Double Trouble For The Railriders In Nashville

Nashville, TN – The Nashville Sounds sweep the double-header against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders at home. Combining the opener and second game of the series into a single evening, Nashville came out on top in their first meeting against the RailRiders, and the first time they’ve faced a NY Yankees Triple-A affiliate team since 1991.

Storms rolled through the Middle Tennessee area for most of Tuesday evening, causing the Nashville Sounds to call off the opener against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. This isn’t the first time weather has played a part this season (in fact, inclement weather in the area has made the local meteorologists like rock stars lately—including one bumpy all-nighter. But I swear, if I hear the phrase “be weather aware” one more time, I am going to lose it!!!). In order to make up the game, it was decided to have a double-header tonight.

Right-handed pitcher Brandon Woodruff would take the mound for the Nashville Sounds to start the evening. This is his seventh start as he continues to recover from an earlier injury. While he did give up a hit in the first frame, no runner was able to make the trip home. The same would go for the home team in the first inning as well. The third inning would be a completely different story.

Raynel Delgado would step up to bat first in the bottom of the third, facing off against SWB starting pitcher Sean Boyle, and was walked. This brought up outfielder Adam Hall, who had a nice shot up the gut for a single. The Sounds had secured men on 1st and 2nd, but that wasn’t good enough for Delgado, who made a successful dash for 3rd.

Jimmy Herron stepped up to the plate, hitting it directly to SWB’s shortstop, but the play at first gave Delgado plenty of time to make it home and advanced Hall to 2nd.

Infielder Bobby Dalbec, who was just acquired as a free agent on 05/10, dinked a base hit into right field as Hall made a relatively easy break to home, ending the inning with the home team up 2–0.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Sounds decided to add a little insurance, with Delgado stepping up for the team again. Outfielder Eddie Rosario had already gotten on base, and even advanced to 2nd after successful thievery. Delgado was able to exploit a gap in right field, giving Rosario the chance to tally another run.

SWB RailRiders were not able to close the gap at any point in the shortened game. Nashville went into the half-hour break with the 3–0 victory.

After a quick break, and the Sounds changing to delightfully teal shirts, the two teams took to the field again. Nashville looking to keep the momentum of the win going, and the RailRiders hoping to split the two games. It didn’t take long for the away team to strike first.

Right-hander Jacob Misiorowski was on the mound to start the second inning for Nashville, facing off against SWB outfielder Bryan De La Cruz. De La Cruz had looked solid in the previous seven innings, despite having little to show for it. This could have been a driving force as he cranked one over the center-left wall to put his team up 1–0.

In the top of the third, it appeared the away team was going to keep this going. Aided by a bumbled play on the ball by Rosario in right field, and a sloppy pitch by Misiorowski, the RailRiders had men on 2nd and 3rd just waiting to make it home. Unfortunately for them, catcher Alex Jackson had an easy pop-up, dashing the rest of the offensive hopes for the inning.

Likely the awareness of it being a shorter game kicked in, and Nashville started making some moves. Catcher Jorge Alfaro, in an “I see what you did there” nod to SWB’s De La Cruz, also blasted the rock over the left-center wall to tie the game. In the subsequent inning, Adam Hall had a beautiful hit that hugged the third-base line deep into the outfield, giving him the opportunity to hustle for a triple. Infielder Freddy Zamora had a high flyer to deep right for an easy out, but the sacrifice provided more than enough time for Hall to tag up and make the stretch that would give his team the 2–1 edge.

The one-point lead proved to be enough to secure the second win of the night for the home team. Although it was a longer night than initially planned on the schedule, fatigue did not play a factor this evening. The teams will return to the field on 5/22 for game three of the six-game series.