Nashville, TN – The Nashville Sounds defeated New Orleans Baby Cakes 11-7 at First Tennessee Park Thursday night. The Sounds scored six runs in the sixth inning and never looked back.
Just moments before the huge inning, the Baby Cakes plated a pair of runs in the top of the sixth to even the game at 2-2. The runs for New Orleans came just after Nashville starter Austin Bibens-Dirkx finished five shutout innings on the bump.
Nashville sent 11 to the plate in the sixth and collected seven consecutive hits. It started with Carlos Tocci’s base hit to right field. Eli White gave the Sounds the lead for good with a run-scoring triple down the left field line.
Matt Davidson’s RBI single made it a 4-2 game, and Scott Heineman and Andy Ibanez singled to load the bases.
Christian Lopes busted the game open with a two-run double to left field.
Jose Trevino followed with another run-scoring base hit and the sixth run came home when New Orleans third baseman Eddy Alvarez misplayed a ground ball to the hot corner.
The Baby Cakes plated a pair of runs off Kyle Dowdy in the top of the seventh to trim their deficit to 8-4, but the Sounds answered again in the home half. Eli White singled and stole second base, then scored on a one-out base hit to right field by Heineman. Two more runs scored in the frame to extend Nashville’s lead to 11-4.
Nashville received multi-hit games from Tocci, Heineman, Ibanez and Trevino and went 6-for-13 with runners in scoring position.
Bibens-Dirkx didn’t factor into the decision despite his best start of the year. He allowed only one hit and one walk in his five shutout frames while recording five strikeouts.
Post-Game Notes
With tonight’s 11-7 win, the Sounds improved to 39-51 on the season.
The Sounds scored six runs in the sixth inning tonight – the sixth time the team has scored six or more runs in a single inning in 2019.
Scott Heineman drew a walk in the fifth inning to extend his on-base streak to 17 games. He’s hitting .438 (28-for-64) with 18 runs scored and 11 RBI during the streak.
Eli White stole his 10th base of the year in the seventh inning and is the 12th player in the Pacific Coast League to have at least 10 stolen bases and 10 home runs in 2019.
Next Up For Nashville Sounds
Game two of the four-game series is scheduled for Friday night at First Tennessee Park. Left-hander Wes Benjamin (4-5, 6.84) starts for Nashville against right-hander Hector Noesi (9-4, 3.17) for New Orleans. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05pm.
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
