Nashville routs Iowa 12-1 behind first-inning power surge

Eddys Leonard turned the first inning into a statement and Nashville never let Iowa recover. Leonard’s grand slam, his second of the season and seventh homer overall, capped a bases-loaded burst that put the Sounds ahead 5-0 almost immediately and set up a 12-1 win Saturday night at First Horizon Park.

The inning kept snowballing from there. Nashville opened with three straight walks, then Jeferson Quero drew another free pass to force in the first run. Leonard followed with the grand slam, Greg Jones was hit by a pitch, Ramón Rodríguez singled and Jett Williams finished the inning with a three-run homer, his fourth of the year, as the Sounds turned one frame into a runaway. The first-inning rally included a sixth walk before the inning finally ended.

The power did not stop with Leonard and Williams. Cooper Pratt homered as Nashville kept stacking damage, and his shot came in back-to-back games for the first time in his professional career. Pratt became the fourth Sounds player to homer in consecutive games this season, joining Luke Adams, Leonard and Luis Lara, a stretch that underlined how deep the lineup has been during the club’s six-game winning streak.

Garrett Stallings did his part to make the early surge stand up. The Nashville right-hander worked 6.2 scoreless innings, allowed four hits and struck out six for his second straight quality start, keeping Iowa from ever threatening a response while the Sounds controlled the game from the mound and the batter’s box. Joshua Quezada, who had been brought up from Low-A Wilson earlier in the day, made his first career Triple-A appearance and recorded the final out of the seventh inning. JB Bukauskas was also reinstated from the injured list and added to the roster before the game.

Iowa’s lone run came in the ninth, after two walks and a James Triantos single, long after the outcome had been settled. Nashville added another run in the eighth and closed out a series in which the Sounds had already beaten the Cubs 9-3 in the opener on May 12. This one was less about the final margin than the way Nashville took command in the first inning and kept the pressure on all night.