The Sky Sox snapped their six-game losing streak and avoided a series sweep with a 4-0 shutout victory over the Nashville Sounds Thursday night. Freddy Peralta, who was recently optioned by Milwaukee after two starts with the Brewers, was pure domination in his return, blindsiding the Sounds with five scoreless innings while allowing just three singles and striking out eight. The Sky Sox improve to a 26-19 overall record and gain a game in the American North standings with Oklahoma City’s loss in Memphis.
For the first time in the series against Nashville, the Sky Sox were first to strike on the board. In the top of the second inning, after Brett Phillips led off the inning with a single, fellow outfield companion Tyrone Taylor launched his fourth home run to left field to give the Sky Sox the early 2-0 lead.
The Sky Sox continued the trend into the third and fifth innings, plating solo runs in each frame. In the third, three consecutive singles by Kyle Wren, Keon Broxton, and Christian Bethancourt would manufacture the one run. In the fifth, after Nate Orf reached second base on a Nashville throwing error by shortstop Jorge Mateo on his groundball and moved to third on Quintin Berry’s groundball, Bethancourt collected his second RBI of the night on his sacrifice fly ball which turned into an appealed play, resulting into an inning-ending double play, giving the Sky Sox the 4-0 advantage.
The Sky Sox bullpen continued the trend for Peralta after his exit. Michael Brady and Tristan Archer combined for four scoreless innings of five-hit ball with three strikeouts.
In the ninth, the Sounds tallied their first extra-base hit of the night – a leadoff double off the bat of BJ Boyd. They threatened with one out and runners on first and second, but a strikeout to Mateo and fly out to Phillips would end the rally and the ballgame.
The Sky Sox head into the first game of five against the Memphis Redbirds tomorrow with first pitch scheduled for 6:05 p.m. at AutoZone Park. The Sky Sox head back home for a five-game homestand beginning May 30 against the Iowa Cubs. For all information on Sky Sox, follow along on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and visit the team’s website at www.skysox.com.
