Joe Palumbo tossed six no-hit innings to lead the Nashville Sounds to a 4-2 win over the Omaha Storm Chasers in front of 9,727 fans at First Tennessee Park Thursday night. The southpaw’s brilliant outing was backed by three home runs from the offense.
The only baserunners Palumbo allowed came via walks. He issued a two-out walk in the first and a two-out walk in the fourth but escaped both innings with no damage. He struck out seven batters and threw 54 of his 81 pitches for strikes.
Jett Bandy fired up the offense in the second inning when he hit the first of three solo home runs by Nashville on the night. Bandy’s 10th of the season gave the Sounds a 1-0 lead.
Eli White hit the second home run of the night in the fourth. The solo shot of Omaha starter Jake Kalish was White’s 14th of the season and made it a 2-0 game.
Andy Ibanez and Ronald Guzman teamed up to put Nashville’s third run on the board in the fifth. Ibanez ripped a double to the gap in left-center and scored moments later when Guzman dropped a single into left field to extend the lead to 3-0. Guzman finished 3-for-4, his second three-hit game with Nashville.
Joe Barlow relieved Palumbo and allowed Omaha’s first hit of the night – a double off the bat of Erick Mejia to start the seventh. Chase d’Arnaud got the Storm Chasers on the board with a run-scoring groundout.
Nashville’s third blast of the game came off the red-hot bat of Nick Solak in the home half of the seventh. His solo homer to right-center gave the Sounds a 4-1 lead. Solak went 2-for-4 and extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a single in the third.
Barlow went 1 2/3 innings and Jake Petricka and Reed Garrett worked the final 1 1/3 to lock in the win.
Game two of the four-game series is scheduled for Friday night at First Tennessee Park. Right-hander Tim Dillard (7-8, 4.72) starts for Nashville against right-hander Arnaldo Hernandez (3-8, 7.36) for Omaha. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
Post-Game Notes
– With the 4-2 win, the Sounds improved to 54-66 in 2019.
– Joe Palumbo tossed six no-hit innings and picked up his third win of the season (6.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K).
– Jett Bandy’s home run in the second inning extended Nashville’s home run streak to 16 games. Eli White and Nick Solak later homered to give the Sounds 30 in the 16-game stretch.
– Nick Solak extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a single in the third inning. Solak is hitting .433 (26-for-60) with 12 runs scored, 4 doubles, 6 home runs and 18 RBI during the streak.
– The two hits allowed by Nashville tied their season-low (June 12 vs. Las Vegas).
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.
