Sounds Let Late Lead Slip Away

JACKSONVILLE, FL - The Sounds suffered a rare late-inning loss on Friday night to the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp at VyStar Ballpark. Holding a one-run lead after the seventh inning, the Sounds suffered just the second loss of the season when ahead entering the eighth inning. Brewers no. 4-rated prospect Cooper Pratt recorded his second straight multi-hit game to extend his on-base streak to 25 straight games and Brock Wilken homered in his return to the Nashville lineup in the loss.

Thomas Pannone was great on the mound in his eighth start and ninth overall appearance for Nashville. The left-hander pitched five-plus scoreless innings allowing just four hits with three strikeouts and a walk allowed. He exited the game with a 2-0 lead after Nashville cashed in on back-to-back two-out walks in the top of the fourth inning. Luis Matos delivered a two-RBI single for the Sounds first hit of the game off Bradley Blalock. Pannone stranded two runners in the first, pitched around a leadoff single in the third, and stranded a two-out single in the bottom of the fourth. The southpaw tossed 1-2-3 frames in the second and fifth innings before allowing his fourth hit of the night with a one-out double in the bottom of the sixth. After recorded the second out of the inning, he was relieved by Mark Manfredi Sr. for his Triple-A debut.

Up from Double-A Biloxi prior to the game, Manfredi Sr. hurled a wild pitch that allowed the runner to advance to third before earning his first Triple-A strikeout to strand the runner at third. He allowed a leadoff single in his first full inning of work to Andrew Pintar, who stole second and moved to third on a groundout. The second straight ground ball out allowed the first Jacksonville run to cross the plate and cut the Sounds lead in half before picking up his second strikeout to end the inning.

Pratt recorded the first of his two hits on the night with a two-out single in the fifth and laced a one-out double in the top of the eighth to end the night 2-for-4.

Deyvison De Los Santos hit a leadoff triple in the bottom of the eighth off Will Childers ahead of a walk to put runners on the corners. Graham Pauley gave the Jumbo Shrimp their first lead of the game with a three-run home run to take a 4-2 lead. Childers responded with three straight outs to send the game to the top of the ninth. Brewers no. 20-rated prospect Brock Wilken collected his lone hit of the night in his return to the Sounds lineup with a two-out solo blast off Jack Ralston. A five pitch strikeout of Eddys Leonard followed as the Sounds dropped their third game of the series.

Nashville will need to win the next two to earn a series split and avoid dropping their first series since late April. RHP Garrett Stallings (3-2, 3.80 ERA) is scheduled to get the start for the Sounds on Saturday night. First pitch is scheduled for 5:35 p.m. CT.

POSTGAME NOTES:

BROCKET MAN: Brewers no. 20-rated prospect Brock Wilken swatted his third home run of the season and first since April 30 in game two of a doubleheader against the Norfolk Tides at First Horizon Park. Wilken made his first appearance in the Nashville lineup since last Wednesday, May 27, against Gwinnett. His solo blast in the top of the ninth inning snapped a three-game hitless drought. Wilken entered Friday's game just 3 for his last 37 (.081) with a double but had seven walks and 12 RBI over his last 12 games. He continues to make his hits count, recording 15 XBH of his 29 total hits through his first 52 career Triple-A games. Despite hitting just .170 to start his Sounds tenure, Wilken currently ranks third on the club with 32 RBI and is tied for the team lead with 39 walks.

TWENTY-FIVE: Cooper Pratt extended his on-base streak to 25 straight games with his second straight multi-hit game, finishing the night 2-for-4 with a double. His 25-game streak is tied for the fourth-longest active on-base streak in Triple-A and tied for the ninth-longest streak going in the minors. It's the second-longest streak overall in the Brewers farm system this season behind Brock Wilken's 30-game streak from April 10-May 14. During his streak, Pratt is hitting .289 (28-for-97) with four home runs, four doubles, two triples, and 21 RBI. The Brewers no. 4-rated prospect hit .226 (21-for-93) through his first 25 games of the season with five XBH and eight RBI. Friday night was his 10th multi-hit game over his last 25 games, and 15th overall 2+ hit game with Nashville in 51 games.

STILL PERFECT: Luis Matos went 1-for-4 with a pair of RBI to extend his on-base streak to 18 straight games. He has reached base in all 18 games played with Nashville since joining the team on April 30. He now owns a hit in 13 of the 18 games with the Sounds and is hitting .283 (17-for-60) with two homers, two doubles, and 10 RBI to go along with 10 walks and eight runs scored. Friday night was his third multi-RBI game with the Sounds and first since the series opener against Gwinnett on May 26.

NEVER LATE: Friday night's loss was just the second of the season for Nashville when holding a lead after the 7th inning. Nashville entered the game 30-1 on the year when ahead after entering the eighth inning. The only other loss when leading after the seventh came on April 11 on the road in Gwinnett when the Sounds squandered a 3-2 lead in a 4-3 extra-innings loss. The Sounds responded with 26 straight wins when leading after the seventh until Friday night.