Nashville, TN – The Nashville Sounds dropped their sixth-straight game on Saturday night to the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 9-5 in front of a sold-out crowd at First Horizon Park on Star Wars Night.
After falling behind early, the Sounds responded to hold a brief lead before Jacksonville took command of the game in the sixth inning en route to their fifth straight win of the series. Drew Avans, Tyler Black, and Oliver Dunn each recorded multi-hit games, while Black and Eric Haase each reached base four times.
Bruce Zimmermann worked a three-up, three down top of the first inning. The start of the second was not as quick. The left-hander issued a leadoff walk before allowing a double and two-RBI single as the Jumbo Shrimp took a 2-1 lead. He then retired the next three to get out of the second and rattled off another nine straight to get through the fifth with two hits, two earned, a walk, and three strikeouts on 61 pitches.
Jeferson Quero gave the Sounds the first run of the night with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first before the Sounds were able to knot things up at 2-2 in the third. Black legged out a two-out double before later scoring on a RBI flair single off the bat of Dunn. Quero put Nashville back in front with a RBI single to score Avans in the bottom of the fifth and put Zimmermann in line for a win.
The Jumbo Shrimp sent 11 batters to the plate in the sixth and pushed across six runs on four hits aided by three Nashville walks and a hit batter as they built an 8-3 advantage.
Nashville threatened with a pair of runners in scoring position in the bottom of the seventh but left both stranded following an 11-pitch at-bat for Haase that ended with a ground out back to Jacksonville pitcher Josh White. Justin Yeager pitched the top of the eighth for Nashville.
He allowed one earned on a hit with a couple of walks and two strikeouts. The run ended Yeager’s streak of seven straight games to begin his Triple-A career without allowing an earned run. Nick Kahle worked a three-up, three-down top of the ninth, inducing a pair of fly outs and a ground out in the season-debut for a position player pitching for Nashville.
Haase delivered a two-out, two-RBI double in the bottom of the ninth to make it 9-5. Jared Oliva kept the inning alive, using his speed to cause the second Jacksonville miscue of the night but the Jumbo Shrimp were able to strand both as Nashville finalized their four-run defeat.
The Sounds and Jumbo Shrimp conclude their six-game series from First Horizon Park on Sunday evening. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05pm CT as the Sounds look to avoid their first ever six-game series sweep and bring an end to a season-long six-game slide.
