Henderson Fans Eight as Sounds Get Back in Win Column

NASHVILLE – The Sounds got some early offense and rode the right arm of Logan Henderson to a 5-1 win over the Gwinnett Stripers on Thursday night to end a four-game losing streak.

After striking out eight in his season debut Saturday night against Jacksonville, Henderson was right back to it on Thursday against the Stripers. The Brewers' no. 13-ranked prospect struck out the first man he faced in his second start and then worked around a pair of walks and single to leave the bases loaded with another strikeout and fly out to escape the first unscathed. He left two more stranded in the second after issuing his third free pass but also collecting his third strikeout of the evening.

Nashville's bats came alive in the third. With two outs in the inning, the Sounds rattled off four straight hits starting with Caleb Durbin's third double of the season. Ernesto Martinez Jr. put the Sounds on the board with a two-RBI single to the opposite field and Jorge Alfaro's second hit of the year was a two-run home run to give Nashville a 4-0 lead for Henderson to work with. The right-hander picked up another strikeout in the third and then struck out the side in the fourth. His eighth strikeout came in the bottom of the fifth during his final inning of work in which he played a part in all three outs. After allowing a leadoff single, he struck out Sean Murphy, got an assist on a caught stealing, and then covered first base for the 3-1 putout to bring an end to his outing.

Wes Clarke made it 5-0 in the top of the sixth with his first RBI of the season. Raynel Delgado doubled and advanced to third on a wild pitch for Clarke to earn the RBI on a sac fly. Sam McWilliams worked a three-up-three down bottom of the sixth on just eight pitches including a pair of three pitch strikeouts. Left-hander Tyler Jay entered the game in the seventh after McWilliams allowed a leadoff single and proceeded to retire each of the next three batters.

Vinny Nittoli relieved Jay to start the eighth and allowed a leadoff double to Chandler Seagle in his first plate appearance of the night after taking over for Sean Murphy behind the plate. Nittoli was on his way to pitching around it until miscommunication by three converging Sounds defensively led to an error and the Stripers only run of the game. Nittoli made quick work of the three Gwinnett batters in the bottom of the ninth to help preserve the win for Nashville.

The Sounds will aim to even the series on Friday night. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 pm with the Sounds set to face RHP Spencer Strider making his second rehab appearance for Gwinnett.

POSTGAME NOTES:

MAKE IT EIGHT: Logan Henderson racked up another eight strikeouts on the mound for Nashville. The Brewers' no. 13-ranked prospect has struck out eight or more batters in consecutive outings for the first time since rattling off three straight 8+ strikeout performances from July 29 - August 12, 2023, when he was with Low-A Carolina. The former fourth round selection by the Brewers in the 2021 MLB Draft had five starts with 8+ strikeouts a season ago, including his second in Triple-A after his late-season promotion. The right-hander finished his 2024 campaign with 104 strikeouts and posted 106 in 2023 which was good for the 10th most in the Brewers' farm system that season. In 46 professional starts, Henderson has 249 strikeouts in 182.2 IP, good for a 12.3 K/9 rate.

HIP, HIP, JORGE: Jorge Alfaro finished the night 2-for-4 with a HR, two RBI, a run scored, and a stolen base. His single to lead off the top of the second was his first hit of the year, ending a 0-for-12 start to the season. His third-inning home run was his first in affiliated baseball since June 20, 2023, when he was with the Colorado Rockies, and his stolen base was his first since June 13, 2023, when he was with Triple-A Albuquerque. Homers aren't unfamiliar for Alfaro, who now has 134 in his career, including 48 in the big leagues. The stolen base though, that was just his sixth since 2023. Although he did not play in affiliated pro ball in 2024, Alfaro had one steal in 82 games with San Diego in 2022 and eight in 92 games with Miami in 2021. His two-high night was his first multi-hit game since also having a pair of hits against Gwinnett on September 15, 2023, when he was playing for Triple-A Jacksonville.

HIT CITY: After being held to five or fewer hits in each game during the four-game losing stretch, Nashville had eight hits on Thursday night against Gwinnett. The Sounds entered Thursday with only six total multi-hit performances through the first five games and had three players post multi-hit games in the win. Garrett Spain added his second multi-hit game and end his four-game hitless drought. Jorge Alfaro ended his three-game hitless drought with a 2-for-4 night, and Raynel Delgado picked up his first hits of the series after finishing 2-for-4 with a double. Spain and Delgado join Caleb Durbin as the only three players with two multi-hit games for Nashville so far in 2025.

BULLPEN BULLIES: The Sounds bullpen turned in yet another game without allowing an earned run. On Thursday it was Sam McWilliams (1.0 IP, H, 2 K) Tyler Jay (1.0 IP 0 H) and Vinny Nittoli (2.0 IP, H, R, 2 K) who combined to make it 16.2 IP for the bullpen without allowing an earned run dating back to Sunday's series finale against Jacksonville when Jesus Liranzo allowed a run in the seventh. Nashville's bullpen carries a 1.98 ERA through the first six games, the second lowest in the International League behind St. Paul's 1.64 ERA. St. Paul has only played in three games so far this year after having their game against Columbus postponed Thursday and has 11.0 IP compared to Nashville's six games and 27.1 IP. Of teams with six games, Nashville's 1.98 ERA is the best in Triple-A ahead of Jacksonville's 2.17 ERA.