Tyler Pill's Clutch Hit Sends Sounds to Win

Tyler Pill's two-run double in the bottom of the seventh propelled the Nashville Sounds to a 6-5 win in front of a sellout crowd of 11,097 at First Tennessee Park Friday night.
Pill stepped to the plate with the Sounds trailing 5-4 and the bases loaded with two outs in the seventh. He bounced a ball perfectly in between two New Orleans infielders and hustled into second base as Delino DeShields and Eli White scored to give the Sounds a 6-5 lead.
Josh Fields took over for Kyle Bird in the top of the eighth and worked around a one-out hit batter to post a zero. Brett Martin took over for Fields in the ninth and worked around a pair of hits in the ninth to notch his first save of the season.
It was a back-and-forth game in the early innings as the Baby Cakes jumped out to a 3-0 lead thanks to a two-run homer by Matt Snyder in the second and a run-scoring single by Isan Díaz in the third.
Nashville quickly erased the deficit with a three-spot of their own in the bottom of the third. White knocked in a run with a base hit to left field, Patrick Wisdom drew a bases loaded walk to force in another run, and White scored on a balk to even the game at 3-3.
Both teams plated a run in the fourth inning. Rodrigo Vigil gave New Orleans a 4-3 lead with an RBI single, and Nashville scored another run on a balk to make it a 4-4 game.
Micah Brown was the last batter Nashville starter Phillips Valdez faced in the top of the sixth. The New Orleans shortstop belted a solo homer to deep left field to give the Baby Cakes a 5-4 lead. It stayed that way until Pill's two-run double in the seventh.
Valdez got a no-decision after tossing 5 2/3 innings. The right-hander struck out a season-high nine batters. Bird earned the win in relief for Nashville.
Game three of the four-game series is scheduled for Saturday night at First Tennessee Park. Right-hander Tim Dillard (3-4, 5.11) starts for the Sounds against right-hander Héctor Noesi (4-2, 2.45) for the Baby Cakes. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
Post-Game Notes
- With tonight's 6-5 win, the Sounds are now 22-33 on the season.
- Tonight's sellout crowd of 11,097 was the sixth sellout of the season at First Tennessee Park.
- Nashville's Phillips Valdez recorded a season-high nine strikeouts. His previous high was five.
- Eli White and Chase d'Arnaud collected multi-hit games for Nashville.
- Brett Martin earned his first save of the season and second in his career with a scoreless ninth inning.
The 2019 season is the 42nd in Nashville Sounds franchise history and first as the Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. Single-game tickets are available now by calling (615) 690-4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com.