Memphis, TN – Josh Lindblom struck out a career-high 12 batters, and Jamie Westbrook and David Dahl each homered as the Nashville Sounds snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 5-3 win over the Memphis Redbirds on Friday night at AutoZone Park.
Lindblom became the third Sounds pitcher this season to strike out 12 in a game, and the team ended its longest losing skid since 2015.
Westbrook was the second batter of the game when he launched an opposite-field homer off Johan Oviedo (1-4), and after the Redbirds scored two in the bottom of the first, the Sounds answered with three in the second and never looked back.
Luke Maile drilled a two-run double to the left-field corner, and Matt Lipka made it 4-2 with an RBI single.
The Redbirds’ only other run came in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Evan Mendoza, and Dahl answered it with a long home run to right field in the fifth for a 5-3 score.
Lindblom (4-1), who struck out at least two batters in each of his first four innings, then retired eight in a row to get to the seventh inning.
He fanned Mendoza for the 12th strikeout and then left after retiring the next hitter. Lindblom tossed 6 2/3 innings, gave up three runs on five hits, and walked only one with the dozen strikeouts. Chad Sobotka, Justin Topa, and Luke Barker retired the final seven batters in order on 17 pitches, and Barker earned his eighth save.
The six-game set continues Saturday night at 6:35pm CT. Colin Rea (0-1, 6.00) is scheduled to start for the Sounds (50-43), and Jake Woodford (0-3, 5.57) is slated to pitch for the Redbirds (44-49).
Post-Game Notes
- With another scoreless outing on Friday, Luke Barker has given up just four earned runs in his last 35 appearances.
- Josh Lindblom joined Eric Lauer (5/20 vs. Gwinnett) and Alec Bettinger (7/13 vs. Louisville) as Sounds with 12 strikeouts in a game this season.
- The Sounds improved to 40-4 this season when leading after seven innings…they’d lost the previous two nights when leading after seven.
Box Score
Nashville 5, Memphis 3
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Nashville | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 0 |
| Memphis | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 |
The Nashville Sounds are the Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers and play at First Horizon Park. Single-game tickets are on sale now for all remaining 2021 home games. For more information call 615-690-4487 or e-mail tickets@nashvillesounds.com.
