Nashville, TN – Freddy Zamora drove in a pair of runs that began a big ninth inning, pushing the Nashville Sounds to a 7-3 victory over the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders on Tuesday from PNC Field. Jorge Alfaro connected for three hits with a homer, while Bruce Zimmermann locked down his third quality start of July.
Nashville scratched across the first run of the game in the top of the fifth off Scranton/Wilkes-Barre starter Luis Gil. Alfaro swatted a solo home run over the right center field wall to give the Sounds a 1-0 lead.
In the top of the sixth, the Sounds extended the lead against RailRiders reliever Zach Messinger. Tyler Black pulled a triple to right and scored on a base knock from Bobby Dalbec to make it 2-0. After Dalbec moved to second on a walk by Oliver Dunn, he came around to score on a single from Alfaro to increase the lead, 3-0.
The RailRiders scored their first runs in the bottom of the sixth off Sounds’ reliever Bryan Hudson. T.J. Rumfield and Jeimer Candelario hit back-to-back doubles to make it 3-1. Candelario moved to third on a groundout and plated on a sacrifice fly by Braden Shewmake to make it a one-run game.
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre tied the game in the bottom of the eighth off Nashville reliever Elvis Peguero. Spencer Jones doubled and came around to score on a single by Rafael Flores to make it 3-3.
In the top of the ninth, Nashville rallied for two runs off RailRiders’ reliever Scott Effross. Alfaro collected his third hit, and Raynel Delgado doubled to put two runners in scoring position. Zamora singled, scoring both to make it a 5-3 ballgame. He later stole second and was plated on an RBI single by Daz Cameron to move the score, 6-3. Cameron stole second as well and came around to score on a base hit from Drew Avans to cap a four-run top of the ninth for Nashville.
The RailRiders put two runners in scoring position in the top of the ninth but Sounds reliever Joel Payamps closed the door and finalized a 7-3 win for Nashville.
Right-hander Carlos Rodriguez (3-2, 3.71) makes his second start since returning from the injured list on Wednesday, trying to extend the Sounds winning streak to four. First pitch from PNC Field is set for 5:35pm CT.
