Solano slams Sounds to lead comeback

Donovan Solano hit a seventh-inning grand slam to vault the Zephyrs into the lead, and New Orleans won its third straight game by defeating the Nashville Sounds, 6-3 on Saturday night at Greer Stadium.

The slam was the first by a Zephyr since Luke Montz last July 3 and helped the Z's get back to .500 at 35-35.

Trailing 3-1 entering the the seventh, Jake Smolinski got the Zephyrs' rally started with a leadoff single. Gorkys Hernandez came off the bench to deliver a pinch-hit single with one out, and Kevin Mattison reached on catchers interference to load the bases for Solano, who homered in just one game out of 129 contests between New Orleans and the Miami Marlins last season but crushed the first offering from Mike Fiers over the fence in left-center to give the Z's a 5-3 lead.

Smolinski kickstarted another Zephyrs rally the following inning, lacing a single down the right field line with one out and coming around to score on Mattison's sacrifice fly to provide an insurance run.

Nashville brought the tying run to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the ninth before Chris Hatcher got Steven Parker to line out to convert his league-leading 22nd save in 23 opportunities.

A pair of home runs by Sean Halton, a solo shot to lead off the second and a two-run blast in the fourth, gave the Sounds a 3-1 lead against Z's starter Jared Rogers, who otherwise held Nashville to just two other hits over six innings. Rogers (2-1) struck out six and walked one in earning the win.

Fiers (1-2) struck out nine in 6 2/3 innings but was saddled with the loss. He allowed eight hits and five runs, four of which were earned, and also served up a solo homer to Kevin Kouzmanoff in the fourth that briefly tied the game.

The Zephyrs and Sounds continue the series on Sunday at 2:05 p.m.