Jacksonville, FL – Six Nashville Sounds pitchers combined to hold the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp to 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and strand 10 on base in a 3-1 win to secure the second straight win and a series split on Sunday afternoon.
Luke Adams homered for the second straight game and third time in the series and Eddys Leonard snapped a 2-for-32 span with ninth inning home run for an added bit of insurance.
Easton McGee started his second game of the series with three strikeouts and a walk over three hitless innings. It was the first time he has made consecutive starts since he started four straight games during a rehab assignment in the Arizona Complex League in 2024.
After hitting a go-ahead 2-run home run in the ninth inning on Saturday night, Adams got Nashville on the scoreboard Sunday afternoon with his second home run in three at-bats. He deposited a 86 MPH cutter over the middle of the plate 402 feet beyond the left field wall to give the Sounds a 1-0 lead.
Jacksonville’s first hit of the game was a RBI double off the bat of Agustin Ramirez to score Graham Pauley who was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the fourth in Mark Manfredi’s first inning of work. Manfredi Sr. allowed a second double of his outing in the bottom of the fifth but stranded the runner in scoring position with a strikeout.
Will Childers stranded the bases loaded after putting three on base with a one out single followed by back-to-back two out walks in the top of the sixth but worked a ground out to escape the jam.
Nashville looked poised to take the lead with runners on second and third with one out after Jeferson Quero drew a leadoff walk in the top of the seventh and was followed aboard with a single for Brock Wilken. Leonard laid down a sacrifice bunt to push both into scoring position, but the Sounds followed with two straight outs as the game remained 1-1.
Cooper Pratt singled in the top of the eighth before swiping second base and advanced to third on a wild pitch with two outs. Adams drew a walk and the tandem executed a double steal to score Pratt and made it 2-1 with Adams moving to third on an error.
Jacob Waguespack tossed a scoreless home half of the eighth and stranded the potential go-ahead run on base after allowing a single and issuing a walk to consecutive batters with two outs. Leonard jumped on the second pitch he saw in his at-bat in the top of the ninth to snap out of a 2-for-32 span at the plate over his last 10 games with his team-leading ninth home run of the season to give Nashville a two-run cushion heading into the bottom of the ninth.
Kaleb Bowman struck out the first batter he faced and got Andrew Pintar to ground out for two quick outs in the inning. Pauley added his second hit of the day for Jacksonville with a hit into the right field corner but was thrown out at second base attempting to stretch his single into a double to end the game and secure the win for Nashville.
Following an off-day on Monday, the Nashville Sounds will begin a six-game series at First Horizon Park against the Durham Bulls on Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35pm.