Early Slam Quiets Sounds in Series Opener

NASHVILLE - The Nashville Sounds dropped game one of the series with an 8-2 defeat to the Charlotte Knights on Tuesday at Truist Field. Carlos Rodriguez made his first appearance for the Sounds since May 19 at Durham and allowed four early runs to cross for Charlotte. Matos continued his dominance for the Sounds as he finished the night going 2-for-4 with a homer.

Rodriguez got the start for Nashville and struggled early as the Knights put up five runs in the first two innings of the game. After two base hits in the top of the first inning were stranded on base by the Sounds offense, Rodriguez allowed a sacrifice fly to cross as Rikuu Nishida hit a leadoff single. The Sounds struggled to drive home Andrick Nava, who drew a walk, and Eduardo Garcia, who got on base with a single as the offense stranded four total runners through two.

Charlotte loaded the bases in the bottom of the second on an error and two base hits before Peter Strzelecki replaced Rodriguez with two outs in the inning. A towering grand slam by Ryan Galanie blew the game open to give Charlotte a 5-0 lead. Nashville finally got on the board in the top of the third inning when Matos hit a leadoff homer and cut the score 5-1. It marked his fourth homer of the season for the Sounds and his second straight multi-hit game.

Gerson Garabito relieved Strzelecki in the bottom of the fifth inning and worked a 1-2-3 frame. He came out for the bottom of the sixth inning and allowed a one-out double and a walk to get on base. Nolan Jones lined a two-run double into right field, extending Charlotte's lead to 7-1. The Knights tacked on another run off Will Childers with an RBI-single and grew the lead to seven runs. In the top of the eighth inning, the Sounds tallied their final run of the night as Tyler Black and Jeferson Quero hit back-to-back singles. Brock Wilken drew a walk to load the bases and set up Eddys Leonard, who hit into a double play, but still scored Black for the 8-2 deficit.

After Blake Holub had a 1-2-3 frame against the Knights offense in the bottom half of the eighth, Nashville was unable to rally in their finals at-bats, going down in order in the ninth to drop game one of the series.

The Sounds continue the six-game series against the Knights on Wednesday, July 8. First pitch is scheduled for 6:04 p.m. and RHP Tyson Hardin will get the start for Nashville.

POSTGAME NOTES:

ABSOLUTE CINEMA: Luis Matos continues to dominate for the Sounds this season as he went 2-for-4 with a homer in the loss versus Charlotte Tuesday night. The homer came in the top of the third inning with a leadoff shot, cutting into the Knights' lead 5-1 and marked his fourth of the season. Matos recorded his ninth multi-hit game of the season for the Sounds, which ranks fourth on the active roster and was his third in his last four games. Matos has been on a tear through six games in July, batting .391 (9-for-23), 5 XBH and 8 RBI and has back-to-back multi-hit games. Since joining the Sounds on May 3, he's ranked T-2nd in doubles (7), T-4th in AVG (.261) and in OBP (.348). The eight RBI in the month of July ranks T-1st in the International League and is T-2nd at the Triple-A level.

Matos takes a round trip in CLT pic.twitter.com/uAhizabEYm

— Nashville Sounds (@nashvillesounds) July 8, 2026

ON-BLACK: Tyler Black extended his on-base streak to 17 consecutive games in Tuesday night's loss to the Charlotte Knights, going 1-for-2 with two walks and a run scored. The 17 consecutive games are the longest-active on-base streak on the ​and is the 6th-best for the Sounds this season. Black has been hitting .268 (15-for-56), adding 7 XBH and 14 RBI since June 13. He is one shy of tying his on-base streak record of 18 consecutive games for Nashville, which he posted during the 2023 season. The 25-year-old extended his hit streak to three consecutive games as well.