Nashville Sounds
Metairie, LA – For the second night in a row the Nashville Sounds rallied in the ninth inning to topple the New Orleans Baby Cakes. Once again Jaff Decker was the catalyst as the Sounds won 4-3 in the penultimate game of the 2017 season.
Decker launched a solo home run to open the ninth inning and knot the game at 3-3. Four batters later Chris Carter hit a fly ball into shallow left field but the shortstop, Peter Mooney had his back to home plate and went to his knees to make the catch, allowing Renato Nuñez to scamper home for the game-winning run.
The late rally bailed out Sounds starter, Daniel Mengden, who was in line for the loss. Mengden cruised through four innings before running into trouble in the fifth that ended his night.
Things unraveled for Mengden in the fifth inning as he surrendered three runs. The right-hander walked a pair and allowed a single to load the bases and then plunked Eury Perez to bring home the tying run. The next batter, Moises Sierra, slapped a pitch through the hole on the right side of the infield to score two runs and give the Baby Cakes a 3-1 lead.
Carter played a role in three of the four Sounds runs on the night. With Joey Wendle on first base and one out in the second inning the first baseman drilled a base hit down the left field line that was mishandled by Perez and allowed Wendle to score. In the seventh Carter smashed a missile over the left field fence for his ninth home run of the season. The solo blast cut the Baby Cakes lead in half, 3-2.
The bullpen for the Sounds kept the game within reach. Chris Bassitt looked sharp for Nashville, striking out four Baby Cakes hitters in his 2 1/3 innings of work. Logan Bawcom came on for the eighth inning and shut New Orleans down and Raul Alcantara retired the Baby Cakes in order in the ninth for his fourth save of the season.
The Sounds and the Baby Cakes wrap up the 2017 campaign Monday afternoon at The Shrine on Airline. Right-hander Zach Neal (3-8, 5.18) starts for the Sounds against left-hander Victor Payano (4-3, 3.70) for the Baby Cakes. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00pm.
The 2017 season is the Sounds’ 40th in franchise history and their third as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate. 2018 season ticket memberships are available now by calling 615.690.4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com
