NASHVILLE (June 24, 2026) - The Sounds dropped game two of the six-game set against the visiting Gwinnett Stripers 8-5 on Wednesday night at First Horizon Park. Held to just four hits on the night, Jett Williams produced half of them with his 17th multi-hit game of the season and scored twice in the loss. Nashville walked their way within striking distance in the eighth after relinquishing the lead with a five-run top of the sixth but fell short in the comeback bid.
Nashville wasted no time at all taking the early lead. Williams, the Brewers no. 3-rated prospect started the night with a single and promptly stole second. Luis Lara dropped a single into shallow left-center field to give the Sounds a 1-0 lead two batters into the game. Tyler Black bunted Lara to third and Luke Adams brought him home on a fielder's choice to make it a two-run lead.
Garrett Stallings made his 12th start and 16th overall appearance on the mound for the Sounds. The right-hander was efficient through his first two frames retiring three straight after seeing the first batter of the night reach base via an error and striking out a pair in the second. He pitched around a two-out walk to strand a runner in the third inning but ran into trouble in the fourth. Brett Wisely collected the first hit off Stallings with a leadoff single. Following a fielder's choice in which Brewer Hicklen swapped spots on first with Wisely, the former Sound swiped second and scored on a RBI double off the bat of Aaron Schunk that cut the Sounds lead to one. Stallings headed back to the mound to begin the fifth and recorded the first out of the inning with rehabber Jared Koenig making his 11th rehab appearance to close out the frame with a fly out and strikeout.
Brock Wilken drew a walk in the bottom of the fifth and Ethan Murray put runners on the corners with a single. Eduardo Garcia pushed the lead back to two runs on a sacrifice fly before the inning came to a close.
Gwinnett put together five runs on four hits with JB Bukauskas on the mound in the top of the sixth. The Stripers doubled and tripled home runs paired with a RBI groundout and a failed pickoff attempt to take their first lead as Bukauskas retired one of the seven batters he faced. Jake Woodford stranded an inherited runner as he retired each of the first two he faced to keep it 6-3. He went back out for the seventh and struck out back-to-back hitters to strand a one-out walk and finish his night without a hit allowed over 1.2 IP.
Wilken drew his second walk with two outs in the bottom of the seventh and moved up a base on a wild pitch. Murray lined out as the Sounds were held hitless for a second straight inning and just one hit since the bottom of the first. Surrendering a leadoff single and the seventh stolen base of the night for Gwinnett, Blake Holub induced three straight ground outs to strand the sixth Stripers runner of the night and keep it at 6-3.
Williams doubled with one out in the bottom of the eighth for his second hit of the game and was followed aboard by Lara who drew his second walk and fifth overall by Sounds batters. Black walked his way to first to load the bases and send Luke Adams to the plate. Daysbel Hernandez walked his third straight batter to bring Nashville a little closer. Hayden Harris didn't fare any better, issuing a four-pitch walk to Jeferson Quero straight out of the bullpen to make it a one-run game. Harris tossed his seventh straight ball to fall behind 3-0 to Eddys Leonard before battling back to get an infield fly and second out of the inning with the bases still loaded. After working a full count, Wilken went down looking to send Nashville to the ninth down a run.
Will Childers was greeted out of the Sounds bullpen with a leadoff single for Jim Jarvis. Despite seeing Jarvis steal his third base of the night, Childers looked poised to get out of the inning unscathed with a fly out and strikeout. Instead, Hicklen pushed Gwinnett back in front by three with a two-run shot on the first pitch of his at-bat. The Sounds were unable to respond, going down in order in the bottom of the ninth with three strikeouts by Harris who collected the save.
Nashville and Gwinnett continue their series on Thursday night with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m. Right-hander Lyon Richardson (2-2, 4.54) is slated to make his first start in a Sounds uniform after three relief appearances to begin his Nashville tenure.
POSTGAME NOTES:
LORE-A: Luis Lara continued his dominance against the Gwinnett Stripers in Wednesday's night game, going 1-for-2, 2 BB and adding his 33rd RBI of the season for the Sounds. The 33 RBI ranks fifth on Nashville's current active roster, while he leads in hits (83) and runs (59) among full season Brewers minor league hitters. It was the fifth RBI he earned in the last four games. He is hitting.328 (83-for-253) and adding 18 XBH to go along with his 33 RBI in his stellar season with the Sounds. Lara currently ranks 1st in OBP (.439), is tied for first in AVG (.328) and ranks second in runs (59) and tied for second in BB (48) in the International League.
LUKE RBI-WALKER: Luke Adams recorded his sixth multi-RBI game of the season for the Sounds, going 0-for-3 and recording his two RBI on a fielder's choice that scored Lara and a bases-loaded walk that scored Jett Williams. The two-RBI night marked the eighth in his last four games, including his career-high five RBI on Sunday against the Redbirds. Adams has posted a .237 AVG (23-for-97), 12 XBH and has added 22 RBI in 29 games for the Sounds this season.
TOO QUICK: The Gwinnett Stripers stole eight bags in Wednesday night's game against Jeferson Quero. It marked the fourth time he has allowed 7+ stolen bases in his six-year career. The Stripers stole 10 bags against Quero back on April 7, which marks the most stolen bases he has allowed in his career behind the plate and the most ever allowed by the Sounds in a game dating back to at least 2005. The 91 stolen bases Quero has allowed this season are the highest at the Triple-A level and the second highest allowed among full season minor league catchers.
NOT SO HIT CITY: The Sounds collected just four hits in Wednesday night's loss to the Stripers, going 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position. The four hits marked the 20th time Nashville recorded five hits or less in a game this season and the 10th at First Horizon Park. It marked the seventh time the team posted five hits or less during the month of June. Nashville recorded five hits or less in 35 games last season, with 20 of them being at First Horizon Park.