Quero, Lara Home Runs Not Enough in 6-4 Loss to Louisville

Louisville, KY — The Nashville Sounds late rally in the top of the ninth inning fell short with the Louisville Bats taking the first game of the series with a 6-4 final at Louisville Slugger Field. Jeferson Quero and Luis Lara both hit homers, while Brock Wilken extended his on-base streak yet again to 23 consecutive games.

After Tuesday's matchup was postponed, the Sounds jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning of Wednesday's game. Jett Williams got on base with a one-out single to right field, then Quero ripped a two-run homer, 107.7 MPH off the bat, to left field on the first pitch he saw from Brandon Leibrandt. That home run marked Quero's fourth homer of the season. Nashville's lead quickly evaporated as the Bats answered right back in the bottom half of the frame with two singles, and a triple from Michael Toglia plating two runs off of left-hander Robert Gasser tying the game 2-2.

Jeferson Quero teaches the kids about what happens to an 88 MPH fastball that leaves the bat at 107.7 MPH with a 36 degree launch angle. pic.twitter.com/SGAb4pGajw

— Nashville Sounds (@nashvillesounds) May 6, 2026

Gasser allowed two runs on four hits and struck out three Bats to finish his day with Easton McGee relieving him in the bottom of the fifth inning. McGee allowed a two-out RBI-single and gave the Bats their first lead 3-2. The Sounds answered right back in the top of the sixth inning as Lara clubbed a team-leading seventh homer of the season, with a solo shot to left field for a 3-3 tie game.

a great baseball philospoher once said, "If it be true thee hangeth, we bangeth"

and that really resonated with Luis Lara.

His 7th of the year! pic.twitter.com/3tQmMWbqnd

— Nashville Sounds (@nashvillesounds) May 6, 2026

McGee allowed a run on three hits in two innings of work before Reiss Knehr entered the game for an inning of work. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Knehr allowed a one-out single to get on base, but that's all the Bats could muster in a scoreless inning. Junior Fernández relieved Knehr in the bottom of the eighth inning and struck out two batters but issued two walks which had runners at the corners. Fernández issued the third walk of the frame, loading the bases, which led to two Bats adding back-to-back singles and scoring three straight runs.

McGee punches out back-to-back to strand the bases loaded.

And here we thought the Lookouts played in Chattanooga this whole time pic.twitter.com/KXmPqNxNMh

— Nashville Sounds (@nashvillesounds) May 6, 2026

The Sounds had one last chance in the top of the ninth inning as Freddy Zamora, who pinch-hit for an injured Wilken earlier in the game, led off the inning with his fourth double of the season. After Quero got on base with a one-out single and advanced Zamora to third, Ethan Murray drew the first walk of the frame which loaded the bases. Jordyn Adams extended his season-high on-base streak to four games drawing the second straight walk and scoring Zamora for the two-run deficit. Cooper Pratt ripped a grounder to the third basemen, but he got the force out at third with the Bats holding on for a 6-4 final.

The Sounds continue this week's series with a doubleheader against the Bats on Thursday, May 7 with first pitch beginning at 3:35 p.m. Right-hander Coleman Crow will get the start for game one and left-hander Thomas Pannone will start in game two.

POSTGAME NOTES:

FOUR QUERO: Catcher Jeferson Quero crushed his fourth homer of the season to left field with a two-run shot on the first pitch he saw from Brandon Leibrandt and gave the Sounds a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning. He finished the day going 3-for-4, adding two RBI. Quero is currently ranked third on the team in homers (4) behind Luis Lara (7) and Eddys Leonard (5) and leads the team in RBI (20). In his career, Quero has posted a .387 career batting average (12-for-31), three homers and 10 RBI against the Louisville Bats, which ranks sixth in batting average amongst Sounds batters (min. 20 at-bats) in the Statcast Era since 2015.

Quero has a 3-hit day! pic.twitter.com/DpueuBHzby

— Nashville Sounds (@nashvillesounds) May 6, 2026

UN-23-LIEVABLE: Infielder Brock Wilken continues to stay hot, extending his on-base streak to 23 consecutive games in Wednesday's matchup versus the Louisville Bats. He went 1-for-2 with a double, his eighth double of the season, before he went down in the sixth inning after fouling a ball off his leg. Wilken has posted a .240 batting average (18-for-75), 11 XBH and 16 RBI from April 10-May 6. The 23-year-old is currently tied for first in the International League with J.J. Bleday (23, Louisville) and is tied for the fifth-longest active on-base streak for any Triple-A player during the season.

LARA DINGERS: Outfielder Luis Lara hit a solo shot to left field in the top of the sixth inning, tying the game at 3-3 heading into the late frames of the game. Lara continues to lead the team with seven homers on the season, two more than Eddys Leonard (5), while he's ranked fourth on the team in RBI (17). All seven of Lara's homers this season have been solo shots, 5-of-7 long balls have been on the road, today's homer has been the second off of a left-hander (as a switch hitter) and that also marked Lara's second homer in the last three games. The 21-year-old is tied for first in the International League in hits (41) with Edwin Arroyo (Louisville) and ranks first in runs (31).

MULTI-JETT: Infielder Jett Williams went 2-for-4 with a run in Wednesday's loss against the Louisville Bats. Williams recorded his eighth multi-hit game of the season, the sixth 2-hit game. Williams has recorded 81 regular season multi-hit games in his five-year career, while 14 of those have been 3-hit games.