Lauer, Big Inning Power Sounds Victory

NASHVILLE – The Nashville Sounds (81-65, 41-31) used a fourth-inning hit parade and double-digit strikeouts by Eric Lauer to clip the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (70-77, 38-35) 8-5 on Friday night at First Horizon Park.

It appeared early on that the 9,807 fans in attendance would be in for a pitching duel, with the clubs mustering just three singles combined through the first three frames. But the Sounds exploded for six runs in the bottom of the fourth, kicking off the frame with four consecutive hits and sending 11 men to the plate.

Owen Miller led off the inning with a double, and after scoring Nashville’s first run on Tyler Black’s single, finished the inning standing on first base after working a walk. Black, Abraham Toro, Darin Ruf, Payton Henry and Jackson Chourio each drove in a run during the bombardment. Ruf added another RBI with a single in the sixth, and Jahmai Jones tallied Nashville’s final run with an eighth-inning double.

Despite running into some trouble in the sixth inning, starter Eric Lauer (3-4) struck out a personal season high of 10 hitters over 7.0 innings of work, fanning a hitter in every frame. All nine Jumbo Shrimp batted in that difficult sixth, cutting Nashville’s lead to 7-4. But Lauer left the bases loaded, inducing a harmless groundout to end the inning. Relievers Alex Claudio and Ethan Small stopped an eighth-inning surge from Jacksonville before Small (3) locked down the four-out save and secured the 8-5 win.

Black (2 R, 3B), Jones (2B) and Toro each knocked three hits. Ruf led the Sounds with two RBI. Every Nashville hitter slashed a base hit in the contest except Chourio, who missed a grand slam to center by mere inches in the fourth inning and had to settle for a 404-foot sacrifice fly.

The Sounds will try to clinch their final series of the 2023 campaign with a win tomorrow night. Left-hander Adam Seminaris makes his first start with the Sounds. Jacksonville counters with left-handed Tennessee native Ryan Weathers (5-2, 3.01). First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. CDT at First Horizon Park.

Post-Game Notes

• Lauer posted his first double-digit strikeout game since April 30, 2022 vs. Chicago-NL, when he punched out 11 Cubs. It’s his sixth career appearance with 10 or more strikeouts.
• Tyler Black extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a triple and single. Since his streak started on September 7, Black ranks second in the International League in average (.444), on-base percentage (.537) and OPS (1.293).
• Abraham Toro extended his on-base streak to 36 games with a pair of hits. That is tied with Eugenio Velez’s 2013 stretch for the third-longest by a Sounds player since 2011. Since the streak began on July 9, the infielder is batting .341 (48-for-139) with 24 RBI, 20 walks and a 1.000 OPS.
• Darin Ruf was the only rehabbing Milwaukee Brewers to appear in the contest, going 1-for-2 with a walk and two RBI as the designated hitter.

The Nashville Sounds are the Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers and play at First Horizon Park. Single-game tickets for the rest of the 2023 season are on sale now. For more information call 615-690-4487 or e-mail [email protected].