Sounds Come Up Just Short Versus I-Cubs in Front of the Largest Crowd of the Season 

NASHVILLE – The Nashville Sounds (48-44, 10-7) rallied late and had the winning run on base in the ninth inning but dropped their first game of the series to the Iowa Cubs (41-51, 8-9), 4-3, in front of 11,107 fans on Saturday night at First Horizon Park.

Down 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth, the Sounds had two runners on base with zero outs courtesy of singles by Joey Wiemer and Francisco Mejía. But a strikeout, caught stealing and another strikeout ended the comeback effort and Nashville’s five-game winning streak.

The Sounds were first out of the gates with an Isaac Collins triple in the first inning that scored Joey Wiemer and Wes Clarke. But the offense stalled afterward with no runs until the eighth inning. Iowa tied the game in the second inning on a throwing error by Collins that sailed into the dugout. In the third inning, Trayce Thompson hit his first home run for the I-Cubs to give them their first lead of the game at 3-2. Nashville had a scoring chance in the sixth inning with runners on second and third, but Wiemer grounded out to end the frame.

After Iowa extended their advantage to 4-2, Yonny Hernández singled into left field to score Owen Miller and made it a one-run game. Hernández advanced to second base on the play but the next two Sounds struck out to end the inning at a 4-3 deficit.

Taylor Clarke (1-2) made his first start in nearly two weeks and battled through 4 1/3 innings. He allowed seven hits, three runs and had three strikeouts. Kevin Herget finished off the fifth inning without further damage and Evan McKendry completed the final four innings with just one earned run allowed.

The Sounds and I-Cubs play the series finale tomorrow afternoon. Right-hander Garrett Stallings (0-1, 5.54) will get the start for Nashville and face off against veteran right-hander Dan Straily (1-5, 5.04) for Iowa. The first pitch is set for 1:05 p.m. at First Horizon Park.

Post-Game Notes

• Taylor Clarke (4.1 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 HR, 0 BB, 3 K) made his first start for the Sounds since July 2. He has allowed at least two earned runs in each of his last six appearances.
• Evan McKendry (4.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K) made his first relief appearance since June 20 versus Durham. In July, he is 2-0 with a 1.84 ERA (14.2 IP/3 ER) and 13 strikeouts.
• Isaac Collins had his fifth triple of the season which leads the team. Brewer Hicklen and Tyler Black are tied for second with four. Collins is second on the team with 142 total bases.
• Joey Wiemer (2-for-4) picked up his fourth multi-hit game of the month. In July, he is hitting .371 (13-for-35) with eight runs scored and a 1.157 OPS.
• The five-game winning streak tied the longest for Nashville this season (May 21-25 vs. Charlotte). Their last six-game winning streak was September 9-15, 2023.
• It was the largest crowd of the season at First Horizon Park (11,107) and the seventh sellout in 2024.

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]