Jacksonville, FL – The Nashville Sounds dropped the series opener to the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp with a 6-2 loss Tuesday night at VyStar Ballpark. The Sounds offense struggled to get runners on base and were held hitless over the final five innings.
Two batters into the opening frame, Cooper Pratt ripped a liner to left field and scored Tyler Black for the first run as he got on base with a leadoff walk, giving the Sounds the 1-0 lead. The Jumbo Shrimp immediately answered Nashville’s run with two of their own as Easton McGee issued a leadoff single and back-to-back two out walks to load the bases.
A two-run single by Jared Serna into left field, gave Jacksonville its first lead of the game 2-1 and McGee was relieved by Kaleb Bowman with runners at the corners. Bowman was able to get out of trouble with a groundout.
Nashville evened the game 2-2 in the top of the fourth inning as Jeferson Quero started a two-out rally with a single into center field. After a hit by pitch, and infield single that hit off the pitcher, Black drew his second walk of the game to score Quero and tie the game heading into the bottom half of the frame. Jacksonville once again responded as Serna ripped an RBI-double into right field which drove home a run for the 3-2 Jumbo Shrimp lead. They added another run with an RBI-single, giving the Jumbo Shrimp a two-run lead.
Jacksonville put the game out of reach as Brian Fitzpatrick allowed a single and issued a walk. Two at-bats later, a two-run single struck off Fitzpatrick in the bottom of the fifth inning for a 6-2 Jumbo Shrimp lead, ending his streak of 14 games when not allowing an earned run. The Sounds continued to struggle through the next three innings as they were shut down in 1-2-3 fashion and had just one runner on base, heading into the bottom of the seventh. Reiss Knehr continued his dominance on the mound and worked two scoreless innings, adding three strikeouts to his line with Will Childers working the bottom of the eighth inning.
The Sounds had one last opportunity in the top of the ninth inning with a 6-2 deficit as Quero and Adams drew back-to-back walks. After Pratt drew a two-out walk and loaded the bases, Luis Lara grounded out to the pitcher, dropping the opener to the Jumbo Shrimp 6-2.
The Nashville Sounds will continue this six-game series against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp on Wednesday, June 3 and first pitch is slated for 6:05pm CT. Right-hander Tyson Hardin (1-0, 0.96 ERA) will get the start for the Sounds and go up against left-hander Braxton Garrett (0-2, 2.55 ERA) for the Jumbo Shrimp.