Alex Jackson's Inside-The-Park Grand Slam Leads Sounds Past Knights

Alex Jackson hit an inside-the-park grand slam and Brice Turang matched a franchise record with five hits as the Nashville Sounds cruised to a 12-2 win over the Charlotte Knights in front of a near-sellout crowd of 9,659 at First Horizon Park Friday night.

With two outs and a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third, Jackson stepped to the plate with the bases loaded. He got an 0-2 pitch from Kade McClure and rifled it down the left field line, scattering the Nashville bullpen. Charlotte left fielder Mark Payton put his arms up and elected to let the ball stay in place as the three Sounds baserunners and Jackson continued to run around the bases. The third base umpire gave the “safe” call and the inside-the-park grand slam stood to give the Sounds a 5-0 lead. Charlotte Manager Wes Helms argued the play and was ejected.

In all its glory... @alex_jaxxsun's inside-the-park grand slam! The first of its kind in @FirstHorizonPrk history. It was weird... but we aren't complaining. @SportsCenter @MiLB pic.twitter.com/KmzauFIo46

— Nashville Sounds (@nashvillesounds) April 23, 2022

It was the first inside-the-park grand slam in First Horizon Park history and the first for the Sounds since Renato Nunez hit one on May 12, 2016 at Iowa.

As the offense exploded for a season-high 12 runs, southpaw Ethan Small was nearly unhittable on the bump. He allowed only one hit in five shutout innings and earned his second win of the year. Small issued five walks and struck out six.

Aside from Jackson’s inside-the-park grand slam and Small’s stellar start, the star of the night was shortstop Brice Turang. The 22-year-old matched a Nashville Sounds franchise record with five hits. Turang singled in the first, singled in the third, doubled in the fourth, singled in the fifth and capped off his perfect night at the plate with a double in the seventh. He scored a pair of runs and knocked in three. The last Sound to have five hits in a game was Mark Canha on July 25, 2017 vs. Las Vegas.

Turang, Jackson, Pablo Reyes and Abraham Almonte had multi-hit games for Nashville.

Game five of the six-game series is scheduled for Saturday night at First Horizon Park. Caleb Boushley (1-2, 4.50) starts for Nashville against John Parke (1-1, 6.46) for Charlotte. The first pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.

Post-Game Notes

• Alex Jackson hit the first inside-the-park grand slam in First Horizon Park history in the third inning. It’s the second inside-the-park home run in ballpark history and the first inside-the-park grand slam for the Sounds since Renato Nunez had one on May 12, 2016 at Iowa.
• Brice Turang tied a Nashville Sounds franchise record with 5 hits…5-for-5, 2 runs, 2 doubles, 3 RBI.
• Ethan Small improved to 2-0 on the season and lowered his ERA to 0.49 (5.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 5 BB, 6 K).
• The Sounds played nine more innings of errorless baseball. They have not committed an error since April 14 at Gwinnett, a streak of 70 1/3 innings.

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 home games in 2022. For more information call 615-690-4487 or e-mail [email protected].