Honky Tonks Rally Falls Short in Round Rock

The Nashville Honky Tonks let two different leads slip away and then had a late rally fall short, losing 6-5 to the Round Rock Dance Halls in Game 3 of a five-game series on Friday night at Dell Diamond. The Honky Tonks now trail two games to one in the series and the second annual Battle for the Boot.
Trailing 6-3 after seven innings, the Honky Tonks fought back with two runs in the eighth against Round Rock reliver Taylor Scott. Steve Lombardozzi delivered a sacrifice fly to plate Sheldon Neuse, and Jorge Mateo grounded out to score BJ Boyd and cut the deficit to 6-5. Then in the ninth, Jake Smolinski walked, and Beau Taylor singled, but Neuse flied out to deep right field off Ricky Rodriguez to end the game. The Honky Tonks finished the game 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10 runners on base.
For the second night in a row, the Honky Tonks took a first-inning lead with a home run, as Ramón Laureano smashed a two-run shot off Yohander Méndez to make it 2-0. After Round Rock scored in the second and fourth innings with single runs off Ben Bracewell, Smolinski launched a solo homer in the fifth to give the Honky Tonks a 3-2 lead. Smolinski has three homers in the series and five in 14 games for Nashville.
Round Rock changed the game with a four-run rally in the sixth to pull ahead 6-5. Bracewell, making his first Nashville start of the year after nine outings at Double-A Midland, gave up two of the runs, and Dean Kiekhefer gave up two more, his first earned runs allowed since joining Nashville. Bracewell (0-1) gave up four runs on eight hits in five-plus innings in the loss, and Brady Feigl (3-0) got the win for Round Rock with 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
Game four of the five-game series is scheduled for Saturday night in Round Rock. Right-hander Chris Bassitt (2-2, 5.77) starts for the Honky Tonks against right-hander and former Sound Yovani Gallardo (1-1, 4.54) for the Dance Halls. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
The 2018 season is the Sounds' 41st in franchise history and fourth as the Oakland Athletics' top affiliate. Single-game tickets are available now by calling (615) 690-4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com.
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