Sounds Drop Heart-Breaker to End Season
A late lead didn't hold up for the Nashville Sounds in a heart-breaking 10-9 loss to the Oklahoma City Dodgers Sunday night at First Tennessee Park.
The loss ends the Sounds' season while the Dodgers advance to the Pacific Coast League Championship Series to face the El Paso Chihuahuas.
Two separate four-run innings helped the Sounds overcome multiple deficits but it wasn't enough in the end. Franklin Barreto, Matt Olson and Renato Nunez all crushed homers for Nashville.
The two comebacks helped the Sounds to a 9-7 lead after six innings. Reliever Andres Aliva worked 1 2/3 scoreless innings before handing it off to Ryan Brasier who turned in a 1-2-3 top of the seventh.
With one out in the eighth, Micah Johnson singled and Brasier issued a walk to Cody Bellinger. They both came back to hurt when O'Koyea Dickson drilled a go-ahead three-run homer to give the Dodgers a 10-9 lead.
The drama wasn't over as Nashville had multiple chances in the eighth and ninth innings. Rangel Ravelo doubled with two outs in the eighth, but Jacob Rhame struck out Bryan Anderson to end the threat.
Tucker Healy worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning to give the Sounds a chance. With one out in the bottom half, Jaycob Brugman sent a single into left field to give Nashville a runner. Franklin Barreto followed with a double down the left field line to put runners at second and third.
Clinging to a 10-9 lead, Oklahoma City elected to intentionally walk Matt Chapman to load the bases. The move paid off when Rhame got Olson to pop out for the second out. The right-handed closer finished the job by getting Nunez to pop out behind home plate.
Oklahoma City jumped on Nashville starter Chris Jensen early. Chris Taylor's two-run double and Cody Bellinger's sacrifice fly helped the Dodgers to a 3-0 lead after two innings.
The first rally started with Jaycob Brugman's leadoff single in the third. Barreto followed with the first home run of the night - a two-run blast to the left field seats to trim the deficit to 3-2. Lisalverto Bonilla walked Matt Chapman to set up Olson who launched a mammoth two-run blast down the right field line to give the Sounds a 4-3 lead.
Oklahoma City didn't trail for long as they used their own four-run top of the fifth to take the lead. Kyle Farmer and Drew Maggi had run-scoring hits, and the Dodgers took advantage of an intentional walk issued by Angel Castro and an error at third base committed by Chapman.
The Sounds immediately got a run back when Nunez hit a booming solo homer to left-center to trim the deficit to 7-5.
In the sixth, Barreto tripled with one out and scored when Chapman followed with a double. A base hit by Nunez scored Chapman to even the game at 7-7, and Rangel Ravelo's two-run single gave the Sounds a 9-7 lead.
Nashville had a number of opportunities to build on the lead but left the bases loaded in four separate innings, including the ninth. They went 4-for-15 with runners in scoring position and left a season-high 14 on base.
Barreto and Ravelo each had three hits while four other Sounds had multi-hit games. Dickson finished the night 2-for-4 with 3 RBI and 3 runs.
The 2016 season was the Sounds' 19th year in the Pacific Coast League and their second as the Oakland Athletics' top affiliate. For up-to-date news over the offseason, visit www.nashvillesounds.com.