Nashville, TN – The Nashville Sounds took care of business against the Gwinnett Stripers for a 3-0 shutout win Thursday night at First Horizon Park. The combination of Jeferson Quero’s multi-hit, multi-RBI night and the bullpen holding Gwinnett hitless over the final five innings led to the three-run win.
Brock Wilken got the scoring started for the Sounds offense after two quiet innings where both teams allowed four combined hits, stranding three runners on base. He belted his sixth home run of the season with a solo blast to left field on the first pitch he saw and gave the Sounds the 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning.
The Sounds tacked on the second run of the game as Tyler Black drew a leadoff walk. After he stole his 11th bag of the season, a fly out by Luke Adams advanced Black to third. Quero scored Black on a sacrifice fly for the 2-0 Sounds lead.
Right-hander Lyon Richardson got his first career start for the Sounds in Thursday’s game and worked four scoreless innings, allowed two hits and struck out three Stripers hitters. He was relieved by Reiss Knehr in the top of the fifth as he got into trouble issuing three two-out walks to load the bases.
Nashville’s defense came in the clutch and stranded all three runners with a routine groundout to Ethan Murray at second base to get out of the frame and retain the two-run lead.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Sounds extended the lead as Luke Adams ripped his first triple of the season into the right center gap, Quero then lined a soft single into left center and easily scored Adams for the three-run lead. Knehr ended his night tossing two hitless frames and worked around a season-high four walks.
Junior Fernandez took the responsibilities over in the top of the seventh inning and worked a 1-2-3 frame. He came out for the eighth inning and worked around a one-out walk as the defense got out of the frame on a 4-6-3 double play.
After Fernandez handled two innings of business. Peter Strzelecki made his first appearance for the Sounds since May 13 versus the Iowa Cubs, and earned his second save of the season, while Knehr earned a team-leading sixth win.
The Sounds and the Stripers continue their series on Friday night with first pitch scheduled for 6:35pm. Right-hander Tyson Hardin (3-1, 2.25) will get the start in game four of the series.
