Nashville Takes Series Command with 7-4 Win Over Iowa
June 21, 2025 - International League (IL)
Nashville Sounds News Release
NASHVILLE - Nashville took the series lead over the Iowa Cubs on Saturday night with a 7-4 win. Nashville will have a chance to close out the first half of the International League schedule with their eighth series win in the finale on Sunday afternoon at First Horizon Park.
Southpaw Josh Maciejewski made his first start of the season on the mound after making 15 relief appearances between Nashville and Double-A Biloxi. He worked a season-high four innings and did not allow a hit or walk and had four strikeouts of the 12 batters he faced. He exited the game with a 2-0 lead after Anthony Seigler plated the first run of the night with a sac fly in the bottom of the third and back-to-back two-out doubles from Ernesto Martinez Jr. and Drew Avans in the fourth.
Nashville did more two-out damage in the fifth. Jared Oliva tripled home Seigler who led off the inning with a single. Jorge Alfaro then provided Nashville with a 4-0 advantage with a RBI double.
Elvin Rodriguez was in for relief of Maciejewski and faced four batters in the top of the fifth. A one-out double was the I-Cubs first hit of the night but was followed by back-to-back strikeouts for Rodriguez. He was back for the sixth and got two quick outs. However, a hit by pitch and two walks loaded the bases before a pitching change was made. The first batter Elvis Peguero faced tied the game with a grand slam on the second Iowa hit of the night. Three straight walks followed before Bryan Hudson struck out Darius Hill in his second at-bat of the inning.
Hudson was back for the seventh and added another strikeout to his line. Joel Payamps struck out the side in order in the top of the eighth as the game still remained tied despite holding Iowa to just two hits over eight frames.
The third Iowa error allowed Avans to reach for the third time in four trips to the plate. He immediately stole second and put himself in scoring position for Anthony Seigler who delivered the go-ahead RBI with his second hit. Bobby Dalbec extended the lead to three runs with the fourth Nashville double of the game off Iowa pitching.
Right-hander Blake Holub was the sixth different Nashville pitcher used when he headed to the mound for the top of the ninth. Like Payamps, Holub struck out the side in order for his first save of the season.
In control of the series, Sunday's series finale will be a pitching rematch from Tuesday's opener. RHP Tobias Myers (1-3, 3.48 ERA) earned his first Nashville win of the season on Tuesday and will face Iowa and RHP Kenta Maeda (1-2, 10.23 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 2:05 p.m.
POSTGAME NOTES:
4K MAGIC: LHP Josh Maciejewski worked a season-high 4.0 IP without allowing a hit in his first start since his final appearance of the 2024 season. He ended last season with seven straight starts and four consecutive 4+ IP. He also went four-plus in five-of-seven overall to end his season. Entering Saturday night, he had pitched in 140 professional games with only 17 career hitless appearances but never more than 2.2 IP when he did so on September 19, 2023, with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre against Syracuse. Maciejewski also matched his season-high with four strikeouts. He also had four on June 3rd vs. Gwinnett when he worked 3.1 IP.
SO NICE HE DID IT THRICE: Jorge Alfaro made it three straight multi-hit games after going 2-for-5 with a double and RBI on Saturday night. He is one of seven different Nashville players to have three consecutive multi-hit games and the third to do it this month. Bobby Dalbec started this series with back-to-back 2+ hit games and began his streak in the series finale against Norfolk last Sunday. Ernesto Martinez Jr. is the only Nashville player to string together four-straight multi-hit games this season when he did so from April 8-12.
QUAD SQUAD: Playing in his second game since May 11th, Jared Oliva collected his fourth triple of the year in the bottom of the fifth. He tied Anthony Seigler for the most triples on the team this season and the pair are tied with six others for the second-most in the International League. Toledo's Hao-Yu Lee leads the IL with five triples. Saturday night's triple for Oliva was his first since May 8th against Norfolk.
DO THE DREW: Drew Avans had his second multi-hit game with Nashville in seven games played. He ended Saturday night 2-for-4 with a double, RBI, and two runs scored. His last multi-hit performance came in the series opener in Norfolk last Tuesday night when he went 2-for-5. Saturday night was his second double of the season and his second RBI in his seven games played. Avans, who made his Major League debut earlier this season with the Athletics before being DFA'd, was claimed by Milwaukee on June 8th and recalled by the Brewers on June 13th after just two games with the Sounds. He played in just one game with the Brewers and collected his first Major League RBI on June 15th.
WALK THIS WAY: Jeferson Quero drew a season-high four walks at the plate for Nashville. The four walks are tied for the most by a player in the International League this year. The Brewers' no. 2-rated prospect is the eighth different player to draw four walks in a game in 2025. The last Nashville player to draw four walks in a game was Yonny Hernandez on May 10, 2024, at Durham. Quero had four walks in 11 games entering the night since joining the Sounds.
MORE AND LESS: The six Nashville pitchers used on Saturday night held the I-Cubs to a season-low two hits. Iowa had more errors (3) than hits for the game and also finished the night with more walks issued (8) than strikeouts (7). The 14 strikeouts by Nashville pitchers were the seventh times this season with 14+ strikeouts in a game. They set their season-high in 10 innings on March 30 vs. Jacksonville.
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