The Nashville Sounds led a late lead slip away on Sunday afternoon in Sacramento, falling 3-2 in a walk-off defeat against the River Cats at Raley Field. The Sounds had been 4-0 on their seven-game California trip and had not trailed at any point before the River Cats scored in the ninth inning to end the game.
The Sounds grabbed a 2-0 lead in the fourth, as Ronald Guzman blasted a two-run homer to right field to break a scoreless tie. The Sounds now have homered in 13 consecutive games and hit 25 in that span. Starter Tim Dillard, in his first outing since a nine-inning complete game, gave the Sounds another good outing. He yielded one run – a Joe McCarthy homer in the fifth inning – on five hits over 5 1/3 frames in the no-decision. Dillard’s appearance was his 238th as a Sound, tying the franchise record held by Joey Vierra.
Locke St. John replaced Dillard in the sixth and got out of a jam, and Joe Barlow tossed a perfect seventh to keep the Sounds ahead, 2-1. But the River Cats tied the game in the eighth with consecutive doubles off Phillips Valdez and ended the contest in the ninth on a game-winning single by Abiatal Avelino. Patrick Wisdom, who tied a Sounds record on Saturday night by homering in his sixth consecutive game, went hitless in three at-bats, and the Sounds totaled only three hits in the game.
The Sounds continue the four-game series Monday night at 9:05 CT. Seth Maness (7-4, 5.97) is set to oppose Dereck Rodriguez (3-0, 3.64).
Post-Game Notes
Nick Solak went 1-for-3 to move his hitting streak 11 games
Scott Heineman (0-for-4) snapped a 13-game hitting streak as a Sound
Ronald Guzman’s homer was his third in 13 games since joining the Sounds
The Sounds are 13-13 this season against the Pacific Conference with two games remaining
