Nashville strands 10, goes 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position

The Sounds dropped their second straight game Saturday night, falling 5-2 to the Norfolk Tides at First Horizon Park. Nashville left 10 runners on base and went hitless in 10 at-bats with runners in scoring position. Luis Lara hit another home run in his strong start to the season for Milwaukee’s No. 11 prospect, while Eddys Leonard recorded three of Nashville’s six hits.

After Garrett Stallings opened with a scoreless first inning, Lara turned on a low inside slider and hooked his sixth home run of the season off the right-field foul pole to give Nashville a 1-0 lead. It was the Sounds’ only run until the ninth.

Norfolk answered with two runs against Stallings, highlighted by Willy Vasquez’s two-run single, to take a 2-1 lead. Christian Encarnacion-Strand added a solo homer off Reiss Knehr, the first run Knehr has allowed in five appearances with Nashville. Junior Fernandez then gave up three straight one-out hits in the sixth as the Tides extended the lead to 4-1.

Leonard supplied Nashville’s only two hits after Lara’s first-inning homer until the sixth. Brock Wilken then extended his on-base streak to 21 games with a single off Andrew Magno, and Jett Williams followed with another hit, but an inning-ending double play kept the Sounds off the board for a fifth straight inning.

Fernandez tossed Nashville’s first 1-2-3 inning since the first when he retired the Tides in order in the seventh. In the bottom half, Cooper Pratt reached on an error and Freddy Zamora walked against Jose Espada. Both moved up on Jacob Hurtubise’s groundout after he replaced Jackson Chourio in the fourth, but fellow rehabber Andrew Vaughn grounded out to end the threat.

Norfolk pushed the lead to 5-1 with three straight hits off Peter Strzelecki in the eighth, though he retired the next two batters. Lara drew a leadoff walk in the bottom half, and Williams followed with a walk to put two aboard for a fourth straight inning. Jeferson Quero’s deep fly advanced both runners, but Pratt flew out to right to end the inning. Strzelecki then worked a scoreless ninth with two strikeouts, giving Nashville pitchers 13 on the night.

Leonard opened the ninth with an infield single for his third hit of the night. Zamora and Hurtubise then drew back-to-back walks against Alex Pham to load the bases with no outs, bringing Vaughn to the plate as the tying run. Norfolk turned its third double play of the game in exchange for a run, and Judd Fabian caught Lara’s line drive to center to end it.

Nashville will try to salvage a split in Sunday’s series finale against Norfolk. First pitch is set for 1:05 p.m.

POSTGAME NOTES:

SIX-PACK OF TATERS: Luis Lara hit his team-leading sixth home run of the season in the first inning, sending it off the right-field foul pole for an early 1-0 lead. He moved past Eddys Leonard for the team lead and is tied for 10th in the International League. The 21-year-old also leads Nashville in hits (39) and stolen bases (12), while extending both his hitting streak and on-base streak to three games. Lara also leads the league in hits and runs scored (30) and ranks ninth in batting average. Milwaukee’s No. 11 prospect is hitting .258 (8-for-31) against Norfolk with two homers, one double, and four RBI.

21 CAN YOU DO SOMETHING FOR ME: Brock Wilken extended his on-base streak to 21 games with a sixth-inning single. That streak is tied for the third-longest active run in the International League and tied for seventh at the Triple-A level. During the streak, Wilken is batting .229 (16-for-70) with seven extra-base hits, two homers, 15 RBI, and 16 walks. It is the seventh-longest on-base streak by a Nashville player since the start of the 2023 season.

JUST KEEP SWINGING: Eddys Leonard went 3-for-4 for his 10th multi-hit game of the season and his second three-hit game. He has five multi-hit performances in his last 10 games. Over his nine-year career, Leonard has recorded 164 multi-hit games, including 33 three-hit games, with a single-season high of 35 in 2023. He also extended both his hitting streak and on-base streak to four games.

STALLINGS BE BALLIN’: Garrett Stallings faced his former team and allowed two runs on three hits while striking out a season-high five in Saturday’s loss. In six career appearances against Norfolk, including three starts, Stallings is 1-1 with a 3.44 ERA. This season, he is 1-2 with a 5.31 ERA in seven appearances, including four starts, over 20.1 innings.