Vihuelas Claim Victory Over Memphis
NASHVILLE – Evan McKendry (11-5) continued his stellar season with a solid night on the mound as the Vihuelas de Nashville (71-61, 31-27) took down the Musica de Memphis (64-70, 25-34 4-1 on Wednesday night at First Horizon Park. It was a true pitcher’s duel out of the gates, with
NASHVILLE – Evan McKendry (11-5) continued his stellar season with a solid night on the mound as the Vihuelas de Nashville (71-61, 31-27) took down the Musica de Memphis (64-70, 25-34 4-1 on Wednesday night at First Horizon Park.
It was a true pitcher’s duel out of the gates, with neither side scoring through the first four innings. McKendry held each of the first 12 batters faced before Memphis managed a single off of Nashville’s starter. Memphis struck first, scoring a run on a Juniel Querecuto single in the fifth.
The Vihuelas answered in a big way in the bottom half, taking the lead they would not relinquish. With the bases loaded and two outs, Abraham Toro came through with a huge double that scored Payton Henry and Greg Allen to give Nashville a 2-1 lead. In the sixth, the home side scored a couple more times, as Tyler Black scored on a dropped ball error on Chris Roller’s fielder’s choice. Patrick Dorrian then got another clutch double, with his shot to deep right field brought home Roller and made it a 4-1 game.
McKendry recorded the longest start per innings pitched by any Nashville pitcher this season. He went 7.1 innings, allowing just two hits and one run with five strikeouts over 102 pitches. The tandem of Alex Claudio and Fernando Abad (S, 1) put away Memphis late, with Claudio getting the final two outs in the eighth and Abad sealing the save for the second Nashville win of the series.
Toro, Dorrian and Brian Navarreto each contributed a double in the win as three of Nashville’s five hits on the night. Black reached three times, all from walks. Josh Donaldson walked once but failed to get a hit in his 0-for-3 night.
The Sounds will try and keep the wins coming with left-hander Robert Gasser (9-1, 3.73) set to start in game three of the series. He’ll face Memphis’ Adam Kloffenstein (2-0, 2.63). The first pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. CDT from First Horizon Park.
Post-Game Notes
- Abraham Toro extended his on-base streak to 25 games with a two-run double. He is hitting .384 (38-for-99) with 20 runs, 14 doubles, three homers and 18 RBI during the streak dating back to July 9.
- Last night, Julio Teheran went 4.2 innings before allowing a hit, and tonight, Evan McKendry went 4.0 innings before yielding a knock. The last time the Sounds started back-to-back games with four or more no-hit innings was June 9-10, 2014, with both contests vs. Reno. Brad Mills took a no-no into the fifth on the 9th, then Ariel Peña went 6.0+ no-hit innings the next night.
- McKendry picked up his league-leading 11th win of the season and third with Nashville.
The Nashville Sounds are the Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers and play at First Horizon Park. Single-game tickets for the rest of the 2023 season are on sale now. For more information call 615-690-4487 or e-mail [email protected].