Wilken Extends On-Base Streak to 23 Games

The Nashville Sounds’ ninth-inning comeback attempt came up short in a 6-4 loss to the Louisville Bats in the opener of the series at Louisville Slugger Field. Jeferson Quero and Luis Lara each homered, while Brock Wilken pushed his on-base streak to 23 straight games.

After Tuesday’s postponement, Nashville struck first in the second inning on Wednesday. Jett Williams singled with one out, and Quero followed with a two-run homer to left on the first pitch from Brandon Leibrandt. The 107.7 mph blast was Quero’s fourth home run of the season. Louisville answered immediately in the bottom half, using two singles and a two-run triple by Michael Toglia off Robert Gasser to tie the game at 2-2.

Gasser gave up two runs on four hits and struck out three before Easton McGee took over in the fifth. McGee surrendered a two-out RBI single that gave Louisville a 3-2 lead, but Nashville responded in the sixth when Lara launched a solo homer to left—his team-leading seventh of the year—to even the score at 3-3.

McGee allowed one run on three hits over two innings before Reiss Knehr worked a scoreless seventh despite allowing a one-out single. In the eighth, Junior Fernández struck out two but issued three walks, the last of which loaded the bases. Louisville then delivered back-to-back singles to score three runs and take control.

The Sounds mounted one final threat in the ninth. Freddy Zamora, who had entered earlier for an injured Wilken, opened the inning with his fourth double of the season. Quero then singled, and Ethan Murray walked to load the bases. Jordyn Adams drew another walk to bring home Zamora and trim the deficit to two. But Cooper Pratt hit a ground ball to third, where Louisville got the force at third base to end the rally and seal the 6-4 win.

The Sounds continue the series with a doubleheader against the Bats on Thursday, May 7, beginning at 3:35 p.m. Coleman Crow is scheduled to start Game 1, with Thomas Pannone set for Game 2.

POSTGAME NOTES

FOUR QUERO:
Catcher Jeferson Quero hit his fourth home run of the season with a two-run shot to left on the first pitch he saw from Brandon Leibrandt, giving Nashville a 2-0 lead in the second inning. He finished 3-for-4 with two RBI. Quero ranks third on the team in home runs with four, behind Luis Lara (7) and Eddys Leonard (5), and leads the club with 20 RBI. In his career against Louisville, Quero is hitting .387 (12-for-31) with three home runs and 10 RBI, the sixth-best average among Sounds hitters with at least 20 at-bats against the Bats in the Statcast Era since 2015.

UN-23-LIEVABLE:
Infielder Brock Wilken extended his on-base streak to 23 games in Wednesday’s matchup with Louisville. He went 1-for-2 with his eighth double of the season before leaving in the sixth inning after fouling a ball off his leg. Since April 10, Wilken is batting .240 (18-for-75) with 11 extra-base hits and 16 RBI. The 23-year-old is tied with J.J. Bleday of Louisville for the longest on-base streak in the International League and owns the fifth-longest active streak in Triple-A.

LARA DINGERS:
Outfielder Luis Lara tied the game in the sixth inning with a solo homer to left, his team-best seventh of the season. He now leads the Sounds in home runs, two ahead of Eddys Leonard (5), and ranks fourth on the team with 17 RBI. All seven of Lara’s home runs this year have been solo shots, five have come on the road, and Wednesday’s blast was his second against a left-hander. It was also his second home run in the last three games. The 21-year-old is tied with Edwin Arroyo of Louisville for the International League lead in hits with 41 and leads the league in runs scored with 31.

MULTI-JETT:
Infielder Jett Williams went 2-for-4 with a run scored in Wednesday’s loss. It was his eighth multi-hit game of the season and his sixth with exactly two hits. Over his five-year career, Williams has recorded 81 regular-season multi-hit games, including 14 three-hit performances.