Black Homers Twice, Sounds Take Series Finale in Louisville

Louisville, Ky. – The Nashville Sounds (13-14) managed to end the series on a high note after leadoff hitter Tyler Black clubbed a pair of home runs in a 7-4 win over the Louisville Bats (13-14) on Sunday afternoon at Louisville Slugger Field.

Black got the Sounds ahead early, needed just two pitches to do so. He launched a fastball off Bats starter Christian Roa (0-1) over 400 feet, easily clearing the right field wall for the first leadoff homer by a Sound this season. Isaac Collins added another run later in the inning, capitalizing on a wild pitch and throwing error by the Bats catcher.

The Sounds went ahead 5-0 with Francisco Mejía’s two RBI double and later capitalized on another Louisville miscue in the second. In the fourth, Black got a hold of another pitch, this time a changeup, and took it the other way for an opposite field blast. His second solo shot made it his first multi-homer game of his professional career. Collins joined Black on the home run fun, taking a fastball over the wall in left field for his third blast of the series and making it a 7-4 contest.

Carlos Rodríguez (1-4) had a much better outing in the series finale than he did in the series opener. The prospect worked four scoreless frames before allowing a couple of Bats to score in the fifth. Rodríguez began the sixth inning but allowed two runs, forcing his exit and Harold Chirino’s entry in relief. The right-hander limited the damage and worked a scoreless seventh for a solid couple of innings on the mound.

It was a tough week for Sounds pitching, but Darrell Thompson and Corbin Martin (S, 1) made it look easy to wrap up the game. Thompson, fresh off a stint on the injured list, worked around a one-out walk for a scoreless eighth. Martin also walked one but got out of it without too much drama for his first save as a Sound.

The top of the Sounds lineup provided most of the pop, with the top four batters combining for six of the team’s eight hits and five of their runs. Black and Brewer Hicklen had multiple hits, while Andruw Monasterio added a single and two walks.

The Sounds will return to Nashville to begin a six-game series against the Norfolk Tides next week. Both teams’ starters are to be announced. The first pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. on Tuesday at First Horizon Park.

Post-Game Notes

• This was the first time Tyler Black had multiple home runs in a game during his professional career. Through 25 games this season, Black is batting .303 (30-for-99) with five home runs, 18 RBI and 20 runs scored.
• Isaac Collins extended his hitting streak to seven games in the win. He’s batting .400 (10-for-25) with three doubles, three homers, five RBI, seven walks and two stolen bases since April 21.
• Carlos Rodríguez became just the fourth Sounds starter to earn a win despite walking six since 2005. The last to do so was Johnny Hellweg on May 16, 2013 in a 7-2 win at Salt Lake.

The Nashville Sounds are the Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers and play at First Horizon Park. Single-game tickets and season ticket memberships for the remainder of the 2024 season are on sale now. For more information call 615-690-4487 or e-mail [email protected].