Nashville, TN – The Nashville Sounds dropped their second straight game to the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp on Thursday night with a 5-4 loss in extra-innings. Brewers no. 4-rated prospect Luis Lara clubbed his eighth home run of the season, but the bats went cold over the final four innings as Nashville finished the night 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10 runners on base in the one-run loss.
Brewers no. 17-rated prospect Tyson Hardin made his ninth Triple-A start on Thursday night. The right-hander surrendered a run in the top of the first on a pair of hits and saw the Jumbo Shrimp tack on another two runs in the second on three hits and a two-out walk that kept the inning alive.
Connor Norby extended the lead with a two-out, two-RBI single. Nashville drew within one in the bottom of the third as Lara connected on his first home run since May 6th, ending a 42-game homerless stretch.
Hardin spun a 1-2-3 top of the third and was back on the mound in the fourth. Jacksonville pushed the lead back to two as Norby collected his second hit and third RBI with another two-out single. Hardin’s night finished after four innings, and four runs allowed on seven hits with four strikeouts and a pair of walks. Southpaw Mark Manfredi was the first man out of the Nashville bullpen and worked two scoreless innings with five strikeouts.
Three straight one-out singles in the bottom of the sixth help Nashville cut the deficit back to one run as Eddys Leonard and Greg Jones each recorded their second hits of the night, and Jones getting the RBI to score Luis Matos who started the rally with a base hit. Ethan Murray drew a two-out pinch hit walk to load the bases ahead of Jett Williams, who walked his way aboard for the second time to even the score at 4-4. Nashville failed to take their first lead of the night and stranded the bases loaded on a strikeout of Lara to end the threat.
Peter Strzelecki pitched around the third single of the night for Norby to strand the Jacksonville baserunner and work a third consecutive scoreless inning for the Nashville bullpen. Tyler Black was plunked to start the home half of the seventh and put himself into scoring position with his 12th stolen base of the year but saw three straight outs follow as Nashville stranded the potential go-ahead run in scoring position for the second straight inning.
Drew Rom and Jack Ralston traded scoreless half innings in the eighth on the mound as Nashville entered the ninth inning tied for just the fourth time this season. Rom surrendered a leadoff single but worked two straight ground balls outs before a caught stealing got Nashville through the inning without a runner reaching scoring position.
Nashville went down in order to send them to their fifth extra-innings game on the year. Reiss Knehr was tasked with pitching the top of the 10th and struck out Norby ahead of a walk and infield single. A sacrifice fly pushed across the first Jumbo Shrimp run since the fourth inning and broke the 4-4 tie. Knehr got out of the inning with the lone unearned run against him with Nashville needing an answer in the home half.
Two straight lineouts and a strikeout for Stephen Jones retired the side in order to as Nashville was unable to earn their second extra-innings win of the year.
The Sounds kickoff Independence Weekend as the series continues on Friday night. Rehabber Logan Henderson (2-0, 0.87 ERA) is scheduled to make his second rehab start on the mound for Nashville with first pitch scheduled for 6:35pm.
