Bowden Francis Leads Sounds to Series-Opening Win

Bowden Francis got the best of a prospect-laden pitching matchup and lifted the Nashville Sounds to an 8-2 win over the Louisville Bats on Tuesday night at First Horizon Park.

Francis limited the Bats to two runs over 5 2/3 innings and picked up his third win of the season with Nashville. He squared off against Cincinnati Reds number two prospect Hunter Greene who was tagged with the loss after he allowed five runs in 4 1/3 innings.

Both right-handers put up zeroes through the first three innings. It was Louisville that got on the board first when Logan Morrison launched a solo homer off Francis in the top of the fourth inning.

Greene was cruising and had faced just one over the minimum through the first four innings when Nashville busted the game open in the fifth. They sent 12 batters to the plate and put six runs on the board.

Run-scoring base hits in the inning came from Payton Henry, Tim Lopes, Hernan Perez and Zach Green. The sharp RBI single to right field by Green gave the Sounds a 6-1 lead. Troy Stokes Jr. collected two hits in the inning, the first Sound to have two hits in a single inning since July 3, 2019.

Francis issued back-to-back two-out walks in the top of the sixth to end his night. Hoby Milner relieved him and allowed a run-scoring single to Logan Morrison to make it a 6-2 game.

Stokes Jr. was at it again in the bottom of the eighth with a leadoff triple, his third hit of the game. He scored on Henry’s sacrifice fly and the Sounds added their final run of the night on a run-scoring base hit by Lopes.

Nashville’s further bullpen combination of Eric Yardley, Angel Perdomo and Jandel Gustave did the rest of the work. Yardley tossed a perfect seventh, Perdomo followed suit in the eighth and Jandel Gustave worked a 1-2-3 top of the ninth.

Game two of the six-game series is scheduled for Wednesday night at First Horizon Park. Left-hander Ethan Small (0-0, 6.75) starts for Nashville against right-hander Michael Mariot (0-2, 4.20) for Louisville. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

Post-Game Notes

• Troy Stokes Jr. had two hits for Nashville in the fifth inning. He is the first Sounds player with two hits in a single inning since Andy Ibanez, Christian Lopes and Zack Granite did it in the second inning against Oklahoma City on July 3, 2019.
• Stokes Jr. went 3-for-4 with a triple and two runs scored…his first three-hit game of the season.
• Nashville scored six runs in the fifth inning – the third time this season they have scored six or more in a single frame.

The Nashville Sounds are the Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers and play at First Horizon Park. Single-game tickets are on sale now for all remaining 2021 home games. For more information call 615-690-4487 or e-mail [email protected].