Nashville, TN – The Nashville Sounds and Durham Bulls split their Thursday night doubleheader at First Horizon Park. The Sounds got solid starts from the mound in both games, with Brandon Woodruff and Carlos Rodriguez combining to work 10.1 IP without allowing a run on five combined hits.
Nashville closed out the first game with a 2-0 victory and saw a six-run lead slip away in the final inning of game two, eventually falling 9-7 in extra innings.
In Game one, Brandon Woodruff gave the Sounds five solid innings on the mound. Making his third overall rehab appearance and second with the Nashville, Woodruff allowed just two hits over his five scoreless frames with five strikeouts. Jorge Alfaro broke the scoreless tie with his sixth home run of the season in the bottom of the fifth all while giving the Sounds their first hit against Logan Workman.
His solo lead for homers on the team lasted just five batters. Jared Oliva joined him atop the leaderboard with another solo blast in the sixth to put Nashville up 2-0. Elvis Peguero closed out the game with two scoreless frames of his own for his first save of the year. The right-hander allowed a hit with three strikeouts.
Carlos Rodriguez continued the scoreless innings streak for Nashville pitching as he blanked the Bulls over his 5.1 IP in game two. The Brewers’ no. 22-ranked prospect tallied a season-high eight strikeouts in his start, including four straight Bulls to end the second inning and begin the third. He worked around three hits to help leave two Durham runners stranded under his watch. Tyler Jay relieved Rodriguez after a leadoff single and hit batter to start his sixth inning of work. Jay induced a ground out and fly out to help leave both of Rodriguez’s runners on base and preserve the Sounds 2-0 lead at the time.
The Sounds extended their lead in the home half of the sixth with a four-run inning. Four hits in the inning, including RBI singles from Alfaro, Wes Clarke, and Freddy Zamora. Raynel Delgado pitched in with a productive ground out as well to give the Sounds a 6-0 lead. After being held off the scoreboard for 13 consecutive innings and held to five hits entering the top of the seventh in game two, Durham strung together six hits in the inning to score six runs and even things up. They made it nine unanswered runs with three more in the eighth inning of the scheduled seven-inning game to take their first lead of the night.
A two-out RBI single off the bat of Jimmy Herron put the Sounds within striking distance in the extra frame. A wild pitch placed the potential tying run in scoring position before a groundout ended the Sounds comeback bid for the doubleheader sweep.
The Nashville Sounds will look to bounce back and even the series on Friday night when the teams play game four of the series. RHP Deivi Garcia (1-1, 2.70 ERA) is scheduled to get the start for Nashville. He will face off against the Bulls and RHP Joe Rock (0-1, 4.05 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 6:35pm.
