by Bill Craig / A’s Farm Nashville Correspondent
The Nashville Sounds (6-6) wrapped up their first homestand of the 2018 season on Monday with a 5-4 walk-off win over the Omaha Storm Chasers. It was the team’s second walk-off win in as many games. And the homestand saw the Sounds play their first game under the new minor league extra-innings rule, which places a runner at second base to start off each half inning in extras.
Overall, the Sounds pitching staff has been outstanding, while the offense has had more bright spots than dark. And on the whole, first-year Sounds skipper Fran Riordan should be fairly happy with the way his team played at First Tennessee Park during its first homestand, when his squad went 5-2.
Iowa Cubs at Nashville Sounds 3-Game Series (2-1)
The homestand began with a three-game series against the Iowa Cubs with RHPs James Naile (3-0, 0.00) and Chris Bassitt (1-0, 0.69) collecting the wins as the Sounds threw consecutive shutouts in their first two home contests. The bullpen was outstanding in helping to hold down the shutouts in both games, and the offense produced a combined 13 runs to support the efforts of the pitching staff in the pair of victories.
RHP Trevor Cahill (0-1, 3.72) had his full arsenal of pitches working early in the final match of the three-game series, but he was pulled after walking the bases loaded with two outs in the fifth inning. All three runners crossed home plate when RHP Jake Sanchez, who was later reassigned to the RockHounds, issued a bases-loaded walk and then surrendered a two-run double in relief. RHP Daniel Gossett (0-0, 0.00) pitched 4 scoreless innings in his season debut for the Sounds before turning things over to RHP Kyle Finnegan (0-1, 4.91). But in the top of the 11th, Finnegan issued three walks to bring home the runner who started the inning at second, and he then surrendered a single that brought home two more runs. The Sounds failed to rally in the bottom of the 11th and dropped the final game of the series by a score of 6-3.
Omaha Storm Chasers at Nashville Sounds 4-Game Series (3-1)
The Omaha Storm Chasers came to town on Friday the 13th for the final four games of the homestand. But Friday night saw the Sounds’ bats go cold, just like the chilly weather that was rolling into Nashville for the series.
LHP Eric Jokisch (0-2, 6.55) started the first game of the series and went six innings in a losing effort, notching five strikeouts while allowing two walks, five hits and five runs. RHP Bobby Wahl (1-0, 0.00) pitched two shutout innings in relief and tallied three strikeouts, and RHP Josh Lucas (0-0, 0.00) shut down Omaha in the 9th while striking out one.
The second game of the series on Saturday was suspended due to bad weather in the bottom of the fourth inning with the Sounds leading 6-2 with two runners on and two outs. The contest resumed on Sunday prior to the regularly-scheduled game. The Sounds bats warmed up a bit as they batted around in both the sixth and eighth innings while scoring four runs in each. The eighth inning saw the Sounds draw six of the eleven walks they totaled in the game.
The regularly-scheduled game on Sunday was shortened to a 7-inning contest. Starter James Naile had another dominant outing, allowing five hits and striking out seven batters, five of which went looking, in route to his first career complete-game shutout and his third win in as many starts. He extended his scoreless-innings streak to 17 2/3 to start the season, earning him Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week honors. Catcher Dustin Garneau delivered the game-winning hit with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 7th to help the Sounds win in a 1-0 walk-off.
The last game of the homestand was a 12:05pm start on Music City Monday. RHP Frankie Montas (0-1, 6.75 ERA) took the mound for his third start of the season and got off to a rough start, needing 25 pitches to get through the first inning. He was pulled after three innings with two strikeouts, two walks and two runs, one of them earned. Sounds defenders committed three errors in this game, and they certainly weren’t helped by game-time temperatures in the low 40s with a steady breeze blowing all afternoon. Chris Bassitt pitched 5 solid innings in relief of Montas, striking out one, walking two and giving up two runs, only one of them earned. Left fielder B.J. Boyd continued his timely hitting, driving in three runs with a bases-loaded double in the 7th. RHP Bobby Wahl recorded his first win of the season by pitching a scoreless 9th inning while striking out one. The game ended when the fleet-footed Boyd, who had reached base by legging out an infield hit, scored on a wild pitch by Omaha RHP Kevin Lenik.
The Sounds pitching staff collected three shutouts during the seven-game homestand and has now tallied four shutouts in twelve games this season. The staff currently boasts the best ERA (2.51) in the Pacific Coast League with 82 hits allowed (tied for third fewest in the league) and 91 strikeouts in 104 innings of work.
Sound Notes from the Series:
First baseman Slade Heathcott extended his on-base streak to eight games with his single in the seventh inning of Monday’s game. Heathcott is hitting an outstanding .444 (12-for-27) during the streak.
With his bases-clearing double in the seventh inning of Monday’s match, hot-hitting outfielder B.J. Boyd collected the 100th double of his career and extended his team-leading RBI total to nine.
RHP Chris Bassitt has pitched 13 innings over three relief appearances this season, allowing only one earned run. That lonely run came in Monday afternoon’s contest in which Bassitt threw 5 frames.
Infielder/outfielder Renato Nunez was claimed off waivers by the Texas Rangers on Sunday. The 24-year-old Venezuelan led the Sounds with 32 home runs in 2017. The slugger slashed .263/.318/.468 with 130 home runs over 701 minor league games in the A’s organization.
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