Two Home Runs in Fifth Inning Power Nashville to Victory in Opener Against Iowa

NASHVILLE –The Nashville Sounds (45-43, 7-6) pitching staff was excellent and scored all three of their runs in the fifth inning to beat the Iowa Cubs (40-48 7-6), 3-1, in the series opener on Tuesday night at First Horizon Park.

After the Sounds had minimal offense to start the game, they found themselves in only a 1-0 hole in the fifth inning. Joey Wiemer led off the bottom half with a 433-foot blast onto the berm in left-center field to tie the game. Isaac Collins walked and two batters later, Brewer Hicklen launched the second home run of the inning to give Nashville its first lead at 3-1. The Sounds did not need any additional runs as the bullpen stood tall for the rest of the game.

DL Hall got the start and had five strikeouts in his first two innings. He worked out of a jam with two runners on base in the second inning with a strikeout at 95.4 mph to catch Darius Hill looking. Kevin Herget followed in relief and had five more strikeouts in his two innings. The Nashville staff had 12 strikeouts in the game but 10 of them occurred in the first four innings. After Hall and Herget, five pitchers went one inning each. Tyler Woessner (3-5), Joel Kuhnel (H, 2), Harold Chirino (H, 5), James Meeker (H, 2), and Ryan Middendorf (S, 4) combined to allow just three hits and zero earned runs.

The Sounds walked eight times in the game but could not capitalize with a 0-for-7 clip with runners in scoring position. They also only had two additional hits besides the home runs, both that came from Yonny Hernández. The Cubs were also not short chances, leaving 13 runners on base which tied the most the Sounds have stranded in a game this season.

The Sounds and Cubs play game two of the six-game series tomorrow night. The starter for Nashville is to be announced. The starter for Iowa will be right-hander Brandon Birdsell (0-0, 0.00). The first pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. at First Horizon Park.

Post-Game Notes

• Kevin Herget (2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K) matched his season-high in strikeouts that he set on June 2 against Chicago-AL. He has 37 strikeouts in 30 1/3 innings with the Sounds.
• Joey Wiemer hit his third home run of the season, but it was his second in his last five games. Before his home run on July 2, his last one occurred on April 7 against St. Paul. Wiemer walked three times in the game which matches his career-high that he set on September 18, 2021 at Great Lakes while playing for Wisconsin.
• Brewer Hicklen hit his 17th home run which leads the team. It was his sixth go-ahead home run which also leads the team. With two RBI, he is now one behind Isaac Collins (50) for the team lead.
• The Sounds bullpen combined for seven scoreless innings tonight. The pen leads Triple-A in ERA (3.60) and is tied for the lead in WHIP (1.35) with Omaha.

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]