NASHVILLE - The Nashville Sounds scored three unanswered runs in the bottom of the seventh inning and secured five-of-the-six games this week against the Gwinnett Stripers, including Sunday's series finale 4-3 victory at First Horizon Park. Three crucial RBI by Luis Lara, Freddy Zamora and Ramón Rodríguez got past the Stripers in the seventh inning and held on for the win.
The Stripers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning after a quiet opening frame as three hits drove home two runs off starting pitcher Garrett Stallings. Nashville got on the board as Luis Matos ripped his second homer of the season with a solo blast to left field and cut the Stripers lead to 2-1 heading into the third inning. Stallings ended his day tossing four efficient innings, allowing two runs on five hits and striking out five batters in the process and added a 1-2-3 inning. Major League Rehabber Jared Koenig entered the game for the Sounds in the top of the fifth inning and worked around a single to get out of the frame, facing just four batters.
Junior Fernández took the reins from Koenig in the top of the sixth inning and tossed 1-2-3 frame. He came back out for the seventh inning but allowed two hits and a run to score as the Stripers lead grew to 3-1. The Sounds stormed back and earned their first lead in the bottom half of the seventh as Cooper Pratt started the inning with a leadoff single extending his on-base streak to 21 consecutive games as well. After Pratt stole his 13th bag of the season, Lara ripped a single into right field and scored Pratt for the 3-2 deficit. Gwinnett's Hunter Stratton loaded the bases and issuing back-to-back walks to Matos and Jeferson Quero. Rodríguez followed by grounding into a double play, but he was still able to score the tying run by Lara. Zamora followed by ripping an RBI-single into right center, his second straight game with an RBI, and gave the Sounds the 4-3 lead.
Craig Yoho and Blake Holub came in and tossed an inning each to close out the Stripers and win the game 4-3. Yoho worked another frame without allowing an earned run, his 12th consecutive game, and ended a 1-2-3 inning eighth. Holub secured his third save of the season as he worked around a leadoff walk and closed it out on back-to-back groundouts and a fly out.
With Monday off, the Sounds will head to Jacksonville to take on the Jumbo Shrimp (Triple-A, Miami Marlins) in a six-game series from June 2-7. The first game of the series will begin on Tuesday and first pitch is slated to start at 6:05 p.m.
POSTGAME NOTES:
MAT-DOS: Luis Matos belted his second homer of the season to left field in the bottom of the second inning of Sunday's game against the Stripers. He finished the day going 1-for-2 with an RBI and a walk. Matos has a single-season career high of 15 home runs with Single-A San Jose during the 2021 season. Matos has been very efficient with the Sounds this season, posting a .304 batting average (14-for-46), four XBH and eight RBI in 14 games. During the month of May, has earned a hit in 11-of-the-14 games played with the Sounds, including three multi-hit games. Matos has gotten on base in all 14 games for the Sounds and ranks second behind team leader Cooper Pratt (21). The seven-year veteran has a .291 batting average (540-for-1856), 199 XBH and 310 RBI in his minor league career.
YOU SHALL NOT PASS: Craig Yoho extended his streak of not allowing an earned run to 12 consecutive games in Sunday's 4-3 win against the Stripers. He has posted 13.2 innings of work, allowing six hits and 17 strikeouts during his streak. The 12 consecutive games is currently the fourth-longest active streak in the International League behind teammate Brian Fitzpatrick (14), ties for the fourth longest-active streak at the Triple-A level and ties for ninth amongst full season minor league pitchers. Yoho has posted the best ERA on the team (1.06) amongst relief pitchers (min. 15 appearances) and has allowed just two runs on nine hits to go along with 21 strikeouts this season for the Sounds. Since 2023, Yoho is the only pitcher with a minimum of 100 appearances that has a sub-1.00 ERA (0.96). The only other pitcher (min. 100 appearances) that had a sub-2.00 ERA was Zach Agnos, who posted a 1.77 ERA.
STAT PRATT: Cooper Pratt extended his on-base streak to 21 consecutive games in Sunday's 4-3 win over the Stripers, going 1-for-4 with a run that cut into the Stripers lead in the bottom of the seventh inning. Pratt's 21 consecutive games continues to be the Sounds' longest-active streak on the team, posting a .284 AVG (23-for-81), eight XBH and 17 RBI during the streak. The 21 consecutive games is tied for the third-longest active streak in the International League and tied for the seventh-longest active streak at the Triple-A level. Pratt has recorded a hit in his last seven games. He has posted a .377 AVG (10-for-27), a triple and three RBI during that streak and has recorded three multi-hit games.
TAKE ME HOME, COUNTRY ROAD: After Sunday's win against the Stripers, the Sounds have improved their home record to 23-6 and have won 11-of-the-last-12 at home. The 23 wins at home is the best home record across all 120 minor league teams. The Sounds pitching staff has been stellar at home as well, posting a Triple-A-best 3.05 ERA in 257.0 innings of work and have allowed the least amount of earned runs (87) at home.