Nelson, Sounds Blank Z's, 5-0

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Top prospect Jimmy Nelson worked seven scoreless frames and combined with a pair of relievers on a four-hit shutout in the Nashville Sounds' 5-0 victory over the New Orleans Zephyrs on Friday evening at Greer Stadium.

Nashville (41-41), which snapped a five-game losing skid at Greer, tossed its sixth shutout of the year and improved to 21-1 when scoring first at home.

Nelson (9-2) was spectacular again for Nashville, holding the Z's to three singles in his seven frames to log his co-leading ninth win of the year and lower his ERA to 1.66.

The Brewers' top prospect struck out nine batters during his 85-pitch effort, the right-hander's 14th quality outing in 15 trips to the hill for the Sounds this season.

Dustin Molleken worked around a pair of baserunners in striking out the side during a scoreless eighth for Nashville before Jeremy Jeffress retired the Z's in order to close out the shutout win in the ninth.

Third baseman Jason Rogers -- who enjoyed a solid Sounds debut with a 2-for-3 effort that included two RBIs and a pair of extra-base hits -- ripped a leadoff triple to left-center in the bottom of the fifth inning for his first Triple-A hit and scored the night's first run when Jeremy Hermida followed with a bloop RBI single to left.

Bryan Evans (4-5) took a hard-luck loss in his spot start for the Zephyrs. The right-hander allowed one run on two hits over five innings.

The Sounds upped the lead to 4-0 in the sixth against Z's reliever Arquimedes Caminero. Rogers plated Jeff Bianchi (2-for-4) with a sacrifice fly before right fielder Jeremy Hermida (2-for-4) blasted a monstrous 401-foot two-run homer to right-center, the slugger's eighth roundtripper of the season.

Rogers continued his strong PCL debut in the eighth when he stroked an RBI double to left-center that plated Bianchi to up the Nashville advantage to 5-0.

The teams continue the series with a 6:35 p.m. matchup on Saturday evening. Right-hander Taylor Jungmann (3-4, 6.17) will man the bump for the Sounds and face New Orleans lefty Adam Conley (2-2, 4.08).