Sounds Stumble Again as Tyler Black’s Streak Sizzles—but Norfolk Pulls Away for 9-2 Win

The Nashville Sounds saw their momentum stall again on Saturday night at First Horizon Park, dropping a 9-2 decision to the Norfolk Tides to fall into their third straight loss of the weekend series. While the Tides found the gaps, strung together key at-bats, and turned pressure into runs, one bright thread ran through the night for Nashville.

Tyler Black refused to slow down. Black extended his on-base streak to 23 consecutive games and pushed his hitting streak to nine straight, reaching base again late after waiting until his last at-bat to keep the run going. The story of the game, though, quickly became a tug-of-war that Norfolk controlled more often than not after the Sounds grabbed an early advantage in the second inning.

Brock Wilken gave Nashville a 1-0 lead with his ninth home run of the season, crushing a solo blast to left field, but Norfolk answered immediately in the top of the third as Colton Gordon—making his Sounds debut—issued a leadoff walk, and then Heston Kjerstad lined a sharp single past Eduardo Garcia to bring the tying run home. Norfolk took the lead for good in the next turn at the plate when Ryan Noda delivered his first triple of the season, scoring before Chadwick Tromp followed with an RBI single into left field to make it 2-1.

The Tides widened the gap in the fourth inning, using bases-loaded opportunities to keep the pressure rolling as Jud Fabian drove in another run with an RBI single, and Norfolk continued to stack on offense with back-to-back RBI hits that left Nashville trailing 5-1 after Gordon’s night started to unravel. Even as Gordon settled in at points—striking out five Tides batters and working through early frames—Norfolk’s ability to turn rallies into multi-run innings became the difference, and by the time Gordon finished his debut, the damage had already been done. After Gordon exited, Lyon Richardson offered a steadying presence, throwing two scoreless innings and adding four strikeouts over 2.0 innings of relief, giving Nashville hope that the game could be kept within reach.

That hope didn’t last long, however, as the Tides broke things open again in the top of the eighth when Carlos Rodriguez allowed four runs to score, highlighted by a bases-clearing triple from Michael Siani and an additional run after Fabian added a sacrifice fly. Nashville finally posted two runs of its own in the bottom of the eighth when Jacob Hurtubise—making his first appearance with the Sounds since May 31—doubled into left-center and Luis Matos followed with an RBI single to center field, but the rally ended before it could snowball any further.

The Sounds had one last opportunity in the ninth after getting a leadoff single from Jeferson Quero, yet the late push was shut down and Norfolk completed the win. With the series continuing into Sunday night, Nashville will look to regroup for the finale, with Coleman Crow scheduled to start and first pitch set for 6:05 p.m.