Vihuelas use late surge, beat Demonios 4-1 for ninth one-run win

Easton McGee’s escape from a bases-loaded jam in the fifth inning changed the night at First Horizon Park, and the Vihuelas de Nashville made it count. The Vihuelas turned that pressure point into a three-run inning, then rode the bullpen to a 4-1 win over the Demonios de Des Moines on Wednesday night, their ninth victory of the season in games where they held the opponent to one run or fewer.

Des Moines drew first blood on Kevin Alcántara’s solo homer in the second off Thomas Pannone, but Nashville answered quickly. Ramón Rodríguez, who finished with his second home run of the season, tied it with a solo shot in the third. Pannone worked four innings and allowed only two hits while striking out four, but Nashville began to control the game once Tyler Black kept his on-base streak alive with a fourth-inning single and the lineup kept stacking traffic in the fifth.

McGee inherited the bases-loaded situation in the fifth and struck out two hitters to keep the game level. Nashville then seized the opening. Greg Jones singled, stole second for his eighth steal of the year, and later scored when Cooper Pratt grounded into a forceout. Luis Lara followed with a single that brought home Jett Williams, giving Nashville a 3-1 lead. Lara finished with another three-hit game, and the run production came from the middle of a roster that opened the season with 10 of Milwaukee’s Top 30 prospects, including Williams, Pratt, Lara and Brock Wilken.

The bullpen did the rest. McGee and Peter Strzelecki combined for four scoreless innings and five strikeouts, and Blake Holub closed the ninth for his first save since Sept. 2, 2025, at Norfolk. Wilken stretched his on-base streak to 29 consecutive games and added an eighth-inning triple, his second of the season, to drive in Lara for the final run. Black’s hit pushed his on-base streak to 10 games, while Jones extended his to 15.

The win fit the Vihuelas identity Nashville uses in Copa de la Diversión, a name built around the vihuela, the classic Mexican guitar that anchors the club’s cultural branding. It also fit the shape of Nashville’s season so far: 14 returnees from last year’s roster, a prospect-heavy lineup, and a team that keeps finding one more clean inning or one more timely swing. With 75 home games on the 2026 schedule at First Horizon Park, the Vihuelas have started building a record on nights when the game tightens and they still finish.