Montas Leads Sounds to Sweep Over Grizzlies

The Nashville Sounds led from start to finish in a 6-2 win over the Fresno Grizzlies in front of a sellout crowd of 11,227 at First Tennessee Park Friday night. The victory extended Nashville's winning streak to five games.
The win completed a three-game sweep of the Grizzlies - the first three-game series sweep for the Sounds since the 2007 season.
Starters Frankie Montas of Nashville and Brady Rodgers of Fresno started the game locked in a pitchers' duel. Both right-handers put up zeroes in the first three innings.
Nashville struck first in the fourth when Steve Lombardozzi and Dustin Fowler sparked a rally with back-to-back one-out singles. Anthony García followed with a run-scoring base hit to give the Sounds a 1-0 lead and Sheldon Neuse knocked in a run with a single to make it 2-0.
Lombardozzi, Fowler and Garcia were at it again in the sixth with three consecutive one-out singles. Garcia's drove in Lombardozzi to give Nashville a 3-0 lead. Lombardozzi went 2-for-3 with three runs scored, Fowler went 3-for-4 with a stolen base and Garcia knocked in a pair of runs to bring his RBI total to 68.
It was plenty of run support for Montas who went on to throw six shutout innings. He limited Fresno to four hits and one walk. He struck out seven in his third win of the year with the Sounds.
After Fresno's Garrett Stubbs launched a two-run homer off Dean Kiekhefer in the seventh to make it 3-2, Nashville added three insurance runs in the eighth for good measure.  
The Sounds welcome the Sacramento River Cats for a four-game series set to begin Saturday night at First Tennessee Park. Right-hander Chris Bassitt (3-4, 5.34) starts for the Sounds against right-hander Casey Kelly (10-8, 4.82) for the River Cats. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
Post-Game Notes
- With tonight's 6-2 win, the Sounds improved to 55-55 on the season.
- Tonight's crowd of 11,227 was the 15th sellout of the season and 70th all-time at First Tennessee Park. It's the 10th-largest crowd in ballpark history.
- The Sounds are back to .500 for the first time since June 10 and have matched their longest winning streak of the season at five games.
- Nashville's win tonight completed a three-game sweep of Fresno. It's the first three-game series sweep for the Sounds since June 27-29 of 2007 at Albuquerque.
- Tonight's win for Nashville completed their second sweep of the season. The Sounds swept Oklahoma City in a four-game series June 26-28.
- Frankie Montas logged his fourth quality start (6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K) with Nashville. It was his first start of 6+ IP and 0 R allowed with Nashville in 2018.
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.