Nashville, TN – The Nashville Sounds rallied twice late in the game but came out on the wrong end of an 11-10 loss in extra innings to the Charlotte Knights Wednesday night at First Horizon Park.
The Sounds and Knights combined to draw 18 walks at the plate with 23 hits, 21 runs, 10 stolen bases, and 22 runners left on base as both teams went 10-for-31 with runners in scoring position. Raynel Delgado and Tyler Black each had three-hit nights at the plate while Delgado reached four times in the loss.
Tucker Davidson made his second Triple-A start of the season on Wednesday night for Nashville. The left-hander worked a clean first despite a two-out walk before allowing the first run of the night on an unearned run in the second.
Ethan Murray tried to double off the runner at first after making a lunging catch, but an errant throw got away and allowed Dominic Fletcher to score from third after he drew a one-out walk earlier in the inning. The Knights ballooned the lead to 6-0 in the third after stringing together five straight one-out singles off Davidson.
Jackson Chourio drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the third and was able to score from first as Tyler Black dropped a ball into the opposite field corner for a double. Black was able to advance to third on the relay attempt to plate and cut it to a three-run game as he scored on a sac fly RBI for Daz Cameron.
The Knights added two more runs in the top of the fifth to make it 7-2. Brian Fitzpatrick struck out the first two batters of the inning, but Charlotte rallied with two outs. Two singles and a walk paired with a successful double steal of home provided Charlotte with a 5-run lead. Nashville responded in the bottom of the sixth.
Raynel Delgado started the inning with an infield single ahead of back-to-back doubles for Eric Haase and Freddy Zamora. The later plated Delgado and Haase and cut the Sounds’ deficit back down to three runs.
Will Childers kept the Knights off the scoreboard in the sixth and seventh innings in relief of Fitzpatrick. The right-hander worked around a hit and three walks over his two innings to help strand three baserunners and keep it at a 7-4 game. Joel Payamps worked a quick and efficient top of the seventh, striking out all three Knights batters he faced on 13 pitches.
Delgado made it a three-hit night with another leadoff single to start the bottom of the eighth. He and Zamora executed a double steal of home of their own with two outs in the bottom of the eighth to make it a 7-5 game. With Jesus Liranzo on the mound in the top of the ninth, a leadoff hit by pitch was followed by the second Nashville error of the game helped place a runner on third who later come home to make it 8-5 before Liranzo and the Sounds could get out of the inning.
Rhys Hoskins reached base for the second time with a one-out walk after extending his hitting streak to six games earlier in the game. He was followed aboard by Black who made it a multi-hit night with a single to send Cameron to the plate to serve as the potential tying run against Zach Franklin in his sixth career Triple-A appearance.
Cameron drew a walk to load the bases and pass the torch to Delgado who also drew a nine-pitch walk after falling behind 0-2. Hasse laced a two-RBI single to tie the game and push Delgado to third as the potential winning run. A fly ball into shallow right field ended up being an inning-ending double play as Delgado was thrown out at the plate trying to win it in regulation for Nashville.
In extras, Liranzo got two quick outs before a softly hit single into center field allowed the inherited runner to score the go-ahead run. After another single, both runners were on the move on a full count before Fletcher snuck a ball down the right-field line for a two-RBI triple and an 11-8 Charlotte lead.
Steward Berroa and Drew Avans drew consecutive walks to load the bases and send Hoskins to the plate with one-out in the bottom of the 10th. A sac fly allowed the two lead runners to tag up and send Berroa to third base with two outs. Avans swiped second and Berroa was able to take home after Jacob Amaya dropped the ball on the throw down and make it a one-run game once again.
With Avans in scoring position as the tying run, Black’s third hit of the night sent Avans around third for a play at the plate. Avans was called out on a bang-bang play, giving Charlotte the win.
Left-hander Bruce Zimmermann (6-7, 4.70 ERA) will get the start for Nashville on Thursday night as the Sounds look to bring an end to a current four-game losing streak. The Sounds will work against RHP Sean Burke (0-1, 7.20 ERA) and the Knights. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35pm CT at First Horizon Park.
