NASHVILLE (June 25, 2026) - Nashville took care of business against the Gwinnett Stripers for a 3-0 shutout win Thursday night at First Horizon Park. The combination of Jeferson Quero's multi-hit, multi-RBI night and the bullpen holding Gwinnett hitless over the final five innings led to the three-run win.
Brock Wilken got the scoring started for the Sounds offense after two quiet innings where both teams allowed four combined hits, stranding three runners on base. He belted his sixth home run of the season with a solo blast to left field on the first pitch he saw and gave the Sounds the 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning. The Sounds tacked on the second run of the game as Tyler Black drew a leadoff walk. After he stole his 11th bag of the season, a fly out by Luke Adams advanced Black to third. Quero scored Black on a sacrifice fly for the 2-0 Sounds lead.
Right-hander Lyon Richardson got his first career start for the Sounds in Thursday's game and worked four scoreless innings, allowed two hits and struck out three Stripers hitters. He was relieved by Reiss Knehr in the top of the fifth as he got into trouble issuing three two-out walks to load the bases. Nashville's defense came in the clutch and stranded all three runners with a routine groundout to Ethan Murray at second base to get out of the frame and retain the two-run lead.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Sounds extended the lead as Luke Adams ripped his first triple of the season into the right center gap, Quero then lined a soft single into left center and easily scored Adams for the three-run lead. Knehr ended his night tossing two hitless frames and worked around a season-high four walks. Junior Fernandez took the responsibilities over in the top of the seventh inning and worked a 1-2-3 frame. He came out for the eighth inning and worked around a one-out walk as the defense got out of the frame on a 4-6-3 double play. After Fernandez handled two innings of business. Peter Strzelecki made his first appearance for the Sounds since May 13 versus the Iowa Cubs, and earned his second save of the season, while Knehr earned a team-leading sixth win.
POSTGAME NOTES:
BROCKET MAN: Brewers no. 19-rated prospect Brock Wilken recorded his sixth home run of the season and third in his last five games with a solo blast in the bottom of the third inning. After hitting just two home runs in his first 51 games this season through the end of May, Wilken has produced four in 14 games in the month of June alone. His 19 XBH this season ranks fourth on the club behind Eddys Leonard (25), Jeferson Quero (21), and Jett Williams (21). With 38 hits on the year, he has now produced an XBH half of time he has recorded a hit this season.
TRIPLE DOUBLE: The Sounds turned three double plays on Thursday night to help strand five Gwinnett base runners and hold the Striper to 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position. The three double plays are the most the Sounds have turned in a game this season and most since turning three on September 6 of last season on the road in Norfolk. All three of the double plays turned on Thursday night were of a different variety with a lineout unassisted double play for Brock Wilken at third base, Ethan Murray covering second on his own before tossing it to first, and a more traditional 4-6-3 double play in the top of the eighth. The Sounds posted six games with 3+ double plays last season, including a season-high five on April 4 at Gwinnett. June 25 is the latest in terms of date it has taken Nashville to turn 3+ double plays in a game since at least 2005.
DEUCE: Sounds pitchers held Gwinnett to just two hits on Thursday night, the fewest in a game this season. It's the fewest amount of hits allowed for Nashville in a game since holding Gwinnett to two hits on September 9 last season. Thursday night was the ninth time the Sounds have held Gwinnett to two or fewer hits since 2021; 8th in a 9.0 IP game. Over the same span, Nashville has recorded 18 total games with two or fewer hits allowed, and Charlotte is the only team Nashville has done it to more than once (2x: July 25, 2025 vs. CLT & August 30, 2025 vs. CLT).
ZERO, NADA, ZILCH: Thursday night was the fourth shutout win of the season for Nashville and first since blanking Gwinnett on May 28 at First Horizon Park. The Sounds set a franchise record and led all of Triple-A with 16 shutouts in 2025 to finish with the fourth-most shutouts in the minors. By June 25 of last season, the Sounds had already recorded 12 shutouts on their way to setting the record. The four shutouts this season are tied for the eighth-most in the International League with no team currently having more than five. Nashville has blanked the Stripers 15 times since 2021, with Memphis next on the list with eight.
REISS'S PIECES: Reiss Knehr earned the win on Thursday night to improve to 6-0 this season. His six-game winning streak is tied for the longest active streak in Triple-A along with Trent Denholm (COL) and is tied for second in the minors behind Dominic Niman (TB) and Kade Anderson (SEA) who each have a seven-game winning streak. Kneher's six wins are already tied for the most in any single-season of his minor league career, matching the six wins he posted in 2021 with Double-A San Antonio. He also earned his only Major League win that season with San Diego to reach seven total wins in 2021 to set his overall career high. He has earned seven straight wins without a loss dating back to May 9, 2025, with Triple-A El Paso.