DURHAM, N.C. (September 10, 2026) – The Nashville Sounds scored three unanswered runs through the final five frames and secured the win over the Durham Bulls with a 5-1 victory Thursday night at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Ethan Murray and Blake Burke each recorded a homer and were responsible for three of the five Nashville runs.
Nashville's first threat of the game came in the opening frame as it loaded the bases for the potential first runs. Jonathan Ornelas led off with a hit by pitch, Akil Baddoo lined a one-out single into right field and Jeferson Quero drew a walk to load the bags. The threat was quickly halted as Tyler Black struck out to end the inning. Right-handers Carlos Rodriguez and Joe Boyle retired 16-of-19 hitters from that point through the first out of the top of the fourth.
Murray broke the scoreless tie in the top of the fourth inning as he belted a two-run homer to right center field for the 2-0 Sounds lead after Black got on base with a one-out base hit. Back-to-back one-out singles by Austin Slater and Jack Suwinski brought an end to Rodriguez's night as he was replaced by Lyon Richardson after 3.1 IP with just the two hits allowed, one walk, and four strikeouts. As Richardson inherited the runners on the corner, Jadher Areinamo hit a sac fly into right field to drive Slater home and cut the Sounds lead to a run.
The Sounds extended their lead back to two runs as Black tallied his second hit of the night, beating out the infield throw to first. Two at-bats later, Ramón Rodríguez ripped an RBI-double to left center and scored Black for the 3-1 lead. Nashville tacked on another run as Baddoo ripped a one-out double to left field. He advanced to third on a John Rooney wild pitch before a second wild pitch scored Baddoo to make it 4-1.
Richardson tossed 2.2 scoreless innings and punched out two Bulls' hitters and Gerson Garabito took over in the bottom of the seventh inning. After a scoreless eighth for both teams, Burke added a solo shot to right field and gave the Sounds a 5-1 lead in the top of the ninth. Cameron Wagoner entered the game in the bottom of the ninth and allowed Suwinski to get on base with a fielding error by Baddoo. He issued a walk to Tatem Levins to put two runners on base but was able to retire the final two batters to secure the 5-1 victory for Nashville.
The Sounds and the Bulls continue this week's series on Friday, September 11, and first pitch is scheduled for 5:45 p.m. CT. Left-hander Tate Kuehner (2-2, 5.24 ERA) will get the start for Nashville.
POSTGAME NOTES:
SOUNDS GOOD TO MURRAY: Ethan Murray crushed his sixth home run of the season with a two-run homer to left center field and gave the Sounds a 2-0 lead. He finished the night going 1-for-4 with two RBI and a run. The homer marked his first since August 22 at Norfolk in game one of the doubleheader. Murray has recorded all six long balls on the road this season. In 10 career games against the Bulls, he has posted a .265 AVG (9-for-34), two XBH, five RBI and seven runs since the start of his Triple-A career last season. Murray has posted at least one hit in 18-of-his-last-23 games since August 11 against the Indianapolis Indians, including getting on base in a career-high 20 straight games from August 13-September 6. He added his ninth multi-RBI game of the season for Nashville on Thursday.
BURKE SMASH: Blake Burke crushed his third Triple-A homer of the season with a solo shot to right field in the top of the ninth inning, finishing the night 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run. All three of Burke's homers have come on the road and was his first since August 27 at Jacksonville. Burke now has seven extra-base hits for Nashville since joining the team on August 11 and four of them have come in the last six games. It marked the second straight game Burke has posted a multi-hit game and three of the four multi-hit games for the Sounds have come in the last 10 games.
SEEING DOUBLE: Akil Baddoo recorded a 2-for-4 night with a double and a run Thursday night. Baddoo tallied his 14th multi-hit game of the season for the Sounds and ties Ethan Murray and Brock Wilken for the third-most multi-hit games on the team. The double marked his ninth of the season for the Sounds and his second of the week with the first coming in the series opener. It was Baddoo's second multi-hit game this week against the Bulls with the first one coming on Monday night when he went 2-for-4. He has posted three multi-hit games since Friday night against Louisville. In 11 career games against the Bulls, Baddoo has posted a .357 AVG (15-for-42), added eight XBH, 13 RBI and nine runs since the start of his Triple-A career in 2021.
TWO FAST: Tyler Black posted a 2-for-4 night with two runs Thursday night. Black recorded his 15th multi-hit game of the season for the Sounds and ranks second in multi-hit games this season behind Jeferson Quero (24) among the active Sounds roster. It was his first multi-hit game since August 28 at Jacksonville when he went 2-for-4 and 11 of his 15 multi-hit games this season for the Sounds have been on the road.