Nick Solak crushed a go-ahead solo home run in the top of the ninth inning to help lead the Sounds to come-from-behind 3-2 win over the Sacramento River Cats Monday night at Raley Field.
Solak’s clutch homer was part of a huge night for the Sounds second baseman. The blast came on a 1-1 pitch off Sacramento reliever Dan Winkler. Solak went 3-for-4 with the home run and a double. His single in the fifth inning extended his hitting streak to 13 games.
Nashville played from behind for most of the game after Sacramento’s Zach Green launched a two-run homer to left field off Seth Maness in the bottom of the first inning.
Maness settled in after the home run and delivered five solid innings of two-run baseball. He scattered five hits and struck out four in the no-decision.
The Sounds slowly chipped away thanks in part to a dominant performance from the bullpen. Ian Gibaut, Joe Barlow, Reed Garrett and Jake Petricka combined to throw four shutout innings in the win. Garrett struck out the side in the eighth and picked up the win while Petricka shut the River Cats down in order in the ninth to earn his fifth save of the year.
Matt Davidson delivered Nashville’s first run of the game with an RBI single up the middle in the top of the sixth inning. Two innings later they tied it when Zack Granite and Eli White teamed up for a run. Granite singled to start the eighth and sprinted from first to third when White followed with a base hit. The throw to third went in the camera well and allowed Granite to score the tying run at 2-2.
It stayed that way until the top of the ninth when Solak drilled the one-out go-ahead long ball. It was his 26th home run of the season and ninth with Nashville since the Rangers acquired him in a trade with Tampa Bay on July 13.
The series finale is scheduled for Tuesday night in Sacramento. Left-hander Brock Burke (0-0, 1.80) starts for Nashville against right-hander Enderson Franco (6-5, 5.98) for Sacramento. First pitch is scheduled for 9:05 p.m.
Post-Game Notes
– With Monday’s 3-2 win, the Sounds improved to 52-66 in 2019.
– Nick Solak extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a single in the fifth inning. It’s tied for the third-longest streak by a Sounds player in 2019 (Willie Calhoun – 16, Zack Granite – 14, Scott Heineman – 13).
– The Sounds extended their streak of hitting at least one home run to 14 games when Solak hit a solo in the ninth. The team has 26 home runs during the 14-game span.
– Nashville won for only the fifth time this year when trailing after seven innings.
– With the one-run win, the Sounds improved to 31-24 in one and two-run games.
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.
