I-Cubs fall to Nashville in series opener

DES MOINES, Iowa - The Iowa Cubs (15-17) rolled into four double plays as they fell 6-3 to the Nashville Sounds (13-19) in Pacific Coast League action at Principal Park Tuesday night.

 

Left-hander Tyler Ihrig (0-1) took the mound for Iowa in his first start of 2015 after joining the team from Single-A South Bend. The southpaw took the loss, allowing two runs on five hits and two walks while striking out three through 5.0 innings.

 

Sounds starter Brad Mills (1-4) pitched his second straight quality start on his way to his first win in 2015. Mills worked around two home runs and eight I-Cubs hits, allowing three earned runs in 6.0 innings of work. He walked two and struck out five.

 

Iowa allowed a first-inning run on Nate Freiman's RBI-groundout that drove in Andy Parrino.

 

Freiman then made it 2-0 with a sacrifice fly to drive in Craig Gentry in the top of the third inning.

 

Iowa came back with a run of its own in the bottom of that frame, as Arismendy Alcantara drove in Adron Chambers with a sacrifice fly.

 

The score remained 2-1 until Ryan Roberts knocked an RBI-double to drive in Jason Pridie in the top of the sixth.

 

Iowa would respond again in the bottom of the sixth. Javy Baez belted a towering solo home run to left field to bring the score to 3-2.

 

However, Nashville put the game out of reach in the top of the seventh, getting three runs off of right-hander Gonzalez Germen. Pridie hit a two-out triple to drive in Kent Matthes and Freiman and then was driven in by a Roberts RBI-single one batter later to make it 6-2 Nashville. It was the first time Germen allowed either a hit and a run on the season.

 

Christian Villanueva tacked on a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh, but that was all Iowa could muster. Sounds righty Ryan Cook notched his third save to stay perfect on the season.

 

Villanueva led Iowa, going 3-for-4 with a his third home run of the season. Baez was the only other I-Cub with a multi-hit game, going 2-for-4 with his second roundtripper of the year.

 

Five Sounds players had multi-hit nights. Pridie went 2-for-4 with a triple, a walk, two RBI and two runs scored.

The I-Cubs will host the Sounds in game two of a four-game series on Wednesday. First pitch is set for 12:08 p.m. CT at Principal Park. Right-hander Donn Roach (4-0, 2.17) will take the hill for Iowa against Sounds lefty Ryan Verdugo (1-3, 4.00). The game can be heard live on AM 940, 104.5 FM, and live-streamed at Iowacubs.com. The On-Deck Circle Pre-game Show will begin 11:40 a.m. CT.