Nashville Sounds go deep three times in 7-4 win over Round Rock Express

Nashville Sounds Baseball

Round Rock, TX – The Nashville Sounds snapped a four-game skid with a 7-4 victory over the Round Rock Express on Friday evening at The Dell Diamond.

With the victory, Nashville (75-65) stayed alive in the PCL American Conference Southern Division race. First-place Memphis held a late lead in its contest at New Orleans; with a win, the Redbirds would their magic number to one to clinch the title.

Rogers paced the Sounds’ offense with a 3-for-4 evening .The third baseman is batting .351 (34-for-97) with eight longballs during the month of August.

The red-hot Clark spotted the Sounds a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning when he turned a Luke Jackson fastball into a two-run homer to right, the slugger’s 14th big fly in 50 games with the club. Rogers, who had opened the frame with a single, also scored on the blast.

Schafer tacked on a three-run blast of his own later in the frame, his third round tripper in the last five games, to increase the visitors’ lead to 5-0.

Michael Blazek worked into and out of a bases-loaded jam in the home half of the second, striking out Josh Wilson looking for the third out to escape the inning unscathed.

The longball show continued for the Sounds in the third when Rogers launched a massive two-run bomb to left off Jackson that cleared the upper deck seats. The third baseman’s blast, which also plated Jeremy Hermida following a leadoff walk, was his 11th of the year and upped the Nashville advantage to 7-0.

Jackson (1-3) was saddled with the loss after the Sounds touched him for seven runs on seven hits in his four frames of action.

Round Rock left fielder Drew Robinson put the home team on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning when he launched his first home run of the year, a two-run shot to right off Blazek that cut the lead to 7-2.

The Express got another run back in the fifth when Jared Hoying (3-for-5) led off with a triple and later scored on a sacrifice fly to make it a 7-3 contest.

Blazek, who finished one out shy of earning wins in back-to-back outings for the first time this season, held the Express to three runs in 4 2/3 innings.

Hoying struck again for Round Rock in the seventh, leading off the frame with a towering homer to right off Dustin Molleken. The outfielder’s 26th blast of the year, and second in two nights against the Sounds, cut the Nashville lead to 7-4.

Molleken (4-2) picked up the win with two innings of relief behind Blazek. Rob Wooten recorded the final four outs of the contest to notch his 13th save of the season for the Sounds.

The teams continue the series with a 4:05pm doubleheader on Saturday that will consist of a pair of seven-inning games. Right-hander Billy Buckner (4-6, 6.07) will start the opener for the Sounds to face left-hander Edwar Cabrera (2-2, 4.36).

Nashville has not yet announced its starter for the nightcap, when the Express will start former Sound Zach Segovia (0-1, 19.64).

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