NORFOLK, VA (August 20, 2026) – The Sounds got back on track with a 7-0 shutout win on Thursday afternoon at Harbor Park against the Norfolk Tides. Blake Burke provided what turned into the game-winning runs with his two-run home run in the top of the first as Coleman Crow turned in yet another dominant start on the mound for Nashville.
Burke, the Brewers no. 13-rated prospect, stepped to the plate in the opening frame without a home run since arriving in Nashville for the start of the Indianapolis series last week. He changed that with a 111 MPH, 437-foot moonshot into the wind in right-center field to put the Sounds up 2-0, scoring Sal Frelick who started the game with a leadoff single. Right-hander Coleman Crow and a trio of Nashville relievers took care of the rest.
The lone extra-base hit allowed by Crow across six shutout innings was a two-out triple for Heston Kjerstad in the bottom of the first. The right-hander pitched around that with the first of six strikeouts on the day to end the inning. Kjerstad was the only Norfolk batter to make it past second base until the bottom of the ninth and did it twice; once with his triple in the first and then moving station to station in the bottom of the sixth after his leadoff single via a walk and ground out before Crow ended his day stranding two aboard. Crow also walked two and hit a batter as he stranded seven total to push his streak to three straight starts and 18.2 IP without allowing a run. He picked up his eighth win of the season and sixth Triple-A quality start.
Nashville tacked on addition runs in the top of the third inning. First, Brock Wilken recorded the third straight hit of the inning and scored a pair with his team-leading 20th double of the season. Ethan Murray kept the inning alive with a two-out walk and swiped second to join Wilken in scoring position. Ramon Rodriguez cashed in with a two-RBI single in his first action of the series to make it 6-0. Eric Brown Jr. capped his second straight multi-hit game with the first Triple-A home run of his career on a two-out solo blast in the top of the eighth.
Cameron Wagoner (1.0 IP, 2 K), Joel Juhnel (1.0 IP, K, BB), and Jared Koenig (1.0 IP) combined for three hitless innings to help preserve the seventh shutout win of the season for Nashville. Wagoner worked in his first game action since August 4 after being reinstated from the Injured List prior to Thursday's game. Two Nashville errors in the bottom of the ninth sent five Norfolk batters to the plate for Koening to deal with the frame.
The series continues on Friday night with first pitch scheduled for 5:35 p.m. RHP Brandon Sproat (0-1, 6.00 ERA) will make his third start with the Sounds.
POSTGAME NOTES:
BURKE BOMB: Brewers no. 13-rated prospect Blake Burke recorded the first home run of his Triple-A career with a two-run home run in the top of the first inning Thursday afternoon against the Tides. Burke snapped a 16-game spell, including his first eight games in Triple-A between home runs since hitting his last with Double-A Biloxi on July 31. His 31 total home runs this season are tied for the sixth-most among all full-season minor leaguers. Fellow Brewers farmhand and former Tennessee Vol Andrew Fischer leads the minors with his 37 home runs. The 16-game drought Burke was on comes on the heels of hitting nine homers over a seven-game span to end the month of July. Since his promotion to Double-A Biloxi last year on August 2, Burke ranks second in the minors with 42 home runs and 124 RBI. He also ranks fourth over the span with his .574 SLG over his last 142 games played.
PITCH AND CROW: Brewers no. 24-rated prospect Coleman Crow turned in his third straight scoreless appearance and quality after spinning 6.0 IP while allowing just five hits with six strikeouts, two walks, and a hit batter. He's worked 18.2 IP in the month of August without a run allowed on 12 hits with 17 strikeouts and is 3-0. Crow's eight wins this season for Nashville are tied for the third-most in the International League despite just 14 starts. Over his last eight starts since July 4, Crow leads Triple-A in ERA (1.69) and BAA (.185), ranks fourth in strikeouts (40), and fifth in IP (42.2). Crow is now 27-8 with a 3.89 ERA for his minor league career with 22 quality starts. He has earned a quality start all 22 time he has gone the minimum 6.0 IP + to qualify for a QS and now has nine starts of 6+ IP without allowing an earned run.
HIT HOMERS, THAT'S WHAT: Eric Brown Jr. turned in his second straight multi-hit game, finishing Thursday 2-for-3 with his first career Triple-A home run and RBI in the top of the eighth inning. It's the first time this season Brown Jr. has recorded multiple hits in consecutive games, and just the eighth overall multi-hit game in 66 total between Nashville and Biloxi. Thursday's long ball was the 20th of his minor league career since being taken with the 27th overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft. Through his first 12 Triple-A games, Brown Jr. is hitting .290 (9-for-31).
PITCH CITY: Coleman Crow (6.0 IP, 5 H, 6 K, 2 BB), RHP Cameron Wagoner (1.0 IP, 2 K), RHP Joel Kuhnel (1.0 IP, K, BB), and LHP Jared Koenig (1.0 IP) combined to toss the seventh shutout of the season for the Sounds. Nashville ranks T-5th in the International League for shutouts this season and fourth in the minors since the start of last year with 23. The Sounds set a franchise record 16 a season ago. The Sounds bullpen leads Triple-A and ranks second among all full-season minor league teams in 2026 with a 3.63 ERA. Only Low-A Kannapolis (3.36 ERA) have a better bullpen ERA than Nashville this season.
FRE FLYING: After his second straight multi-hit game, Sal Frelick is hitting .281 (9-for-32) with three doubles, two homers, five RBI, five walks, and seven runs scored through nine Major League Rehab Games. He's got a hit in seven of the nine games and reached in all nine played. All five of his XBH have come in his last six games.