Sounds Pummel Indians for Third Straight Win

Bowden Francis tossed seven dominant, shutout innings and the offense tallied a five-run third inning, four-run sixth inning and a five-run eighth as the Nashville Sounds pummeled the Indianapolis Indians, 14-1, in front of a crowd of 9,541 Friday night at First Horizon Park.

The 25-year-old Francis allowed as many hits as he collected at the plate – one. He allowed a leadoff double to Anthony Alford in the third but worked around the extra-base hit. He struck out the next two batters and retired the side on a fly out. Francis went on to retire the final 12 batters he faced.

With Francis dialed in, the Nashville offense went to work in the bottom of the third with five runs. Dylan Cozens and Luke Maile started the inning with back-to-back walks. After a sac bunt by Francis, five consecutive Sounds knocked in runs.

Jake Hager got the scoring started with a sacrifice fly, Jamie Westbrook made it 2-0 with a run-scoring single, Keston Hiura plated the third run of the inning with a base hit, Zach Green knocked in Hiura with a single and Derek Fisher provided the fifth run of the frame with another RBI single.

Francis added to his superb night in the bottom of the sixth when he knocked in a run with an RBI single. His first professional hit gave the Sounds a 6-0 lead.

Two batters later, Jamie Westbrook gave the Sounds a commanding 9-0 lead with a three-run homer to the berm in left field. Westbrook added a run-scoring single in the bottom of the eighth inning to make it a 10-1 game. He matched a career-high with five RBI in the win.

The Sounds went on to score five in the eighth to extend their lead to 14-1.

Francis picked up his second win of the season with the Sounds and is now 5-2 overall in 2021.

Game five of the six-game series is scheduled for Saturday night at First Horizon Park. Right-hander Alec Bettinger (1-1, 2.16) starts for Nashville against right-hander Max Kranick (0-1, 4.82) for Indianapolis. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

Post-Game Notes

• The Sounds have won three consecutive games and nine of their last 10 games at home…they are now 12-4 overall at First Horizon Park.
• Keston Hiura singled in the third inning to extend his hitting streak to nine games, tied for the longest streak by a Sound in 2021…he is hitting .500 (15-30) during the streak. Hiura also matched a career-high by drawing three walks tonight.
• Bowden Francis tossed a season-high 7.0 innings tonight and picked up his fifth win of 2021…7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K.
• Jamie Westbrook went 3-for-5 and matched a career-high with five RBI (also 8/2/19 vs. Omaha).
• The 13-run win is Nashville’s largest margin of victory in 2021.

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].