Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp vs Nashville Sounds

Nashville struck first in the opening inning. Tyler Black led off with a double off Jacksonville opener Christian MacLeod and scored on a Brock Wilken sacrifice fly.

The Sounds made it 2-0 in the second without a hit. Jacob Hurtubise walked, stole second and came home on a MacLeod throwing error.

Jeferson Quero padded the lead to 3-0 in the fourth, launching a solo home run (15) off reliever Matt Pushard.

Jacksonville got on the board in the third when Forrester led off with a solo homer (2) to left-center off Gordon. But the Jumbo Shrimp managed only two baserunners between the third and fifth innings.

Then came the sixth.

Brendan Jones — who finished a perfect 3-for-3 — led off the bottom of the sixth with a single, then stole second. Etzel followed by crushing a 2-1 pitch from Gordon over the centre-field wall for a two-run homer (17), knotting the score at 3-3.

Two batters later, with two outs, Pauley stepped in and drove a solo homer (7) to left, giving Jacksonville its first lead at 4-3.

Gordon otherwise pitched well — he struck out nine over six innings and allowed only five hits — but all four runs came on three home runs.

Garret Forrester, C, Jacksonville: 2-for-3, HR, 2B, RBI, R. The catcher provided the opening blow with a leadoff homer and later doubled.

Brendan Jones, CF, Jacksonville: 3-for-3, R, SB. The perfect day at the plate included a single that ignited the game-turning sixth inning.

Matthew Etzel, RF, Jacksonville: 1-for-4, 2-run HR (17), 2 RBI. His sixth-inning blast tied the game.

Zach Pop, RP, Jacksonville (W, 2-4): 1.1 scoreless innings, 2 K. Pop bridged the gap from the sixth to the eighth and earned the win.

Stephen Jones, RP, Jacksonville (S, 7): 1.0 inning, 0 R, 0 H, BB. Jones worked a scoreless ninth for the save.

Colton Gordon, SP, Nashville (L, 1-4): 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 9 K, 1 BB, 3 HR. Dominant for stretches but undone by the long ball.

The box score tells a story of two different games. Nashville out-hit Jacksonville 7-8 but managed only two earned runs — five of their seven hits were singles, and they went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position. Jacksonville, by contrast, strung together just eight hits but made four of them count for extra bases (three homers, one double), producing all four runs on those swings. The Jumbo Shrimp were 1-for-2 with RISP — clinical where Nashville was not.

Neither starter worked deep: MacLeod lasted only two innings as an opener (33 pitches), and the Jumbo Shrimp used six pitchers total. Jacksonville's bullpen allowed just one earned run over seven innings, striking out four.

Daniel Guilarte stole three bases for Nashville in his third Triple-A game, part of a five-steal night for the Sounds. But they also left six runners on base and hit into two outfield-assist outs.

The series split leaves Jacksonville at 66-64 overall, 23-32 in the second half, in 18th place in the International League. Nashville dropped to 71-60, 28-27 in the second half, clinging to 10th position. The Sounds have lost two in a row after winning Saturday's game 13-5.

Jacksonville heads to Norfolk for a six-game road trip starting Tuesday, September 1 at 6:35 p.m. ET. Nashville travels to face the Tides as well — the two teams swap opponents to start September. Official lineups and probables for Tuesday have not been announced.

Jacksonville's power-dependent rally papered over a quiet day from the middle of the order — De Los Santos, Alderman and Taylor combined to go 0-for-11 with four strikeouts. But the bottom of the lineup (Jones, Forrester) delivered when it mattered, and a bullpen that entered with a 4.62 ERA held Nashville scoreless over the final seven frames. The formula is narrow, but it worked.