Kuehner shines, Sounds fall 3-2 to Knights in extras

Tate Kuehner gave Nashville a road start built to win, but the Sounds still left Truist Field with a 3-2, 10-inning loss after Mario Camilletti delivered Charlotte’s walk-off hit.

Kuehner was sharp from the first inning through his final batter, holding the Knights to one earned run while striking out a season-high eight over 5.2 innings. He worked well enough to keep Nashville in control of the game’s pace, even after Jarred Kelenic opened the scoring with a solo homer in the bottom of the first. The blast traveled 404 feet and gave Charlotte an early edge, but the Sounds answered in the second and kept the game within reach all night.

Nashville’s first run came after Luis Lara and Eddys Leonard helped set the table, with Ramón Rodríguez bringing home the payoff on a groundout. That tied the game and set up the kind of tight, leverage-heavy contest the Sounds have been playing throughout the series. Nashville had already won 5-1 and lost 3-2 in the first two games against Charlotte, and this one followed the same pattern of small margins and big single innings.

The Sounds briefly seized the lead in the seventh when Ethan Murray lined an RBI single. Charlotte erased it immediately, though, as Ryan Galanie jumped on the first pitch of the bottom half for a leadoff homer that traveled 422 feet and tied the score at 2-2. From there, the game turned into a test of execution in the highest-pressure spots.

Nashville’s best chance to break through in extras never fully materialized. Ethan Murray started the 10th as the automatic runner at second, moved to third on a wild pitch, and then was stranded after two popouts and a shallow fly to right. Charlotte made its opening in the bottom half count. Rikuu Nishida laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the winning run to third, Kelenic was intentionally walked, and Nashville added an extra infielder before Camilletti lined the walk-off hit. It was his second walk-off hit of the season and Charlotte’s fourth walk-off win in eight home victories.

For Nashville, the loss was a sharp reminder of how thin the line is in Triple-A baseball. Kuehner did his part, but the Sounds could not land the final counterpunch in a game that stayed within one run almost the entire night.