Thursday brought a split for Milwaukee’s affiliates, but the big headline came out of Biloxi: Andrew Fischer launched his 47th homer of the season and, in the process, kept rewriting the minor league record book.
Fischer’s blast - his 47th between High-A and Double-A - broke Ryan Howard’s mark for the most home runs by a Minor League player this century. The Shuckers’ report also noted that the total is the most by any minor leaguer since 1982. The 22-year-old first baseman finished 1-for-3 with a homer, a walk and an RBI, and he reached base twice without striking out.
It wasn’t enough to save Biloxi, though. Pensacola out-hit the Shuckers 9-5 and made the most of its chances, scoring twice on back-to-back two-out hits in the second inning. Biloxi had its own opening a half-inning later, but stranded two runners while still down 2-0.
Jheremy Vargas, hitting ninth, went 2-for-3 with a double and was one of only two Shuckers to reach base twice. Matt Wood also did his part to keep the game from getting away. The rest of the lineup never found much traction, and Biloxi finished with just two runners-in-scoring-position chances, going 0-for-2.
On the mound, starter Jaron DeBerry gave up seven hits in 4 2/3 innings, with one walk and one hit batter. Four of those hits went for extra bases - two homers and two doubles - and he was charged with five runs. Joshua Quezada made his Double-A debut and retired four of the five batters he faced over 1 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing no hits while walking one and striking out two.
Garrett Hodges added four strikeouts in his outing but also gave up two earned runs late. Josh Adamczewski’s 12-game hitting streak came to an end with an 0-for-3 night, though he did reach base on a hit-by-pitch. Even with the loss, Biloxi is still headed to the playoffs next week after winning its first-half title, and it needs to take the final three regular-season games to finish at .500.
Nashville, meanwhile, got exactly the kind of clean, efficient win you want from a bullpen game. Carlos Rodriguez, Lyon Richardson, Gerson Garabito and Cameron Wagoner combined to hold Durham to one run and just four hits as the Sounds grabbed a 4-1 victory.
Rodriguez, 24, turned in his best outing in months. Over 3 1/3 innings, he allowed one run on two hits and one walk while striking out four. He didn’t give up a hit until his 12th batter, by which time Nashville was already in front 2-0 thanks to Ethan Murray’s two-run homer.
Richardson was even sharper. He threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing no hits and no walks while striking out two.
He needed only 28 pitches, 21 of them strikes, and retired all eight batters he faced. During that stretch, Ramon Rodriguez doubled home a run and Akil Baddoo went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored on a wild pitch to make it 4-1.
Blake Burke added the final run with his 33rd homer of 2026. He finished 2-for-5, and Tyler Black also went 2-for-4 to give Nashville three multi-hit hitters on the night. The Sounds had nine hits, two walks and one hit-by-pitch overall, though they went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
Rodriguez also helped on defense, throwing out Durham’s only stolen-base attempt to end the seventh. Garabito then worked out of trouble in the next inning by striking out one batter and getting a groundout to leave two runners stranded. Wagoner closed it out, touching 97.6 mph while getting the final three outs.
That win gave Nashville a 2-1 series lead, and left Friday’s assignment to left-hander Tate Kuehner, who is slated to start with a chance to push the Sounds to a 3-1 edge in the road series.
Friday’s slate starts with Nashville at 5:45 p.m. CST, Biloxi at 6:05 p.m.
CST, and the Brewers against the Reds at 6:45 p.m. CST.
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Four walks and a hit batter nearly put a Brewers win in jeopardy, and it only reinforced the question hovering over his immediate future. The club has been open about the fact that Sproat has real potential, but the next step is not about stuff so much as composure and the pitching process that comes with it. A return to Triple-A Nashville now looks likely, and Milwaukee will keep sorting out whether there is enough time for him to sharpen up before October decisions get serious. [Read more 🡒]