Zamora Homers in Sunday Loss to Knights

CHARLOTTE, NC (July 12, 2026) - The Sounds were limited to five hits of offense in a 12-4 loss in Sunday's series finale against the Charlotte Knights at Truist Field. Three of the five Sounds hits went for extra bases with a pair of doubles to go along with the third home run of the season for Freddy Zamora.

Right-hander Carlos Rodriguez made his second start of the series and saw Charlotte take a 3-0 lead in the first inning on a three-run home off the bat of Nolan Jones. Nashville's first run of the day came in the top of the third when Ethan Murray kept the inning alive with a two-out single. Eddys Leonard added his 46th RBI of the season and tied the clubhouse lead with his 14th double to score Murray from first. Rodriguez would see the Knights add another unearned run against him in the bottom of the third as he finished his start after 2.2 IP and allowing four runs (3 ER) on three hits with a pair of strikeouts and walks each.

Charlotte extended the lead to seven runs with their second grand slam of the week and fourth of the season against Nashville pitcher as Michael Turner went deep against Sounds reliever Gerson Garabito in the fourth. Murray tallied one of the three Nashville RBIs on the day with a sacrifice fly in the top of the fifth to score Zamora after a leadoff walk started the inning. The Sounds continued to try and play catchup after seeing Charlotte add another run in the fifth. The Knights were forced to record a fourth out in the top of the sixth as Eduardo Garcia struck out with the bases loaded and two outs but reached first on the wild pitch that kept the inning alive and allowed Quero to score to make it a 9-3 game. It was as close as the Sounds would get the rest of the way with Jones adding his second home run of the game to push the Knights lead back to eight runs.

Blake Holub was the only Sounds pitcher to record a clean sheet on Sunday as he tossed a scoreless seventh inning despite allowing a pair of hits. He bookended his only inning with strikeouts to record his 11th straight appearance without an earned run allowed. Zamoa led off the top of the ninth inning and homered on the second pitch he saw from Jared Kelly. Murray drew a two-out walk, but Kelly struck out the side as Nashville dropped the series finale to leave Charlotte with a series split against the Knights.

Nashville heads into the All-Star break 13 games above .500 at 53-40 on the season and will resume their schedule on Friday, July 17 back home at First Horizon Park against the Norfolk Tides (Triple-A Baltimore Orioles) for a three-game weekend series.

POSTGAME NOTES:

BAM BAM ZAM: Freddy Zamora hit his third home run of the season and first since May 30 vs. Gwinnett with his ninth inning solo shot on Sunday in the series finale against the Knights. He also drew a pair of walks to reach base three times on the day. Zamora now has nine career Triple-A home runs with Nashville since making his Sounds debut in 2024 and seven of the nine have come on the road. Sunday's solo blast was the 25th of his minor league career in game number 459 since being taken in the 2nd round of the 2020 MLB Draft out of the University of Miami.

JUST ANOTHER BLAKE DAY: Right-hander Blake Holub extended his streak without an earned run allowed to 11 appearances and 12.1 IP overall since May 17. He was the only Nashville pitcher on Sunday to not allow a run in the eight-run loss as he tossed a scoreless seventh inning and has not allowed a run in 10 straight games. It was his 19th scoreless appearance of the year (29 G) and 12th outing with 2+ strikeouts. His 11 games between earned runs in the sixth-longest active streak in the International League. With a team-high 93 career appearances with Nashville since the start of the 2024 season, he had not gone more than six straight appearances without allowing an earned run entering the 2026 season. His previous long of six straight games came from August 17-September 2 of last season.

HIGH FIVE, LOW FIVE: Ethan Murray extended his current hitting streak to five straight games finishing Sunday 1-for-3 with a RBI, walk, and run scored. He had a hit in all five games he played against the Knights in the series, finishing the series hitting .421 (8-for-19) with a double, four RBI, three walks, and a run. Murray produced one of the five Nashville hits for the game as the Sounds were held to five or fewer hits for the 22nd time this season. It's an even split on the year, having been held to five or fewer hits both 11 times at home and on the road. The Sounds are 5-17 this season when held to five or less hits.