Nashville, TN – The Nashville Sounds managed to rally and score three runs in the bottom of the ninth but it wasn’t enough to overtake the Oklahoma City Dodgers in 10-7 loss at First Tennessee Park Saturday night.
The back-and-forth tilt was even at the start of the eighth. Trouble started when three of the first four batters reached for Oklahoma City against Nashville reliever Miguel Del Pozo. With the bases loaded and one out, Del Pozo balked to give the Dodgers a 6-5 lead.
Del Pozo struck out Zach Reks for the second out in the inning and was relieved by Reed Garrett.
Dodgers designated hitter Cameron Perkins greeted Garrett with a two-run single to extend Oklahoma City’s lead to 8-5. The Dodgers sent five more hitters to the plate and tallied two more runs to make it 10-5.
Nashville made some noise in the ninth when Juremi Profar and Zack Granite collected base hits. Eli White banged a double into the left field corner to score both runners. The Sounds brought the tying run to the plate but the Dodgers worked out of the jam.
The teams exchanged runs in the early going as Oklahoma City got solo home runs from Connor Joe in the first and Jon Kemmer in the third to take a 2-0 lead.
Granite’s RBI single in the bottom of the third trimmed the deficit in half. In the fourth, Scott Heineman tripled, Andy Ibanez doubled, and Christian Lopes singled to spark a rally. The three consecutive hits plated a pair of runs to give the Sounds a 3-2 lead.
As they did all night long, Oklahoma City answered. Cameron Perkins drilled a two-run homer off Nashville starter Austin Bibens-Dirkx in the fifth to regain a 4-3 lead.
Nashville tied the game at 4-4 in the sixth and 5-5 in the seventh but never led after Perkins’ two-run homer.
Granite and Lopes had multi-hit games for Nashville.
Post-Game Notes
With tonight’s 10-7 loss, the Sounds dropped to 35-46 on the season.
Nashville’s season-best five-game winning streak was snapped tonight.
Outfielders Zack Granite and Scott Heineman extended their respective hitting streaks to nine games. Granite singled in the third inning and Heineman tripled in the fourth.
Nashville pitchers matched a season-high by issuing 10 walks.
Next Up For Nashville Sounds
Game two of the five-game series is scheduled for Sunday night at First Tennessee Park. The Nashville Sounds have not announced a pitcher yet. Right-hander Dustin May (0-0, —) will make the start for the Oklahoma City Dodgers. First pitch is scheduled for 6:15pm.
The 2019 season is the 42nd in Nashville Sounds franchise history and first as the Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. Single-game tickets are available now by calling 615.690.4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com
