Sounds Walk-Off in Home Opener

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Baseball came home to Nashville on Friday night and what a homecoming it was. Sounds first baseman Max Muncy hit an RBI double in the tenth inning and the Sounds walked-off over the Colorado Springs Sky Sox at First Tennessee Park, 3-2.

Feeding off the energy from a capacity crowd of 10,459, Arnold Leon struck out seven batters in four innings. Switch-pitcher Pat Venditte succeeded Leon, throwing three scoreless innings. The Nebraska native has thrown 7.2 scoreless innings to start the season.

Former Sound Matt Clark recorded the first hit in First Tennessee Park history in the second inning. He then provided the first RBI in the fourth inning on a line drive to center field. Ben Guez added another single in the inning and the Sounds trailed 2-0.

The Sounds spent no time getting back in it. Joey Wendle and Muncy walked to start the fourth inning and advanced a base each on a Bryan Anderson fly-out. Jason Pridie then drove both in on a two-out two-RBI single.

Both teams fell silent offensively until Muncy's magical moment in the tenth.

Billy Burns led off the inning with a single. The hit gave the speedy outfielder his fourth straight multi-hit game. After Wendle went down swinging, Muncy stepped to the plate. He took the first pitch he saw and hit it off the wall in right. Burns scored easily and the Sounds sprinted from their dugout to celebrate their first home victory.

Ryan Cook improved to 2-0, while David Goforth suffered his first loss.

The fireworks started well before the game got underway, however. Five special guests greeted the Sounds' faithful.

Mayor Karl Dean spoke and threw out the first pitch. He was preceded by First Tennessee's president Carol Yochem. Athletics president Michael Crowley and Sounds owners Masahiro Honzawa and Frank Ward were also recognized on the field. In addition, ABC's Nashville star Chip Esten rocked the house with the national anthem.

It was a banner night for the city of Nashville and the Sounds, who return to First Tennessee Park to play the Sky Sox again on Saturday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM. The expected pitching matchup is Brad Mills (0-1) against Drew Gagnon (0-0). The first 10,000 fans will be given a complimentary magnetic schedule courtesy of The Tennessean.