Nashville Sounds hold off Memphis Redbirds late for 7-6 Win

Nashville, TN – The Nashville Sounds snapped a six-game skid with a 7-6 victory over the cross-state rival Memphis Redbirds on Thursday evening at Greer Stadium in front of 7,721 fans in the opener of a four-game series.

Every Sounds starter recorded a hit in the contest except Hunter Morris, who drove in a run. Kentrail Davis enjoyed a successful Triple-A debut, going 2-for-4 with a pair of extra-base hits and an RBI on the night to pace three Nashville players with multiple-hit efforts.

The Sounds grabbed a 2-0 lead against Memphis starter Nick Additon in the bottom of the first inning. After Josh Prince singled with one out, Kentrail Davis made his Triple-A debut by ripping an RBI tripled to right-center to bring in the night’s first run. Morris followed with a sac fly to double the lead.

Memphis halved the Nashville advantage to 2-1 in the second when Adron Chambers led off with a double and scored on Tommy Pham’s ensuing single to shallow center that just eluded the glove of a diving Scooter Gennett.

Nashville upped the lead to 5-1 in the home half of the second. Gennett smacked a two-out, two-run triple to the right-center wall to bring home Cole Garner and R.J. Seidel, and Prince followed with an RBI single.

The Redbirds plated an unearned run in the third following a fielding error by shortstop Blake Davis, then pulled within 5-4 in the fifth. Brock Peterson belted his league-leading 22nd home run of the year, a leadoff solo shot to left off Seidel, and Greg Garcia added a two-out RBI double.

Neither team scored again until the eighth when the Sounds tacked on a pair of insurance runs against Victor Marte to up the lead to 7-4. Blake Lalli (3-for-4) delivered an RBI double to left-center that drove in Khris Davis, who had preceded him with a single. Later in the frame, pinch-hitter Stephen Parker sent Lalli plateward with a run-scoring two-bagger of his own to right-center.

Memphis didn’t go down without a fight against All-Star closer Rob Wooten in the ninth. Kolten Wong drew a leadoff walk before scoring on a two-out, two-run Chambers homer that made it a one-run contest. Wooten recovered to retire Pham on a game-ending popout to preserve the victory and earn his 18th save of the year.

Kyle Heckathorn (6-2) picked up the win for the Sounds after working 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief while Additon (6-5) absorbed the loss after giving up five runs in five frames of action in his start.

The Tennessee rivals continue the series with another 7:05pm meeting on Friday evening. Left-hander Aaron Laffey (4-3, 5.61), who signed a minor league contract with the Milwaukee Brewers today, will make his Sounds debut and face Memphis southpaw Tyler Lyons (4-1, 3.42).

Gates will open at 5:35pm prior to the team’s sixth Faith Night of the year, which features a pregame performance by Christian recording group Hawk Nelson. A fireworks spectacular will follow the on-field action.

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