Nashville, TN – The Nashville Sounds thwarted a late Durham comeback bid on Saturday night, leaving three Bulls stranded on the bases late in the game to hold onto a 3-2 win and take a 3-2 series lead into the finale on Sunday. Logan Henderson was stellar in his first start back with Nashville as he earned his third straight win on the mound.
Henderson rejoined the Sounds following a stellar MLB debut last Sunday in Milwaukee and picked up right where he left off – both with Nashville and his most recent start. Henderson struck out his first two batters of the game and cruised through a 1-2-3 top of the second.
His offense provided him with early run support as Wes Clarke and Anthony Seigler combined to leave the yard in back-to-back at bats for a 2-0 lead in the second. The right-hander issued a leadoff walk in the third but proceeded to help retire each of the next three batters to face one over the minimum through his first three innings.
Andruw Monasterio drew a two-out walk and stole second to put himself into scoring position with his fourth stolen base of the season and his third in the last two games. The aggressiveness paid off with him able to score on Oliver Dunn’s RBI single. Henderson and the Sounds retired all six faced in the fourth and fifth.
The right-hander started the sixth with back-to-back strikeouts before Rays’ top prospect Carson Williams broke up the no-hit bid with a solo home run to get the Bulls on the board. The Brewers’ no. 12-ranked prospect still earned his first quality start of the year with Nashville and his fourth straight win including his big-league debut.
Elvin Rodriguez took over on the bump and was greeted with a single off the bat of Tre’ Morgan who then advanced on a wild pitch and was moved to third on a balk, allowing the Bulls to get within one on a sacrifice fly. Rodriguez left the potential tying run stranded after allowing his second hit of the inning. He was more efficient in the eighth, retiring all three in order.
With Nashville unable to tack on any insurance, Rodriguez trotted back out to start the ninth. Retiring the first batter of the inning and with a couple of lefties due up, Nashville turned to Tyler Jay on the mound.
Things got interesting with two walks and a hit batter to load the bases. With the help of the ABS, Jay struck out Kenny Piper and left all three stranded with a fly out to end the dramatics.
Now with a chance to earn their third straight series win, the Nashville Sounds will turn to RHP Jacob Misiorowski (1-0, 2.19 ERA) to close out the series on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 2:05pm.
