Durham, NC – The Nashville Sounds claimed this week’s series against the Durham Bulls with a 6-3 victory Saturday night at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, putting Nashville in a three-way tie for first place in the International League with Memphis and Rochester. Nashville used a four-run inning for the second straight game to take control of the game with six of the nine Sounds batters contributing in the sixth inning.
The Sounds scored first for the fourth time this week against the Bulls. Tyler Black drew an eight-pitch leadoff walk to open the game. After Black stole his fifth bag of the season and Luis Lara drew the second walk in the inning, Jett Williams lined a single into center field and loaded the bases. Brock Wilken dribbled a two-run single up the middle and scored Black and Lara for the 2-0 Nashville lead.
The Bulls attempted to answer back in the bottom half of the first with back-to-back one-out walks but Sounds starter Tyson Hardin neutralized the threat and stranded two runners on base. The Bulls finally got on the board as they added the first run of the game with a solo homer for the second straight night in the bottom of the fourth inning.
In the top of the sixth inning, the Sounds extended their lead with a four-run inning for the second straight night, starting off with back-to-back singles from Luis Matos and Greg Jones. After Ramón RodrÃguez bunted into a force out that got Matos out at third, Ethan Murray hit a slow infield chopped single towards shortstop and loaded the bases. Black was hit by pitch in his fourth plate appearance and crossed Jones for the two-run lead. Cooper Pratt ripped an RBI-single left field, and Lara hit a sac fly into left field to score Black for the 6-1 Sounds lead.
Hardin ended his night on another successful outing as he allowed the lone run on four hits and struck out seven Bulls in 5.2 innings of work. Rob Zastryzny recorded the final out of the sixth and faced one batter with Brian Fitzpatrick entering the game in the bottom of the seventh. He extended his streak without an earned run to 12 straight games after stranding a two-out triple. Jacob Waguespack made his first appearance for the Sounds after three weeks and struck out two batters despite two walks before Drew Rom retired the last hitter of the frame and stranded the two runners on base.
Will Childers made his return after over a month of being on the injured list, and he immediately got into trouble as he walked two of the first three batters he faced. The Bulls added a run with an RBI-single off the left field wall and cut the Sounds lead to 6-2, ending Childers’ scoreless streak at nine consecutive games. Childers was replaced by Blake Holub and was tasked with getting the last out of the game. The right-hander saw an infield single cut the Sounds lead to 6-3. Holub locked his second save of the season with a seven-pitch strikeout to secure the series win.
The Sounds will conclude their road series against the Durham Bulls on Sunday, May 24th. First pitch is scheduled for 4:05pm CT
