Yoho closes out Sounds’ 5-4 win over Stripers in opener
Yoho slammed the door with a clean ninth as Nashville held off Gwinnett 5-4, a late finish that matched the Sounds’ early burst and fourth-inning answer.
Craig Yoho took the ball with a one-run lead and did not let Gwinnett get a second crack at it. The right-hander worked a 1-2-3 ninth at First Horizon Park on Tuesday night, preserving Nashville’s 5-4 win over the Stripers and locking up his second save of the season.
That finish mattered because the game never settled. Nashville jumped first in the opening inning, when Jett Williams and Cooper Pratt drew back-to-back walks, Luis Lara moved both runners with a sacrifice bunt and Luis Matos ripped a two-run single. Jeferson Quero added another RBI later with a sacrifice fly that pushed the Sounds ahead 3-0 before Gwinnett started answering back.
Garrett Stallings had a much rougher line than the early lead suggested. The Nashville starter allowed three runs on one hit over 3.2 innings, striking out two, and the Stripers kept finding ways to stay alive around that lone hit. Gwinnett tied the game 3-3 in the fourth, turning what looked like a comfortable start into a much tighter night.
Nashville answered right back. Williams reached base again in the fourth, stole his 12th bag of the season and then scored on Pratt’s RBI single to put the Sounds back on top 4-3. Gwinnett kept counterpunching and pushed across another run later, but Nashville got the last answer and handed Yoho a one-run cushion for the ninth.
Brian Fitzpatrick earned his third win of the year after covering the middle innings, another useful step for a 40-man arm who made his MLB debut on April 29. In a game shaped by leverage rather than volume, Fitzpatrick’s innings and Yoho’s shutdown frame were the difference between a one-run lead and a missed opening win.
The result also fit the profile of Nashville’s roster and its season so far. The Sounds opened 2026 with 10 of Milwaukee’s top 30 prospects on the active roster, including Williams, ranked No. 3 in the Brewers system, and Pratt at No. 4. Yoho, an International League All-Star last year after posting a 0.94 ERA in 43 appearances and converting 8 of 10 save chances, looked exactly like the late-inning arm that résumé promised. After Gwinnett took five of six from Nashville in their mid-April series at Gwinnett Field, this was the kind of close-game response the Sounds needed, especially after their 6-5 comeback at Durham on May 19 showed they are comfortable winning in the margins.
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