Sounds Own the Night in Homestand Opener 

The Nashville Sounds got five scoreless innings from starter Thomas Jankins and a balanced offensive attack on their way to a 6-3 win over the Charlotte Knights in front of 6,612 fans at First Horizon Park Tuesday night.

Jankins struck out a season-high six batters and scattered two hits and three walks. It was the first win of the year for the right-hander.

Nashville’s offense went to work in the second inning as 10 batters came to the plate. Cooper Hummel led off the rally with an infield single. He trotted home when Tim Lopes drilled a two-run homer to left field to give the Sounds a 2-0 lead.

The bases were loaded when Jamie Westbrook bounced a base hit up the middle to score a pair of runs to make it a 4-0 lead. The base hit extended Westbrook’s on-base streak to 12 games.

Nashville extended the lead to 6-0 in the bottom of the third with a pair of triples and a sacrifice fly. Lopes started the frame with a triple to right field and later scored when Mitch Longo did the exact same. Longo scored on Christian Kelley’s sacrifice fly to make it 6-0.

Nashville relievers Blaine Hardy and Eric Yardley kept it a 6-0 game with a scoreless sixth and seventh inning, respectively. Charlotte closed the gap to 6-2 in the top of the eighth when Jake Burger and Blake Rutherford drew bases-loaded walks off Patrick Weigel. Luke Barker relieved Weigel with two outs and the bases loaded and struck out Seby Zavala to end the threat.

Bobby Wahl was summoned for the ninth and allowed a run but finished off the 6-3 win.

Game two of the six-game series is scheduled for Wednesday night at First Horizon Park. Right-hander Bowden Francis (2-1, 2.45) starts for Nashville against right-hander Alex McRae (1-2, 6.11) for Charlotte. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

Post-Game Notes

• Keston Hiura singled in the second inning to extend his on-base streak to 20 games. He has reached safely in every game he has played in with Nashville.
• Starter Thomas Jankins recorded a season-high six strikeouts (W, 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 K).
• Nashville collected two triples in a game for the first time in 2021 (Tim Lopes, Mitch Longo).
• The Sounds improved to 13-3 when recording 10+ hits and 13-6 at First Horizon Park in 2021.

The Nashville Sounds are the Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers and play at First Horizon Park. Single-game tickets are on sale now for all remaining 2021 home games. For more information call 615-690-4487 or e-mail [email protected].