Nashville, TN – The Nashville Sounds (26-23) fell behind early but rallied in the second half of the contest to take a 4-3 victory over the Charlotte Knights (19-29) on Friday night at First Horizon Park. The rally led Nashville to a series-clinching fourth win of the six-game set.
Entering the bottom of the eighth tied 3-3, Brewer Hicklen led off the inning with a single up the middle. The speedy Hicklen later advanced into scoring position after an errant throw on a pickoff attempt by Knights reliever Deivi Garcia (1-1).
Still, with nobody out, Chris Roller laced a double into center field that scored Hicklen, the go-ahead run, to make it 4-3 in the eighth. Kevin Herget (S, 1) put Charlotte away 1-2-3 in the ninth, striking out Wilmer Difo for the final out of the contest.
Nashville found themselves trailing 3-0 after a pair of Jared Walsh home runs (2-run in the 3rd inning and a solo shot in the 5th) gave the Knights an early advantage. However, the Sounds loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the fifth after a pair of singles from Francisco Mejía and Freddy Zamora and a walk from Oliver Dunn. Isaac Collins lined a single into left to score two, then Wes Clarke brought home Dunn as the tying run to make it 3-3.
Sounds starter Carlos Rodríguez allowed the two blasts to Walsh but was outstanding otherwise. The right-hander struck out eight in his six innings of three-run baseball, tying a season-high. He held the Knights to four hits and a walk in yet another quality start for the Brewers’ No. 6 prospect (MLB Pipeline). Taylor Clarke (1-0) followed with two scoreless innings, keeping things tied before the Sounds would go up a run in the eighth.
All nine Sounds batters reached base in the win. Zamora led the team with a pair of singles Dunn and Roller turned in the pair of extra-base hits for Nashville, each knocking a double in the win.
Nashville will look to extend the win streak tomorrow night in game five of the series. Left-hander Aaron Ashby (0-3, 8.90) will make his first start in the homestand. Former Braves hurler Touki Toussaint (1-1, 7.90) will start for the Knights. The first pitch is set for 6:35pm from First Horizon Park.
Post-Game Notes
- Isaac Collins extended his on-base streak to 13 games with the two-RBI single in the fifth. Since the streak began on May 10th, Collins is batting .349 (15-for-43) with six extra-base hits, 10 RBI and nine walks.
- After starting the season 0-4 with an 8.34 ERA (22.2 IP/21 ER), Carlos Rodríguez has since gone 4-0 with a 3.86 ERA (28.0 IP/12 ER) with a 1.14 WHIP and .206 opponent batting average in his last five starts.
- The Sounds have won four-in-a-row for the second time this season – they took each of the first four games of the series at Jacksonville from May 14th-17th last week. They are also a season-best three games over .500.
The Nashville Sounds are the Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers and play at First Horizon Park. Single-game tickets and season ticket memberships for the remainder of the 2024 season are on sale now.
For more information, call 615.690.4487 or e-mail tickets@nashvillesounds.com.
