Nashville, TN – The Nashville Sounds completed the series sweep with a 4-3 walk-off win over Iowa on Sunday afternoon at First Horizon Park to push the winning streak to seven games. Eddys Leonard capped a three-run bottom of the ninth to give Nashville their second walk-off of the series. Brewers no. 17-rated prospect Tyson Hardin tied his career-high with seven innings and earned his eighth career quality start in his Triple-A debut without a decision.
Hardin opened the game with a quick and easy 1-2-3 inning including a pair of strikeouts on just 11 pitches. The right-hander allowed a leadoff single in the top of the second to James Triantos who worked his way to third with a stolen base and throwing error by Jeferson Quero trying to nab Triantos at second. The I-Cubs took advantage, scoring on a sac fly to take the early lead. Iowa appeared to cash in on another leadoff single and walk issued by Hardin in the top of the fourth.
Following an infield fly for the first out, a successful I-Cubs double steal left Hardin with two in scoring position to navigate. A pop fly into shallow right field was hauled in by Greg Jones, who attempted a spinning throw that sailed to the backstop. The ball then made its way back down the first base line as both runners eventually crossed the plate. It was all for naught as Pedro Ramirez was ruled to have not tagged up at third on appeal and it remained a 1-0 game.
Brewers no. 3-rated prospect Jett Willaims made it back-to-back games with a home run and knotted things up with a two-out solo shot in the bottom of the sixth. Hardin retired Iowa in order in the fifth and sixth and retired nine straight overall before allowing a one-out single in the top of the seventh to Triantos.
His second steal of the game put him in scoring position for Scott Kingery, who collected the fourth and final hit allowed by Hardin with a RBI double to put Iowa back in front. Kingery and the third free pass allowed by Hardin were both left stranded in scoring position with back-to-back groundouts to end Hardin’s outing.
Rob Zastryzny worked around a walk to face the minimum in the top of the eighth as he picked off the runner at first. Iowa added a run in the top of the ninth off right-hander Blake Holub when Triantos collected a RBI single for his third hit of the day and scored Justin Dean, who pinch ran and stole second after Holub hit the first batter he faced. Triantos swiped second and moved to third on a groundout but was nabbed at home for an inning-ending double play and an outfield assist for Jacob Hurtubise to keep it a two-run game.
Nashville opened the bottom of the ninth with back-to-back walks and a single off the bat of Luis Lara to load the bases. Brock Wilken earned an RBI on the third walk of the inning for Gabe Klobosits and cut the deficit to 3-2. Klobosits got his first out of the inning with a strikeout to send Quero to the plate.
The Brewers no. 7-rated prospect sent a ball into foul territory near the Iowa bullpen down the right field line. Instead of potentially letting the ball drop to keep the bases loaded and a double play as a possibility, Chas McCormick hauled in the sac fly which allowed Williams to score easily and tie the game at 3-3 while the other two runners each advanced a base. Two pitches into his at-bat, Leonard laced a single up the middle for the walk-off RBI and the fifth walk-off winner of his career.
The Sounds will ride their seven-game winning streak into a road series against the Durham Bulls (Triple-A, Tampa Bay) beginning on Tuesday, May 19th. First pitch is scheduled for 10:05am CT.
