Fiers Deals Career-Best in Sounds 10-1 Win

DES MOINES, Iowa. - Sounds starting pitcher Mike Fiers (6-1) racked up a career-best 13 strikeouts through 6 2/3 scoreless innings Saturday night at Principal Park in the Nashville Sounds series opening 10-1 win against the Iowa Cubs.

Fiers earned his sixth win of the season, scattering five Iowa hits en route to his sixth quality start. The 28-year-old fired 117 pitches on the night and increased his league-leading strikeout total to 64 on the year. 

Fiers has now recorded double-digit strikeouts in four of his seven starts this season, which included his previous best 12 strikeouts that he recorded on April 19 at Omaha.

Offensively, the Sounds worked a season-best 18 hits off of Iowa pitchers to score 10 runs, also a season-high. Each batter in the Sounds' line-up recorded a hit, including Fiers, who doubled in the sixth. Five batters recorded multiple hits.

Hector Gomez put the Sounds on the board in the first inning with his solo home run over the left-field wall. In the following inning, Taylor Green drove in outfielder Sean Halton by slapping an RBI-double just inside of third base to make it a 2-0 ballgame.

Sounds first baseman Hunter Morris, 2-for-5, added to the Sounds lead with a two-out RBI-single through the gap at second base to score Gomez, who doubled. Morris came around to score on Halton's home run.

Nashville picked up an additional run in the fourth inning via Gomez's sacrifice-fly; one in the seventh from Halton's RBI-single; and another in the eighth courtesy of Gomez's infield single scoring Green.

Hainley Statia joined the hit parade in the ninth inning with his two-run pinch-hit double.

Both Gomez and Halton finished with three hits and three RBIs. Halton has logged 10 RBIs over his last six games and extends his hit-streak to a season-best six games.

Iowa scored its lone run off of Sounds reliever Kyle Heckathorn with two hits in the eighth inning. Johnnie Lowe stepped in to log a scoreless ninth inning for Nashville.

Cubs pitcher Eric Jokisch (2-3) was charged with the loss, his third, allowing six runs, five earned, on nine hits over four innings of work.

I-Cubs first baseman Chris Valaika and Manager Marty Pevey were both ejected in the ninth inning by first base umpire Chris Gonzalez.

The Sounds play game two of their four-game series against the I-Cubs on Sunday afternoon. Right-handed pitcher Alfredo Figaro (0-1, 4.34) will make the start for Nashville, opposite Iowa's RHP Dallas Beller (1-0, 1.50). Broadcaster Jeff Hem has the call on 102.5 The Game.