Thomas Pannone Spins Quality Start in Sounds Win

CHARLOTTE, NC (July 11, 2026) - A 4-2 Saturday night win put the Sounds in the driver's seat of the series against the Charlotte Knights heading into Sunday's finale at Truist Field. Nashville will have a chance to win their second straight series after Thomas Pannone turned in his second quality start of the season and earned his fourth win of the year.

Blake Perkins started the night off with a single and first hit since rejoining the Sounds, but Knights starter Mason Adams faced the minimum in the top of the first after getting Luis Matos to roll into a double play before striking out Tyler Black. Charlotte started their half of the first with three straight singles but ran into the first out of the inning as Ryan Galanie was nabbed between third and home in a rundown. The Knights still managed to draw first blood on a sac fly as Galanie's rundown allowed the trailing runners to make their way into scoring position. The Sounds responded with runs in the second and third innings to take their first lead. Ethan Murray collected a two-out RBI double to score Brock Wilken in the second, and Luke Adams tallied a two-out RBI single in the third to score Black. Both Wilken and Black kept the scoring innings alive with two-out walks.

The second and final run allowed by Pannone over his six-quality innings came via a leadoff homer by Korey Lee in the bottom of the fourth. As they did in the second inning, Nashville responded with a run in the next half inning. Perkins drew the first of his three walks on the night to start the top of the fifth and moved to third on a single off the bat of Matos. Black put the Sounds in front for good with a sacrifice fly of his own to go up 3-2. All five of Pannone's strikeouts came after allowing the tying home run in the fourth, and he worked his lone 1-2-3 inning in his sixth and final inning of work.

Rob Zastryzny's first rehab appearance back with Nashville lasted just three batters before he left the game with some discomfort. Will Childers allowed a double to Andy Weber after entering the game, but the Knights ran into their second out of the night at the plate before Childers struck out Galanie to end the threat and leave two in scoring position. Darrien Miller recorded his second hit of the night, and third straight multi-hit performance with a double in the top of the eighth. Eduardo Garcia tacked on a run of insurance with a two-out RBI single to provide the Sounds with a two-run cushion.

Drew Rom struck out the side in the bottom of the eighth to pitch his way around a pair of singles and strand two more In scoring position. The southpaw headed back to the mound in the bottom of the ninth and surrendered his third single to begin the inning before striking out each of the next two he faced. Peter Strzelecki took over on the mound and was greeted with a double that once again put the potential tying run in scoring position. The right-hander responded by striking out Edgar Quero to secure his fourth save of the season and put an end to any comeback hopes the Knights had.

The series will wrap up on Sunday afternoon in downtown Charlotte with right-hander Carlos Rodriguez scheduled to make his second start of the series on a Major League rehab assignment. First pitch is scheduled for 12:05 pm.

POSTGAME NOTES:

THREE OF A KIND: Darrien Miller recorded his third straight multi-hit game, finishing Saturday night 2-for-4 with a double and run scored. It was his second straight game with an XBH as he recorded his first double in Triple-A after launching his first Triple-A home run on Thursday. He has hit safely in each of his last four games overall and is hitting .296 (8-for-27) through his first nine games with Nashville.

THAT'S BLACKJACK: Tyler Black extended his on-base streak to 21 games and his hitting streak to seven games after finishing the night 1-for-3 with a RBI, walk, and a run scored. His RBI in the top of the fifth proved to be the game-winning RBI and he has produced a RBI in back-to-back games and has four total in eight games played in the month of July. Black is hitting .300 (21-for-70) during his 21-game on-base streak, which currently sits tied for the seventh-longest active on-base streak in the International League. He has scored a run in seven straight games, the second-longest active streak in the IL, and has crossed the plate at least once in 17 of the 21 games during his streak which began on June 13. He has a hit in 16 of the 21 games and at least one hit in 11 of his last 12 games.

SIX OF DIAMONDS: Thomas Pannone matched his season-high and worked 6.0 IP on the mound for Nashville on Saturday night to earn his second straight win. It was his second straight 6.0 IP start and third on the year. He's riding a four-game winning streak overall dating back to May 30 vs. Gwinnett when he tossed his only other quality start. Saturday night's win is the 60th of his minor league career and 30th in Triple-A. He turned his 24th career Triple-A Quality start and 52nd overall in his minor league career. In 213 career games (177 GS) in the minors, he owns a 60-44 record with a career 3.94 ERA.