Wendle Breaks Doubles Record as Sounds Roll

Joey Wendle became the Nashville Sounds franchise leaders in doubles in a 10-1 win over the Omaha Storm Chasers Thursday night at Werner Park.
Wendle's record-breaking 95^th double in a Sounds uniform came in the sixth inning. In typical Wendle fashion, he turned a line-drive to right-center into a two-bagger when he hustled into second ahead of the throw. Wendle broke the record held by Skeeter Barners who notched 94 doubles in 514 games with Nashville. Wendle, who has played parts of three seasons with the Sounds, broke the record in game number 335.
In the first game back from the All-Star break, the Sounds (43-48) out-hit the Storm Chasers, 15-3, and got another solid performance from starter Ben Bracewell.
The offense started early when Mark Canha doubled and Jaff Decker singled to start the second. Canha raced home on a groundout by Yairo Muñoz that gave the Sounds a 1-0 lead. Canha went 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles, three runs scored and two runs knocked in.
Five consecutive batters reached against Yender Càramo in the top of the third. Wendle walked, Franklin Barreto singled to left, Matt Olson singled, Canha drove in a pair of runs with his second double, and Decker followed with a single to knock in a pair of runs and give Nashville a 5-0 lead.
Bracewell's lone misstep came in the home half of the third when a leadoff walk to Terrance Gore resulted in a run. Gore swiped second and scored two batters later on a sacrifice fly by Billy Burns.
It was the second consecutive quality start for Bracewell. He limited the Storm Chasers to one run on two hits in six innings in his first Triple-A win.
Nashville's offense kept churning as the night went on. After Barreto singled to start the fifth, Olson launched a two-run homer to right-center to make it 7-1. It was Olson's 18^th with the Sounds and 22^nd between Nashville and Oakland.
Kenny Wilson cleared the bases with a three-run triple in the top of the ninth to cap the scoring. The top six hitters in the lineup had multi-hit games led by Canha's three-hit night.
The bullpen trio of Felix Doubront, Lou Trivino, and Kyle Finnegan finished the job for Bracewell. Each reliever tossed a scoreless inning in the win.
Game two of the four-game series is scheduled for Friday night at Werner Park. Right-hander Jesse Hahn (0-0, 9.82) starts for Nashville against right-hander Luke Farrell (7-4, 4.11) for Omaha. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
The 2017 season is the Sounds' 40^th in franchise history and their third as the Oakland Athletics' top affiliate. Single-game tickets are available now by calling (615) 690-4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com.