Sounds Walked Off in Extras in Charlotte

Charlotte, NC - Nashville dropped their second straight game with a 3-2 extra innings loss to the Charlotte Knights Thursday night at Truist Field. Left-hander Tate Kuehner was great on the mound for Nashville with a season-high eight strikeouts and one earned run allowed over 5.2 IP.

The Knights struck first with the only run allowed by Kuehner coming via a solo homer in the bottom of the first inning by Jarred Kelenic. Nashville answered back with a run in the top of the second with Luis Lara drawing a walk before moving to third on a single off the bat of Eddys Leonard. Ramon Rodriguez picked up the RBI with a productive groundout that allowed Lara to score and even the game at a run a piece.

The game would remain deadlocked at 1-1 over the next four innings. Kuehner worked a three-up, three-down second inning with a pair of strikeouts before stranding a pair of Knights on base after allowing consecutive two out singles in the third. The southpaw didn't allow a hit in the fourth or the fifth innings but pitched around a hit batter in the fourth and a Kelenic walk in the fifth as Kelenic reached base his first three times at the plate for Charlotte. Kuehner issued the third walk of his outing with two outs in the sixth before turning the ball over to Drew Rom to get the final out of the inning.

Lara and Leonard singled off Zach Franklin to start the top of the seventh ahead of a wild pitch that moved both runners into scoring position. Ethan Murray delivered a go-ahead RBI single to score Lara, but Leonard was thrown out at the plate as the Sounds would have to settle for just a one-run advantage. The lead didn't last long with Ryan Galanie tying the game at 2-2 with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the seventh. Rom finished his outing by retiring the next three in a row, including back-to-back strikeouts to end the frame.

Right-hander Easton McGee took over on the mound in the eighth after the Sounds were sent back to the dugout in order, and McGee posted a 1-2-3 inning of his own with three strikeouts.

Brock Wilken drew a leadoff walk in the top of the ninth, and Lara collected his second hit of the night with a single to give the Sounds a prime scoring chance. That quickly went away with the Knights getting the force out at third on a bunt attempt aimed at moving the runners over followed by a strikeout and ground out that stranded two in the inning. Blake Holub allowed a single to start the bottom of the ninth but induced a double play and then worked around a two-out walk with a strikeout to send the game to extras.

Nashville let another scoring chance slip away with Ethan Murray starting the game at second base and moving into third with no outs after a wild pitch to start the top of the 10th. Two infield pop outs and a shallow fly ball into right field weren't enough to get the runner across as Nashville left the potential go-ahead run stranded at third base. The Knights played small ball to move the runner to third on a sac bunt. After intentionally walking Kelenic to set up a double play, the Knights got a single through the left side of the infield for the win and Nashville's fourth walk-off loss of the season.

Nashville aims to even the series up on Friday night with RHP Coleman Crow (2-0, 4.02 ERA) on the mound fresh off his Major League debut last week for Milwaukee. Former Sounds pitcher Shane Smith (1-0, 3.00 ERA) will get the start for Charlotte. First pitch is scheduled for 6:04 pm CT.

POSTGAME NOTES:

TATE AND LEFT NO CRUMBS: Left-hander Tate Kuehner set his season-high with eight strikeouts, his most in a start since striking out nine Columbus Clingstones batters in his start June 28, 2025, for Double-A Biloxi. The eight strikeouts were the most in Kuehner's Triple-A career so far and just his fifth 8+ strikeout game over his last 27 starts since the start of the 2025 season. His eight strikeouts are tied for the second-most by a Nashville pitcher this season along with Shane Drohan (4/14 vs. WOR). The pair trail Robert Gasser and his 11-strikeout performance for Nashville on Opening Night of the season in Norfolk on March 27th. Kuehner now sits at 260 career minor league strikeouts and owns a 9.6 K/9 throughout his 53 career games (260 K / 244.0 IP).

MULTIPLIED: Held hitless on Wednesday and hitless over four of his last five games entering Thursday night, Luis Lara was back in the hit column with his team-leading eighth multi-hit game of the season so far. Lara, the Brewers no. 12-rated prospect ended Thursday night 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored. His eight multi-hit efforts in still just one ahead of Eddys Leonard who provided Nashville with the other multi-hit game on Thursday night (2-for-3, BB). With his pair of singles, Leonard extended his current hitting streak to seven games and is hitting .478 (11-for-23) with two doubles and two RBI since April 15th. Four of his seven total multi-hit games have come during his current seven-game hitting streak.

SLUG IT OUT: Despite just having nine hits on the season, Brewers no. 22-rated prospect Brock Wilken has made his hits count. Wilken added his fourth double of the season to go along with a home run to have 56% of his hits on the season go for extra-bases. Wilken also leads the team in walks (18) after another free pass on Thursday. Wilken is riding a 12-game on-base streak after Thursday and is tied for the second-longest on-base streak on the team among active players behind Eddys Leonard (16).

CIRCLE K: Backed by eight strikeouts by Tate Kuehner, Nashville tied their season-high with 14 strikeouts on the mound Thursday night against Charlotte. The Sounds also struck out 14 batters April 7 in Gwinnett. The Sounds rank ninth in the International League with 225 strikeouts as a pitching staff this season. Jacksonville currently leads the league with 278 strikeouts and are 25 clear of second place Norfolk (253). Nashville boasted the third-best ERA in the International League in 2025 (3.91) despite ranking 13th in the IL with their 1,277 strikeouts a season ago. Through 23 games, the Sounds currently own the fourth-best ERA in the IL at 3.78.