Long Ball Leads to Loss for Sounds

The San Antonio Missions got two timely home runs from left fielder Tyler Saladino to lead to a 5-3 win over the Nashville Sounds Saturday night in San Antonio.
The home runs from Saladino came in the second inning to give San Antonio a 2-1 lead, and again in the seventh inning to give them some breathing room at 3-1.
Nashville got on the board first when Andy Ibáñez belted a solo homer to left-center field in the top of the second inning. It was the first home run of the season for Ibanez who extended his hitting streak to seven games.
Moments after the Ibanez long ball, Saladino came to the dish with Cory Spangenburg on first and drilled a two-run home run to give the Missions a 2-1 lead.
It stayed 2-1 until the seventh inning as both starting pitchers dialed in. Nashville's Phillips Valdez allowed the home run but nothing the rest of his outing. He went 4 2/3 innings as he continued to build his pitch count. San Antonio's Burch Smith allowed the solo shot to Ibanez and that's it. He limited the Sounds to one run over six innings of work.
With the Sounds trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the seventh, Saladino came to the plate and hit a solo shot off reliever Tim Dillard to give San Antonio an insurance run. Jake Hager later singled, Corey Ray was hit by a pitch, and Keston Hiura made both hurt with a two-run double down the right field line to make it 5-2.
The Sounds put together a mini rally in the ninth, but it wasn't enough. Shortstop Eli White started the top of the inning with a sharp single up the middle. Willie Calhoun followed and ripped a double to right field. It chased White around from first to trim the deficit to 5-3. That was as close as it would get as Nolan Fontana's two-out fly ball was caught on the warning track to end the threat.
Valdez was charged with the loss, his first of the season. Jose Trevino was the lone Sound with a multi-hit game.
Game three of the four-game series is scheduled for Sunday afternoon in San Antonio. Left-hander Taylor Hearn (1-1, 4.50) starts for the Sounds against right-hander Adrian Houser (0-0, 0.00) for the Missions. First pitch is scheduled for 2:05 p.m.
Post-Game Notes
- With tonight's 5-3 loss, the Sounds dropped to 3-7 on the season.  
- Andy Ibanez extended his hitting streak to a team-best seven games when he homered in the second inning. It was the first home run of the season for Ibanez.
- Willie Calhoun's ninth inning double extended his on-base streak to 10 games. He has reached safely in every game of the season.
The 2019 season is the 42nd in Nashville Sounds franchise history and first as the Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. Single-game tickets are available now by calling (615) 690-4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com.