Dodgers Thwart Sounds’ Rally in Ninth

The Nashville Sounds put together a small rally in the bottom of the ninth inning only to see it fall short in a 2-1 loss to the Oklahoma City Dodgers in front of 5,122 fans at First Tennessee Park Saturday night.
Trailing 2-0 and without a hit, Sounds (1-2) third baseman Renato Nunez started the home half of the ninth with a double down the right field line. Catcher Bruce Maxwell followed with a sharp single up the middle to score Nunez and trim the lead to 2-1.
A sacrifice bunt by Tyler Ladendorf moved pinch-runner Matt McBride to second, but the rally stopped there when Joey Wendle and Andrew Lambo struck out.
Three Dodgers (2-1) pitchers kept the Sounds out of the hit column for the first eight innings.
Sam LeCure worked the first four innings and retired all 12 batters he faced. Ian Thomas took over in the fifth and retired the first five batters he faced before issuing a walk to Maxwell.
Thomas tossed a 1-2-3 seventh before giving way to Adam Liberatore who struck out a pair in a perfect bottom of the eighth. Chin-hui Tsao took over in the ninth and allowed the double to Nunez to break up the no-hit bid.
The scoring for the Dodgers started in the first. Jose Tabata lined a one-out single back up the middle to score Elian Herrera who started the game with a base hit. They added another in the third on a throwing error by Wendle.
It stayed a 2-0 game until the rally in the ninth by Nashville.
Game three of the series is scheduled for Saturday night at First Tennessee Park. Left-hander Dillon Overton starts for the Sounds against right-hander Sam LeCure for the Dodgers. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m.
The 2016 season is the Sounds’ 19th year in the Pacific Coast League and their second as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate. Season ticket memberships are available now by calling (615) 690-4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com.