MEMPHIS, TN (June 17, 2026) - Nashville evened their series in Memphis with a 10-8 win on Wednesday afternoon at AutoZone Park. The Sounds jumped out to a seven-run lead after the top of the third and held off Memphis' rally as the two teams combined for 28 hits and 12 XBH.
Akil Baddoo got the scoring started with a solo home run in the top of the second. Jett Williams added his third home run of the series with a two-run shot in the top of the third after Ethan Murray collected the first of his two doubles for the game. Back-to-back singles and a hit by pitch to put Luke Adams aboard sent Baddoo back to the plate. His second home run in as many at-bats gave Nashville a 7-0 lead early as he hit the fourth grand slam of the season for Nashville. Baddoo returned with the bases loaded in the fourth and drew a walk to record his sixth RBI of the game in his first three plate appearances.
After a pair of runs in the bottom of the third for Memphis, Murray extended the lead back to seven runs with a RBI double in the fifth to put Nashville back in front 9-2. The Redbirds responded with a pair of home runs in the home half of the fifth.
Memphis scored runs in each of the next three trips to the plate while holding the Sounds scoreless in the top of the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings. After his four home run on Tuesday, Joshua Baez stepped to the plate in the bottom of the sixth as the tying run but drew a bases-loaded walk after a seven pitch at-bat with Easton McGee. Yohel Pozo hit home runs in back-to-back at-bats, his second drawing Memphis back within two runs. A leadoff double in the bottom of the eighth advanced to third on a balk and scored on a productive groundout to cut the Sounds lead to one run at 9-8.
Adams reached for the third time of the game with a catcher's interference to start the top of the ninth. Jeferson Quero added his third hit of the day with a one-out single before Greg Jones doubled home Adams to make it 10-8 and a three-hit day. Following a handful of defensive changes and Mark Manfredi taking over on the mound for McGee, Manfredi stranded a one-out double on consecutive fly outs to help even the series.
The series continues with game three on Thursday night. The Sounds remain two games back of both Memphis and Rochester with four games remaining to decide the first playoff spot in the International League playoffs. First pitch at AutoZone Park is slated for 7:05 p.m.
POSTGAME NOTES:
DEJA BADDOO: Akil Baddoo belted a pair of home runs covering 842 feet in his first two plate appearances of Wednesday's game. It's his second multi-HR game in 22 games with Nashville this season, and his sixth career multi-HR game. He's up to six home runs on the year and tied for the fifth-most for a Nashville player this season along with Luke Adams and Cooper Pratt. His third-inning grand slam was the Sounds fourth slam of the year and first since Eddys Leonard hit his second of the season on May 16 vs. Iowa. Baddoo finished the game with six RBI, the most for a Nashville player since Brewer Hicklen also drove home six on May 14, 2024, at Jacksonville. It's the 23rd 6+ RBI game by a Nashville player since 2005. Despite having a pair of big-league grand slams to his name, Wednesday was the first in his 504 career games in the minors. His last grand slam came on May 28, 2023 with the Tigers off Dylan Cease and the White Sox.
TAKING FLIGHT: Brewers no. 3-rated prospect Jett Williams hit his third home run over a five at-bat span since the fifth inning of Tuesday's opener with his third inning home run on Wednesday. He is up to nine home runs on the year and still one behind Eddys Leonard who leads the club. It's his second time he has homered in back-to-back games this year, joining Luke Adams as the only other Sounds player to do that. Williams last left the yard in consecutive games on May 16-17 vs. Iowa. This is the third time of his professional career with home runs in back-to-back games after also hitting a home run in three straight games August 19-22 with High-A Brooklyn. Six of his nine home runs this season have come in his last 26 games, including four in his last six games after hitting three in his first 41 games of the season.
XX: Luke Adams extended his on-base streak to 20 straight games after getting hit by two pitches on Wednesday. The Brewers no. 11-rated prospect has now been hit 10 times this year in 24 games with Nashville. His 11 total hit by picthes this season are tied for the most by any player in the minors with fewer than 30 games played. Adams' 20-game on-base streak remains as the seventh-longest active on-base streak in the International League. Adams has now been hit 98 times in his professional career, the fourth most in the minors since 2022.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE: Ethan Murray added his second three-hit game in his last three games played after going 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles on Wednesday. He's the fifth Nashville player to hit 2+ doubles in the same game this seaosn and first since Luis Lara did it on May 20 at Durham. It was the seventh time Murray has recorded multiple doubles in the same game and first since he did it on June 20 of last season with Double-A Biloxi. Four of his seven 2+ double games of his professional career have come in the month of June.