MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com -NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Left-hander Chris Cody worked a quality start and shortstop Bill Hall homered to lead the Nashville Sounds to a 5-3 victory over the Albuquerque Isotopes on Saturday evening in front of 7,073 fans at historic Greer Stadium in the opener of a five-game series.

Cody (5-6) held the Isotopes to two runs (one earned) on five hits while striking out six batters in seven innings of work in twirling his sixth quality start of the year.

The southpaw, who hurled a Sounds season-high 124 pitches in the contest, helped his own cause with a 2-for-3 night at the plate.

Nashville grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Hall belted a solo homer to center off Albuquerque starter Eric Stults. Hall added a double later in the game and is 4-for-8 with three RBIs in two games with the Sounds.

First baseman Joe Koshansky upped the Nashville lead to 3-0 in the fourth with a two-run double to the left-center wall off Stults. Brendan Katin and Adam Heether, who opened the frame with consecutive singles, both scored on the two-bagger.

The Sounds tacked on two additional runs in the frame when Koshansky scored on a double play grounder and Cody singled then scored following a throwing error by Isotopes shortstop Chin-Lung Hu, making it a 5-0 contest.

Albuquerque third baseman Sergio Garcia put the visitors on the board in the fifth when he golfed a solo homer to left off Cody, his first roundtripper of the year.

The Isotopes pulled within 5-2 in the seventh with an unearned run off Cody stemming from a fielding error by Sounds second baseman Johnny Rayburn.

Albuquerque didn’t go down without a fight in the ninth against Sounds reliever David Johnson.

With one out, Dee Brown singled and moved to second two batters later on a Hu bunt single before scoring on an A.J. Ellis RBI single to left that just eluded the glove of a diving Erick Almonte at third base, pulling the visitors within 5-3.

Johnson recovered to induce a game-ending lineout from former Sound JD Closser with two men on base, earning his fourth save of the year for Nashville.

Sounds center fielder Jason Bourgeois extended the club’s longest active hit streak to 10 games with a 3-for-4 evening. The speedster’s 10-gamer is Nashville’s sixth double-digit hitting streak of the season.

Stults (4-2) was charged with the loss for Albuquerque after surrendering five runs (four earned) on 11 hits over six innings of work.

The teams continue the series with a pair of seven-inning games during a 6 p.m. doubleheader on Sunday evening, which will make up a July 5th rainout.

Left-hander Sam Narron (1-3, 5.82) will man the bump for the Sounds in the first contest to face Albuquerque knuckleballer Charlie Haeger (10-6, 3.74). Southpaw Lindsay Gulin (5-7, 4.57) will start for Nashville in the nightcap to face a yet-to-be-determined Isotopes hurler. 

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