowed their first hit when Oklahoma City’s Edwin Rios singled to lead off the fifth inning. The Dodgers failed to score in the inning, and the game remained 0-0.
The game’s first runs came in the top of the sixth for Nashville when the Sounds put up a four-spot. Andy Ibanez led off with a double. Jett Bandy singled to put Ibanez at third base. Hunter Cole then knocked Ibanez in for the first run of the game on a single.
Carlos Tocci followed suit with a single himself to load the bases. Zack Granite hit a two-run single to score Bandy and Cole for Nashville’s fifth consecutive hit. In the next at bat, Tocci scored on a wild pitch and gave the Sounds a 4-0 lead.
Dillard continued to throw well through the eighth inning. He didn’t allow a run on four hits and hit a batter to keep the Dodgers scoreless.
CD Pelham relieved Dillard in the ninth and allowed two hits. He was then relieved by Kyle Bird, who allowed two runners to score but finished off a masterful pitching performance by Nashville’s pitching staff as the Sounds beat Oklahoma City, 4-2.
Post-Game Notes
With tonight’s 4-2 win, the Sounds are now 11-21 on the season.
Tonight’s win also marked Nashville’s third straight win, their longest winning streak of the season.
Tim Dillard threw a season-long 6.0 innings in his 40th career win with Nashville, adding to his franchise career wins record. He struck out one batter, putting him five batters away from tying Jamie Werley’s franchise strikeout record (352).
The Sounds hit safely 15 times, a season-high. Five hitters had multi-hit affairs, including three hits each by Zack Granite and Jett Bandy.
Kyle Bird earned his first save of the season. He’s the fifth different reliever to earn a save for Nashville this season.
Next Up For Nashville Sounds
Game two of the series starts tomorrow night at 7:05pm where Sounds’ right-hander Seth Maness (0-1, 6.00) will face Dodger’s right-hander Brock Stewart (0-2, 4.05).
The 2019 season is the 42nd in Nashville Sounds franchise history and first as the Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. Single-game tickets are available now by calling 615.690.4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com
