Nashville, TN – Another comeback bid by the Nashville Sounds came up short in a 5-2 loss to the Louisville Bats on Thursday night at First Horizon Park.
Trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the eighth, pinch-hitter Jesus Lujano sparked a Sounds rally with a leadoff single to right field. After a pair of strikeouts, Lujano moved to third on Cooper Hummel’s single up the middle. Zach Green just missed a three-run homer and settled for an RBI double off the wall to trim the deficit to 3-2. Louisville got out of the inning when Matt Lipka struck out.
Louisville’s Brantley Bell gave the Bats breathing room with an RBI single in the top of the ninth and Mark Payton supplied an RBI triple to make it 5-2. The Sounds put two runners on in the bottom of the ninth, but Pablo Reyes grounded out to end the game.
Nashville scored the first run of the game when Tim Lopes tripled off the wall in right-center and scored on a wild pitch by Louisville starter Riley O’Brien.
Sounds starter Ryan Weber kept the Bats off the board for the first three innings but allowed the tying run in the fourth on back-to-back doubles by TJ Friedl and Logan Morrison.
A 1-1 game turned into a 3-1 Nashville deficit when Jose Barrero launched a two-run homer to deep left field off Blaine Hardy in the top of the sixth.
Game four of the six-game series is scheduled for Friday night at First Horizon Park. Right-hander Josh Lindblom (2-0, 0.47) starts for Nashville against right-hander Jeff Hoffman (0-0, 0.00) for Louisville. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05pm.
Post-Game Notes
- Cooper Hummel drew a walk in the sixth inning and has reached base safely in 12 consecutive games…batting .381 (16-for-42) with 4 doubles, 3 home runs, 6 RBI and 7 walks.
- Nashville matched their season-high with two triples (Tim Lopes, Weston Wilson).
- Nashville suffered a rare loss when scoring first…they are now 22-7 in the situation.
Box Score
Louisville 5, Nashville 2
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Louisville | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 0 |
| Nashville | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
The Nashville Sounds are the Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers and play at First Horizon Park. Single-game tickets are on sale now for all remaining 2021 home games. For more information call 615.690.4487 or e-mail tickets@nashvillesounds.com.
