SUGAR LAND, TEXAS - The Nashville Sounds suffered a heartbreaking 3-2 walk-off loss in extra-innings to the Sugar Land Space Cowboys Tuesday night at Constellation Field. Tyler Black extended his on-base streak yet again in the late frames, while Andrick Nava recorded his third home run of the season for the Sounds.
Nashville jumped out to a 1-0 lead over the Space Cowboys as Luke Adams led off the frame with a base hit to left field in the top of the second inning. After a wild pitch by Sugar Land's pitcher advanced Adams to second, Ethan Murray ripped an RBI-single into left field and scored Adams for the one-run lead. Sugar Land evened the score in the bottom of the second inning as Thomas Pannone issued a single and a walk to begin the frame. Garret Guillemette grounded into a force out to Pannone and attempted to get the double play but wasn't in time as Sugar Land's runner scored from third base.
Pannone and Josh Hendrickson traded off 1-2-3 innings in the bottom half of the third and the top of the fourth frames before Pannone issued a two-out base hit to center field in the bottom of the fourth. He was able to strike out former Sound Raynel Delgado, still tied at one.
The Sounds regained control of the lead in the top of the fifth inning as Nava crushed his third homer of the season with a solo shot to left center field. Pannone remained in the game in the bottom of the sixth inning and allowed a one-out single by Joey Loperfido to begin the frame. After Pannone got the second out of the inning with his fifth strikeout of the game, he was replaced for Mark Manfredi, who allowed the inherited runner on second base to score by a Trenton Brooks RBI-single and tied the game again at two apiece.
Manfredi remained in the game in the bottom of the seventh inning and started to settle in as he shut down the Sugar Land batters on back-to-back strikeouts. After a fielding error by Freddy Zamora put Edwin Diaz on base, Manfredi caught Diaz sleeping at first and picked him off for the final out of the frame. Blake Holub took the reins from Manfredi in the bottom of the eighth inning and worked around a single by Shay Whitcomb followed by a catcher interference caused by Nava that put Cavan Biggio on base as the game remained tied at two.
Holub stayed on the mound for the bottom of the ninth inning and tossed a 1-2-3 inning, adding a strikeout as the game went into extra innings. The Sounds however went down in 1-2-3 fashion in the top of the 10th inning stranding the runner on second. In the bottom of the 10th inning, Reiss Knehr entered the game for Holub, but got into trouble quickly as Sugar Land's placement runner, Tommy Saccio Jr., advanced to third base on a sacrifice bunt by Edwin Diaz. Biggio ripped a line drive single into left center field and out of Hurtubise's reach as the Sounds were walked off.
The Sounds and the Space Cowboys continue this week's six-game series from Constellation Field on Wednesday, July 22. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
POSTGAME NOTES:
WALK-CO TUESDAY: Tyler Black extended his on-base streak to 25 consecutive games, drawing a ninth inning leadoff walk Tuesday night against the Space Cowboys. The 25 consecutive games continues to be the longest-active on-base streak on the team and is tied with Cooper Pratt for the second-longest on-base streak this season. He is also tied for the fifth longest-active on-base streak at the Triple-A level and tied for 10th among full-season minor league hitters. He is hitting .294 (25-for-85), adding 10 XBH, 17 RBI and 22 runs since the start of his on-base streak on June 13. Black remains one of the top threats for the Sounds this season as he ranks tied for second in triples (4), fourth in stolen bases (18) and walks (38) and tied for fifth in doubles (9).
NAVA SAY NEVER: Andrick Nava gave the Sounds a 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth inning with a go-ahead solo blast to left center field, his third of the season, and finished his evening going 1-for-4 against the Space Cowboys. The home run marked his first since July 4 against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp and his first career homer on the road at the Triple-A level, and his first go-ahead shot on the year as well. Nava has posted a .321 batting average (9-for-28), added four XBH and five RBI in eight games for Nashville since rejoining the team on June 27.
MULTI-TASKER: Luke Adams had a productive night to open the series against the Space Cowboys, going 2-for-4 with a run Tuesday night. It marked his 10th multi-hit game for the Sounds this season and the first since July 10 at Charlotte when he recorded a career-night going 4-for-5 with a homer and two RBI, posting his only four-hit game of his five-year campaign. He has 65 multi-hit games since 2022. Adams has posted a .275 batting average (30-for-109), added 16 XBH and 24 RBI since rejoining the Sounds on June 2 after his injury. He currently ranks third in home runs (10), fourth in SLG (.615) and OPS (1.031), fifth in TB (67) and tied for fifth in XBH (16) among Milwaukee Brewers full-season minor league hitters.