Despite compiling 11 hits, the Nashville Sounds (55-48, 15-14) could not come up with a big hit when they needed it, falling 4-2 to the Durham Bulls (57-48, 17-13) on Thursday night at First Horizon Park.
Evan McKendry (8-4) was greeted poorly by his former team in his first start in the Brewers organization. The right-hander, who was dealt to Nashville in exchange for former Sound Alex Jackson on Tuesday, gave up a run in the first, then a two-run blast in the fourth, to trail 3-0 early.
Nashville broke through with a tally later in the fourth after stringing together several singles. Cam Devanney came through with a check swing infield hit that scored Skye Bolt. Jonathan Aranda responded to start the fifth inning, launching a mammoth solo homer to center that went over the batter’s eye that made it 4-1.
The top of the lineup for the Sounds again strung together some singles, with three straight to score again in the fifth. Keston Hiura’s blooper to left plated Josh VanMeter and made it 4-2. Unfortunately for the Nashville bats, they failed to push across another run the rest of the night.
The Sounds bullpen again delivered a stellar outing with four relievers combining to toss four scoreless innings. Alex Claudio worked a 1-2-3 sixth, Bennett Sousa struck out a couple in a quiet seventh, Pedro Fernandez retired the side in order in the eighth and Thyago Vieira escaped a jam with back-to-back strikeouts to finish the ninth.
Offensively, Nashville finished without a multi-base hit, with all 11 hits being singles. Bolt reached four times in the loss with three singles and a run. Hiura and Devanney also contributed multi-hit efforts, respectively.
The Bulls hold control of the series after their second consecutive win. Left-hander Robert Gasser (5-1, 4.15) will start for the Sounds tomorrow. He’ll face Durham’s Taj Bradley (1-3, 11.25). The first pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. CDT at First Horizon Park.
Post-Game Notes
- Skye Bolt logged his sixth three-hit game of the season. Over his last 10 games, Bolt is batting .303 (10-for-33) with a double, four RBI and eight runs.
- Patrick Dorrian reached base for the 10th-straight game with a walk. During the on-base streak, Dorrian holds a .409 on-base percentage and .965 OPS.
- Rehabbing Milwaukee reliever Bennett Sousa worked a scoreless seventh inning, getting a couple of strikeouts with a walk. Sousa has worked 2.0 hitless innings on assignment with Nashville this week. He has been on Milwaukee’s injured list since June 9 (retro June 8) with left shoulder nerve irritation.
- Evan McKendry took the loss in his Milwaukee organization debut (5.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 3 K). He was acquired from Tampa Bay in exchange for C Alex Jackson on Tuesday.
The Nashville Sounds are the Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers and play at First Horizon Park. Single-game tickets for the rest of the 2023 season are on sale now. For more information call 615-690-4487 or e-mail tickets@nashvillesounds.com.
