Late rallies defined the Brewers’ farm system on Tuesday, and the night ended with three affiliates finding a way to win. Nashville walked it off, Biloxi shook off an early hole, and Wisconsin got just enough timely pop to finish strong. Wilson, meanwhile, ran into a buzzsaw.
Nashville’s win had the most dramatic finish of the bunch. The Sounds didn’t collect their first hit until the sixth inning, when Eduardo Garcia worked a two-out walk, stole second, and scored on Brandon Lockridge’s single to open a 1-0 lead. That slim edge held through a handful of solid pitching performances from Thomas Pannone, Lyon Richardson, Brett Wichrowski and Gerson Garabito, but Louisville finally broke through in the eighth with a soft infield single and a long ball to grab a 2-1 lead.
That set up one last swing. After Jared Koenig fired a scoreless ninth, Brock Wilken singled to start the Sounds’ final at-bat, Blake Burke drew a walk, and after an Akil Baddoo strikeout, Jeferson Quero moved the runners along with a groundout.
Tyler Black then delivered the payoff, ripping a 2-1 cutter into the gap for a walk-off winner. Nashville improved to 72-60, and Black’s big moment capped a strong August in which he posted a .311/.441/.473 slash line.
Biloxi had to climb out of an early 3-0 deficit, but once Andrew Fischer got going, the Shuckers kept punching. Fischer answered in the first with a two-run homer, his 23rd of the season and 43rd overall, and Biloxi later grabbed its first lead in the third when Mike Boeve doubled in two runs.
The Shuckers finished with 10 hits and nine walks, and Fischer again drove the attack, going 3-for-4 with a homer, three RBIs and two runs scored. Boeve also turned in a big night, finishing 3-for-5 with three RBIs.
Josh Adamczewski reached base four times and scored four runs, while Matthew Wood chipped in a pair of hits, including the go-ahead RBI single in the eighth.
On the mound, Josh Knoth made his Double-A debut and gave up five innings with four earned runs and three homers allowed, but the stuff reportedly looked good. Biloxi’s offense did enough to make sure the debut came in a win.
Wisconsin opened its final series of the season with a 3-2 victory over Beloit, and the headline moment came from Juan Ortuno. Promoted to Wisconsin this week, Ortuno jumped on the first pitch he saw at the level and launched a two-run homer in the first inning. The 19-year-old entered the promotion with four homers in 103 games in Wilson, so the immediate impact stood out.
Ethan Dorchies worked the first five innings for the Timber Rattlers and allowed a pair of solo homers in the second and third, though he limited further damage with six strikeouts. Tanner Perry then steadied things with two scoreless innings to keep the game tied, and Bjorn Johnson closed it out with two more scoreless frames for his third save.
Wisconsin’s offense wasn’t exactly loud - just four hits, two walks and 10 strikeouts - but it had enough. The pitching staff combined for 10 strikeouts in the win.
Wilson’s night went the other way fast. Fredericksburg, the playoff-bound affiliate, piled on early in an 11-3 win, with Joey Broughton taking the brunt of it.
Broughton gave up seven runs on nine hits in three innings, including three home runs, and exited with Wilson down 7-1. Wenderlyn King and Ismael Yanez followed and each allowed two runs over two innings.
Rylan Mills provided the only real bright spot for the Warbirds’ offense, homering in the second and fourth innings. He now has four home runs and seven RBI over his last five games.
Beyond that, Wilson managed only two singles and two walks while striking out 10 times. Frederi Montero drew a bases-loaded walk in the ninth to bring home the final run, and the game ended with Jose Anderson and Filippo Di Turi striking out to leave the bases loaded.
There was also some roster movement around the system. Milwaukee recalled catcher C Bo Naylor from Nashville, while Frank Cairone, Dariel Jaquez and Ma’Kale Holden were assigned to Wilson from the ACL Brewers. On Monday, Nashville placed first baseman Luke Adams on the 7-day injured list, Milwaukee signed free agent shortstop Jonathan Ornelas to a minor league contract and assigned him to Nashville, Juan Ortuno and Miqueas Mercedes were sent to Wisconsin from Wilson, Wisconsin released right-hander Jose Nova, and Luis Lameda moved from Wisconsin to the ACL Brewers.
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