Nashville 3 - Las Vegas 2

Eugenio Velez laced a one-out RBI single to center in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Nashville Sounds a 3-2 walk-off victory over the Las Vegas 51s on Wednesday evening at Greer Stadium.

With their fourth last at-bat win of the year, the Sounds (41-71) matched their longest winning streak of the season with their third straight victory.

In the decisive frame, Hainley Statia led off with an infield single and was sacrificed to second by Kentrail Davis before racing home on Velez's line-drive game-winner over the center fielder's head. Velez has hit safely in his last four games at a .538 clip (7-for-13), including three extra-base knocks.

Nashville had held a 2-1 lead in the top of the ninth before a blown save necessitated the walk-off heroics.

Starter Jimmy Nelson worked five scoreless innings for Nashville, striking out seven batters while scattering three hits during his season-high 108-pitch outing. He departed in line for the victory but was left with a no-decision following a late blown save by the Sounds' bullpen. With the effort, the 24-year-old lowered his Triple-A ERA to 3.47 in nine starts.

The Sounds took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Kentrail Davis (2-for-3) led off with a single, was sacrificed to second by Velez, advanced to third on a groundout, and scored when Las Vegas starter Chris Schwinden uncorked a wild pitch.

Nashville doubled its advantage to 2-0 in the fifth. Blake Davis (2-for-3) led off with a single and later scored on a Robinzon Diaz RBI fielder's choice.

Las Vegas halved the lead to 2-1 in the seventh when pinch-hitter Jamie Hoffmann belted a leadoff solo homer to left off Sounds reliever Travis Webb, his fifth longball of the year.

Hoffmann, who remained in the game in left field, continued to torment the Sounds in the bottom of the eighth, when he threw out Statia at the plate as he attempted to score from second on Kentrail Davis' two-out single

Hoffmann struck again for the 51s in the ninth, tying the contest at 2-2 with his second roundtripper of the night. The veteran belted a leadoff solo shot to left-center that careened off the guitar-shaped scoreboard.

Right fielder Sean Halton ripped a one-out double to left in the fourth inning to extend the Sounds' longest hitting streak to eight games (9-for-29, .310).

Press Release