Nashville Sounds blow early lead in 12-11 loss to Iowa Cubs

Nashville Sounds

Herrera Goes 4-for-5 With Four RBIs For Nashville In Losing Effort

Des Moines, IA – The Nashville Sounds squandered an early eight-run lead en route to suffering a heartbreaking 12-11 loss to the Iowa Cubs on Sunday afternoon at Principal Park.

Nashville (20-17) — which has led in eight of its 12 road losses this season — held leads of 8-0 and 11-4 in the game but did most of its damage early, scoring just once in the final six innings against the Iowa bullpen as the I-Cubs mounted their rally. Iowa scored five runs in the sixth and three in the eighth to complete its improbable comeback.

Sounds batters pounded out 14 hits on the afternoon, led by the top of the order. The first three batters in the Nashville lineup (Irving Falu, Pete Orr, Elian Herrera) combined to go 9-for-15 with seven runs scored on the day. Herrera finished a team-best 4-for-5 with four RBIs in the losing effort.

With 10 runs on Saturday and 11 on Sunday, Nashville has scored a double-digit run total in consecutive games for the first time since August 2011.

The Sounds got out to a fast start against right-hander Dallas Beeler, sending 10 batters to the plate and taking advantage of three Iowa errors in the top of the first inning to grab a 5-0 lead.

Falu reached on an error and Orr singled to open the contest before Herrera dropped down a bunt single. Beeler misfired on the play to allow Falu to race home with the day’s first run.

After Hunter Morris was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Jeremy Hermida hit a comebacker and Beeler committed his second throwing error of the inning to allow Orr to score for a 2-0 lead. Eugenio Velez doubled the Sounds’ advantage to 4-0 when he followed with a two-run double to center and Kevin Mattison plated the fifth Nashville run with an RBI single.

With the bases loaded and still no outs, Beeler avoided further trouble by striking out Alfredo Figaro and inducing an inning-ending double play grounder from Falu to escape the jam.

The Nashville offense continued its early success in the second frame, extending the lead to 8-0 against Beeler. Orr led off with a double and raced home on a Herrera single before Morris blasted a two-run homer to right, the slugger’s fifth longball of the season.

Iowa got onto the board in the home half of the second, halving the Nashville lead to 8-4. After loading the bases against Figaro with no outs on a pair of walks sandwiched around a single, Logan Watkins emptied the bags with a three-run double into the left field corner. Later in the frame, Beeler helped his own cause with an RBI single that cut the Sounds’ lead to four.

After setting a season high with 10 runs last night, Nashville reached that total in the top of the third frame today as Herrera delivered a two-run single to bring in Falu (bunt single) and Orr (double) to stretch the visitors’ lead to 10-4.

Following Beeler’s departure in the fourth, Nashville scored only once in the final six frames, a fifth-inning unearned run following Iowa’s fourth error of the afternoon. Herrera provided that score with a two-out RBI single against Cubs reliever Carlos Pimentel, his fourth hit of the day.

Iowa made it a two-run ballgame by plating five runs in the sixth inning against a pair of Nashville relievers to draw within 11-9.

Catcher Eli Whiteside smacked a two-run homer off Lowe to get the rally started. Later in the frame, Sounds right-hander Jeremy Jeffress gave up a two-out, two-run single to Lars Anderson. Chris Valaika followed with a run-scoring knock of his own to cut the lead to 11-9, but the Cubs left fielder was thrown out trying to stretch the hit to a double by a Jeremy Hermida/Sean Halton relay to bring the inning to a close.

The I-Cubs completed their comeback in the eighth, when they scored three times without getting the ball out of the infield to pull in front for the first time all afternoon.

After Iowa put runners on second and third with one out against Dustin Molleken, closer Donovan Hand was summoned from the bullpen and opened his outing by issuing two straight walks, the second of which, to Lars Anderson, forced home Jonathan Mota to reduce the Nashville lead to one. After Hand fanned Valaika for the second out, the right-hander uncorked a wild pitch that allowed both the tying and go-ahead runs to score when the hurler failed to cover home on the play.

Hand (0-1) took the loss for the Sounds after suffering his second blown save in his last three trips to the hill.

The team continue the series with a 6:35pm matchup on Monday evening that will feature an excellent pitching matchup. Milwaukee Brewers top prospect Jimmy Nelson (4-1, 2.00), who ranks 5th in the PCL in ERA, will man the bump for the Sounds to face Iowa left-hander and PCL ERA leader Tsuyoshi Wada (2-1, 1.21).

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