Nashville, TN – The Nashville Sounds put forth multiple comeback attempts, including tying the game with two outs in the ninth inning, only to come up short against the Gwinnett Stripers in a 7-6 loss in front of a sellout crowd of 12,140 fans at First Horizon Park Saturday night. The crowd was the second largest in ballpark history.
Trailing 5-3 going into the bottom of the ninth, Weston Wilson started the rally when he was hit by a pitch. Wilson moved to second when Esteury Ruiz drew a walk.
Gwinnett’s Pat Valaika quickly broke the tie in the top of the 10th with a run-scoring double. He then scored on a wild pitch to give the Stripers a 7-5 lead.
Nashville battled back again in the home half of the extra inning. With two outs and trailing by a pair of runs, Jakson Reetz singled home Pablo Reyes to make it 7-6. Matt Lipka pinch-ran for Reetz and was quickly put into action when Wilson rifled a ball down the left field line and off the wall. Gwinnett executed a perfect 7-5-2 relay throw and cut down Lipka trying to score the tying run.
At different times in the game, the Sounds trailed 2-0, 2-1, 5-1 and 5-3 before evening the game in the ninth inning on Dorrian’s RBI single.
Lucas Erceg tossed three scoreless innings out of the bullpen and recorded a season-high six strikeouts. Relievers Trevor Kelley and Jake Cousins each recorded a scoreless inning with a pair of strikeouts.
The series finale is scheduled for Sunday night at First Horizon Park. Right-hander Marcus Walden (0-1, 6.38) starts for the Sounds. The Stripers have not announced a starter. The first pitch is scheduled for 6:05pm CT.
Post-Game Notes
- Garrett Mitchell (3-for-4, R, BB, SB), Joey Wiemer (2-for-4, R, 2B, RBI, BB, 2 K) and Jakson Reetz (2-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 K) had multi-hit games. It was Mitchell’s fourth with Nashville, Wiemer’s second, and Reetz’s fourth.
- The Sounds stole a season-high five bases – Esteury Ruiz (3), Pablo Reyes, Garrett Mitchell… Nashville leads the International League with 23 stolen bases in August.
- Esteury Ruiz matched a career (10x) and season-high (4x) with three stolen bases.
- Nashville pitchers struck out a season-high 19 batters.
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 home games in 2022. For more information call 615.690.4487 or e-mail tickets@nashvillesounds.com.