Green, Baker Lead Sounds Past Rainiers, 7-2
Baker (3-4) continued his recent solid pitching, allowing two hits and fanning seven over his six scoreless frames to record his third victory of the year. The right-hander, who has worked 11.0 scoreless frames over his last two starts, has posted a 2.66 ERA (15er/50.2ip) in his last 10 PCL outings.
Five Sounds players produced multiple-hit efforts, led by Green's three-knock evening and the fourth straight two-hit night by center fielder Logan Schafer.
The victory gave the Sounds a 3-1 season series win against Tacoma. Nashville (59-68) finished 5-3 during its homestand.
The Sounds jumped out to a 5-0 first-inning lead against Andrew Carraway with five consecutive extra-base hits off the Rainiers right-hander.
Eric Farris got things started with a one-out double down the left field line and scored the night's first run when red-hot left fielder Khris Davis drilled an RBI double off the highest panel of the 24-foot tall batter's eye in center.
Jordan Brown followed with a run-scoring two-bagger down the right field line before Green and Jeff Bianchi mashed Nashville's fourth set of back-to-back homers on the year to up the lead to 5-0. Green's two-run homer to right-center and Bianchi's solo shot to left-center was each player's fourth roundtripper of the year.
Carraway (4-7) lasted just one inning for Tacoma, taking the loss after giving up five runs on five extra-base hits.
The Sounds were unable to add to the lead in the third after having the bases loaded with no outs against Tacoma reliever David Pauley. After Brown, Green, and Bianchi singled in succession to fill the bags, Pauley induced a fielder's choice grounder from Corey Patterson which erased Brown at the plate then got out of the jam when Dayton Buller grounded into a double play.
Green continued his solid night in the home half of the fifth, when he led off with a solo shot to right-center off Pauley to increase the Sounds' lead to 6-0. It marked the sixth two-homer game by a Nashville player in 2012 and the first by Green.
After Baker's departure, Rob Wooten added a scoreless frame of relief for the Sounds before Tacoma broke through for a pair of runs against Fautino De Los Santos in the eighth.
Nick Franklin put the visitors on the board with a two-out RBI double off the batter's eye that plated Brandon Bantz, who had singled earlier in the frame. Two batters later, Luis Jimenez made it a 6-2 game with a run-scoring single through the left side of the infield.
Patterson got one of those runs back for the Sounds in the bottom of the eighth when he greeted new Tacoma reliever Chance Ruffin with a first-pitch home run to right, the veteran's ninth big fly of the season.
The Sounds embark upon their final road trip of the season on Saturday, when they'll play the 7:05 p.m. opener of a four-game series at division-leading Omaha (AAA-Royals). Right-hander Tyler Thornburg (1-0, 1.80) will make the start for Nashville and face Storm Chasers southpaw Ryan Verdugo (10-3, 3.51).