Big Knights First Too Much for Nashville to Overcome

CHARLOTTE, NC (July 9, 2026) - Nashville and Charlotte continued to trade wins through the first three games this week at Truist Field with the Knights getting a 9-2 win on Thursday night. Six runs in the bottom of the first proved too much for Nashville to overcome as the Knights took a 2-1 series lead heading into the weekend portion of the final series before the All-Star break.

Right-hander Lyon Richardson took the mound for his second start of the season with the Sounds and was provided a 1-0 lead to work with after Tyler Black and Luke Adams combined for back-to-back two out doubles in the top of the first inning. Black extended his on-base streak to a Triple-A career-best 19 straight games and was the first of his two hits at the plate for the night. Richardson looked destined to make quick work of Charlotte in the bottom of the first with two ground outs to start his outing. A two-out walk issued to Michael Turner proved to be the catalyst for the big inning that ensued. Five straight hits followed, including three home runs, the final two on consecutive pitches with Riley Unroe hitting his first of two home runs on the night to give the Knights a 6-1 lead after the first inning.

The eighth two-out RBI between the two clubs to start the game was provided by Darrien Miller, who connected for his first Triple-A home run on the first pitch he saw from Knights starter Jonathan Cannon in the top of the second. Richardson worked around a single in the second before ending his spot start after 2.0 IP and the six earned runs on six hits. Easton McGee got in three innings of work in relief and stranded the bases loaded in his first inning out of the bullpen after a single and two walks in his first inning of work. McGee tossed the first three-up, three-down half inning for either side when he breezed through the Knights lineup in the bottom of the fourth. He wasn't as fortunate in his third and final inning of work as the two-out magic continued with Unroe hitting his second home run of the game with a two-run home run to put the Knights up 8-2 after the fifth.

Will Childers was greeted into the game with a leadoff double by Rikuu Nishida who scored the game's final run on a RBI single for Turner before Childers got Ryan Galanie to ground into a double play to end the frame.

Blake Holub was the lone Nashville reliever to not surrender a hit as he struck out the side in the seventh inning to push his streak to 10 straight appearances without allowing an earned run. Peter Strzelecki was tasked with pitching the bottom of the eighth and bookended his only inning of work with strikeouts to strand two Knights baserunners after issuing a two-out walk and a single.

Black and Miller combined for four of the six Nashville hits as each finished the night with multi-hit games, the second straight 2+ hit night for Miller. Quero chipped in with his 12th double of the season to go along with Adams' RBI double from the top of the first inning to account for all six hits.

The series will continue on Friday night with first pitch scheduled for 6:04 pm at Truist Field in downtown Charlotte.

POSTGAME NOTES:

GET THAT STREAK A MOLSON: Tyler Black wasted no time at all pushing his on-base streak to a new Triple-A career-best 19 straight games dating back to June 13. Black, the 33rd overall pick by Milwaukee in 2021, is hitting .281 (18-for-64) during the streak with eight XBH after his first inning double on Thursday night. He has also added 14 RBI and has drawn 16 walks, swiped nine bases, and crossed the plate 18 times over his last 19 games. He's riding a five-game hitting streak and has a hit in 15 of the 19 games. Black previously owned an 18-game on-base streak to start his Triple-A career with Nashville from August 6-27, 2023. The 19-game streak is the fourth-longest by a Sounds player this season, trailing Brock Wilken (30 G), Cooper Pratt (25 G), and Luke Adams (20 G). His multi-hit performance on Thursday was the sixth in 50 Triple-A games this season. He also owns the longest hitting streak of the season for the Sounds, with an 11-game streak from March 28-May 14 with a nine-game stint with the Milwaukee Brewers mixed in between. Along with his 18-game streak to start his Sounds tenure, Black posted a career-long 35-game on-base streak for Double-A Biloxi earlier in 2023.

SHAKE AND BAKE: Darrien Miller has produced back-to-back mulit-hit performances and clubbed his first career Triple-A home run in the top of the second on Thursday night as part of a 2-for-4 day at the plate. After being limited to one hit through his first five Triple-A games, he has settled in with a hit in each of his last three games (5-for-11) along with a RBI in three straight games. He ended a 20-game drought since his last home run came on May 27 with Double-A Biloxi. Miller now has 44 home runs across 482 career minor league games in the Brewers farm system and sits just outside the top 10 for most home runs hit in the farm system since 2021, in a four-way tie in 11th. Over the same span, he ranks 2nd in walks (276), 3rd in runs (261), T-7th in RBI (211), and 9th in doubles (70) and total bases (540) in the farm system during the regular season.

HOL & NOPES: Right-hander Blake Holub worked his 10th straight appearance without allowing an earned run dating back to May 21 after working a scoreless seventh inning against Charlotte on Thursday night. His 10-game streak is tied for the seventh-longest active streak in the International League and sits at 11.1 IP overall dating back to May 17th since allowing an earned run. The 10-games are tied for the third-longest for a Nashville reliever this season along with Jacob Waguespack. Holub now trails Brian Fitzpatrick (14 G) and Craig Yoho, who has an active 16-game streak going after his last appearance with Nashville on July 1. Holub has tossed 18 total scoreless appearances across his 29 games with Nashville this season and has allowed just two earned runs over his last 19 appearances. Since making his Sounds debut in 2024, Holub leads all Nashville pitchers in appearances with 92 and ranks T-2nd in saves (7), 5th in strikeouts (121), 7th in IP (97.2), and T-7th in wins (7).