Offense Stymied in Shutout Loss to Gwinnett
Lawrenceville, GA - Nashville dropped game two of the series 5-0 against Gwinnett Wednesday and was limited to just two hits by another strong pitching effort for the Stripers. RHP Garrett Stallings was strong in his own right on the mound for the Sounds, working four scoreless innings without a
Lawrenceville, GA - Nashville dropped game two of the series 5-0 against Gwinnett Wednesday and was limited to just two hits by another strong pitching effort for the Stripers. RHP Garrett Stallings was strong in his own right on the mound for the Sounds, working four scoreless innings without a decision.
Stallings pitched around a leadoff walk to start his outing by retiring the next three in order in the bottom of the first. He then earned the second of his four strikeouts on the night to work around a two-out single in the second to strand another Stripers baserunner. The right-hander then quickly erased another leadoff walk in the third by picking the runner off first before retiring the next three in order. His only three-up, three-down frame came in his last of work when his night ended after a successful challenge by his battery mate, Ramon Rodriguez, and a strikeout of Ben Gamel in the bottom of the fourth.
Braves' no. 3-rated prospect Didier Fuentes followed up no. 2-rated prospect JR Ritchie's seven-inning quality start from Tuesday night with six scoreless frames against the talented Sounds lineup on Wednesday. Fuentes struck out eight Nashville batters to help work around his four walks on the evening. Luke Adams, the Brewers no. 13-rated prospect collected both of Nashville's hits on Wednesday night, and both came against Fuentes. Adams led off the top of the fourth with a single and added a one-out single in the sixth that served as one of the limited scoring opportunities Nashville had for the game. Fuentes responded with back-to-back strikeouts to end his night, and the last scoring chance the Sounds had for the game. Nashville ended the game 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
The Stripers put up four runs in the bottom of the fifth off right-hander Easton McGee in just 0.2 IP and five hits as the right-hander took the loss. Joe Corbett and Brian Fitzpatrick tag-teamed the remaining 3.1 IP on the mound for the Sounds and allowed just two hits and an unearned run with four combined strikeouts. The bullpen combination of Victor Mederos and Ian Hamilton tossed three perfect innings in relief of Fuentes with four strikeouts to end the ballgame.
Nashville will look to bounce back and avoid dropping a third straight to Gwinnett when the two teams resume the series on Thursday night. First pitch from Gwinnett Field is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. Brewers no. 27-rated prospect Coleman Crow (1-0, 3.38 ERA) will look to build off two strong starts to begin his season against 39-year-old Carlos Carrasco and the Stripers.
POSTGAME NOTES:
WEDNESDAY ADAMS: Luke Adams collected his second multi-hit game in his last three games played after ending the Charlotte series with his first 2+ hit performance in Triple-A on Sunday. After beginning the season 0-for-15 through his first five-plus games played, the Brewers no. 13-rated prospect is hitting .416 over his last 12 at-bats with two homers and six RBI since April 3. Adams accounted for both of Nashville's hits in the loss on Wednesday night.
ALL STALL: Garrett Stallings worked four scoreless innings on the bump Wednesday night in his second start and third overall appearance of the year for Nashville. He's up to 7.1 IP since allowing his only run of the year in his season debut against Norfolk on March 29. His 7.1 IP is the longest streak without allowing an earned run by a Nashville pitcher in the early part of the season. Stallings surpassed Robert Gasser, who worked 5.2 IP without a run in his only appearance so far this season back on Opening Night for Nashville against Norfolk on March 27. With his four strikeouts on Wednesday night, Stallings reached 500 for his minor league career.
JONES'N FOR A BASE: After getting plunked by Didier Fuentes his first at-bat of the game, Greg Jones has reached safely in all nine games so far this season for Nashville. Jones finished the game 0-for-1 with a walk and a strikeout to go along with his team-leading sixth hit by pitch. Jones' nine-game on-base streak is three clear of Cooper Pratt for the longest active on-base streak to begin the season for Nashville after Ethan Murray had his seven-game streak come to an end Wednesday. Jones is hitting .280 (7-for-25) to begin the 2026 season and has a team-leading five steals.