DURHAM, NC. — Nashville fell in the series finale to the Bulls 2-0 Sunday night at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. This marked the second shutout loss of the series, and the Sounds third shutout loss of the season.
In the final game of this week's series, both teams put on stellar pitching in the early innings of the game by Thomas Pannone and Ty Johnson as they mustered five hits combined and stranded six runners on base. Durham scored the first run of the game for just the second time in the series. Homer Bush Jr. scored from second on a throwing error by Freddy Zamora that pulled Brock Wilken off the first base bag for what should have been the final out of the bottom of the third inning..
Pannone ended his evening tossing four innings, allowing the unearned run to cross on two hits and struck out four batters in the process. JB Bukauskas relieved him in the bottom of the fifth inning and worked a scoreless inning himself. The Sounds and the Bulls each tossed two straight 1-2-3 innings in the fourth and fifth and continued to be pitcher dominant with Junior Fernández taking the reins in the bottom of the sixth, stranding the lone single he allowed on base.
Jeferson Quero added the fifth and final Sounds hit of the night with a leadoff single in the top of the seventh. Eddys Leonard swapped places with Quero on first after a fielder's choice and was the sixth Nashville base runner left stranded when the inning came to a close. The Bulls added an unearned run of insurance in the bottom of the eighth inning off of Craig Yoho with two singles and the second Nashville error to help extend their lead to 2-0. The Sounds had one last opportunity in the top of the ninth inning and went down in order for the 2-0 final.
With Monday off, the Sounds will host the Gwinnett Stripers in a six-game series beginning Tuesday, May 26. First pitch is slated for 6:35 p.m.
POSTGAME NOTES:
DIDN'T COUNT: Despite allowing an unearned run in the bottom of the eighth inning Sunday night against the Bulls, Craig Yoho extended his streak without an earned run allowed to nine consecutive games (10.2 IP) to go along with two unearned runs and 13 strikeouts in that span. In 12 appearances with the Sounds this season, Yoho has posted a 1.29 ERA in 14.0 innings pitched, allowing four runs (two unearned) on eight hits and adding 17 strikeouts. Yoho has a 10-3 career minor league record with a 1.18 ERA in 122.0 innings of work. Since making his pro-debut in 2023, Yoho owns the best ERA in the minor leagues for any pitcher with 100+ appearances with the next closest Zach Agnos, who posted a 1.77 ERA in 102 MiLB games throughout the same span.
STEPPING UP: Luis Matos went 1-for-4 in Sunday's loss against the Bulls, extending his hit-streak to seven consecutive games. Matos currently has the longest-active hit-streak on the team, posting a .375 AVG (9-for-24), 2 XBH and 3 RBI in the span. His seven-game hitting streak is tied with Luis Lara for the fourth-longest on the team this season. Tyler Black (11 G), Eddys Leoanrd (9 G), and Cooper Pratt(8 G) have the only longer hitting streaks for a Sounds player this season. Matos' career-high sits at 16 consecutive games with a hit on Low-A San Jose and posted a .338 AVG (23-for-68), 7 XBH, and 10 RBI from June 4-24 during the 2021 season. He has hit a .292 AVG (537-for-1840), 197 XBH and 305 RBI in his regular season career in the minor leagues.
BULL-IED: The Sounds were shutout for the second time in this week's series against the Bulls Sunday night with a 2-0 loss. This marks the third time Nashville has been shutout this season and the fifth time since 2021 against the Bulls. It's the second time Nashville has been shut out twice in the same season by Durham, with the last coming in 2022. The Sounds were also held scoreless on June 4, 2022, at Durham Bulls Athletic Park and again on October 1 in the International League Championship Game in Las Vegas. This is the 157th shutout loss that the Sounds endured since 2005.