Aaron Ashby Dominates, Sounds Shut Out Toledo

Aaron Ashby dominated the Toledo Mud Hens and the Nashville Sounds scored 10 runs in the eighth inning on their way to a 12-0 win in front of 6,326 fans at First Horizon Park Thursday night.

The 23-year-old starter cruised through six shutout innings and stymied the Mud Hens lineup in the process. He matched a season-high 11 strikeouts and allowed one hit and one walk. Ashby threw 48 of his 60 pitches for strikes and notched the seventh double-digit strikeout in his young career.

Ashby started the game by striking out the side on 10 pitches in the top of the first inning. He added a pair of strikeouts in the second, one in the third, two in the fourth, one in the fifth and two in the sixth, including Jon Rosoff to end the inning and his night.

Meanwhile, Toledo starter Logan Shore was just as dominant and held Nashville hitless in 4 1/3 innings. They remained without a hit until Zach Green broke up the no-hit bid and shutout with one swing of the bat in the bottom of the seventh.

With Dustin Peterson at second base via hit batsman and Travis Shaw at first after a walk, Green belted the first pitch he saw from Bryan Garcia into the left-center field gap for a run-scoring double. Moments later, Shaw scored on a wild pitch to give the Sounds a 2-0 lead.

Chad Sobotka relieved Ashby after six frames and shut down Toledo in the seventh to keep the shutout intact. Hoby Milner put up a zero in the eighth and the Sounds took a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the eighth.

The Nashville offense exploded in the eighth inning and put up 10 runs to break the game open. 14 hitters came to the plate in the outburst. Run-scoring hits came from Brice Turang (twice), Peterson, Travis Shaw, Troy Stokes Jr. and Luke Maile.

Ashby, Soboka, Milner and Justin Topa combined to throw Nashville’s seventh shutout of the season.

Game five of the seven-game series is scheduled for Friday night at First Horizon Park. Right-hander Alec Bettinger (2-3, 3.76) starts for Nashville against right-hander Pedro Payano (2-3, 4.43) for Toledo. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

Post-Game Notes

• Aaron Ashby recorded 11 strikeouts and has 98 on the season, the most in Triple-A…the 11 strikeouts tied his season-high (also 6/4 at Charlotte) and is the seventh double-digit strikeout game in his career.
• The 10 runs the Sounds scored in the eighth inning is the most they have scored in a single inning this year.
• Nashville entered the game hitting .250 with runners in scoring position and went 8-for-13 tonight.
• Brice Turang matched a season and career-high with 4 RBI (also 5/29/21 vs. Double-A Pensacola).
• Troy Stokes Jr., Brice Turang and Pablo Reyes all had two hits apiece in the eighth inning.

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].