Brewers Minor League Link Report (9/15): Biloxi One Win from Reaching Championship Series; Nashville Wins in Walk-off

[Ben Lepak]

Image courtesy of BrewerFanatic

Biloxi took game one of the SLDS with Pensacola. It was a team effort in the box and on the mound. The team will have two games at home to close the series and clinch a spot in the championship. In Nashville, the Sounds started their final week of the season in walk-off fashion. 

 

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Transaction: 

• Milwaukee Brewers sent RHP Bryse Wilson on a rehab assignment to Nashville Sounds.

Not quite a transaction, but "theBrewersFarm" account has the list of Brewers heading to the Arizona Fall League, which was announced Tuesday:

 

 

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Game Action:

Nashville pre-game media notes
Nashville 5, Memphis (Cardinals) 4, F/11
Box Score

First, the Nashville Press Release in full as a linked location is not available this AM:

Sounds Walk Off the First-Half Champs in Series Opener

Four Different Sounds Record Multi-Hit Games; Brett Wichrowski Earns His Fourth Win of the Season

 

NASHVILLE – The Nashville Sounds secured their eighth walk-off win of the season with a 5-4 extra-innings victory over the Memphis Redbirds Tuesday night at First Horizon Park. Brock Wilken, Brandon Lockridge, Akil Baddoo and Jeferson Quero each tallied a 2-hit game in the win and were responsible for 4-of-the-5 runs contributed. 

 

The Sounds jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning as Wilken lined a one-out single into center field. Two at-bats later, Lockridge ripped an RBI-double to center and scored Wilken for the one-run lead. Baddoo followed with his own RBI-single and scored Lockridge for the second run of the game. Memphis immediately tied the game as Coleman Crow issued three singles, including back-to-back RBI-singles.

 

Nashville regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning as Quero led off the inning with a base hit into center field. After a wild pitch by Memphis advanced Black into scoring position, Eduardo Garcia drove Black home with an RBI-single to take back the lead. The Redbirds retaliated once again as major league rehabber Bryse Wilson issued two singles, including an RBI-single to make it 3-3. With one out in the frame, Wilson was relieved for Gerson Garabito inheriting the two runners on base and issued a walk to load the bases. Garabito stranded all three runners on base as he issued a fly out to center field to get out of the frame. 

 

Blake Holub entered the game in the top of the ninth inning and retired the side in 1-2-3 fashion. The Sounds had not scored in five straight innings as the Redbirds pitching staff retired 16-of-the-last-22 batters faced since the final out of the fourth frame, heading into extra innings. Holub remained in the game for the top of the 10th and issued an RBI-single into center, scoring the placement runner from second and giving the Redbirds their first lead of the game. 

 

The Sounds responded in the bottom of the 10th inning as Quero ripped an RBI-single into center field and scored Lockridge from second base to tie the game and head into the 11th. Brett Wichrowski secured the 1-2-3 frame in the top of the 11th inning to give Nashville another opportunity for the walk-off win. Garcia drew a leadoff walk that put two on base. After Jonathan Ornelas dropped a sac bunt towards the first baseman and advanced both runners into scoring position, Wilken ripped a hard grounder at the second baseman and was deep enough to score Rodriguez for the 5-4 walk-off win. Wichrowski earned his fourth win of the season, second in relief, and worked his eighth straight appearance without allowing an earned run.

 

The Sounds and the Redbirds continue the final series of the 2026 season on Wednesday, September 16. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. CT and right-hander Carlos Rodriguez (0-6, 7.79 ERA) is scheduled to get the start for Nashville. 

 

POSTGAME NOTES:

 

GOT WILK?: Brock Wilken recorded his 15th multi-hit game of the season - first since September 6 vs. Louisville - and finished Tuesday's series opener against the Memphis Redbirds 2-for-5 with a walk, run, and a strikeout. He snapped a four-game hitless streak and bounced back from a 1-for-16 series in Durham last week. He is tied with Tyler Black and Akil Baddoo for the second-most multi-hit games on Nashville's active roster. Entering the night, Wilken was just 5-for-32 (.156) in nine games against the Redbirds this season with three of his hits coming in the matchup on June 20 in Memphis. He was 1-for-20 against the Redbirds over his last six games after his three-hit day. His walk in the bottom of the ninth inning was his 80^th of the season, placing him in a tie with Brian Dayett (1982) for the 10th-most in a single-season in Sounds franchise history. 

 

KEY LOCK: Brandon Lockridge extended his current hitting streak to five games, tying his season high as part of a multi-hit day. After recording three of the Sounds' five hits over the last two games, he added his fifth multi-hit game, and second in his last three games, finishing Tuesday night 2-for-4 with a double, RBI, two runs, and a strikeout. He is 7-for-19 over his last five games with two doubles, three RBI, and a walk. Since returning to Nashville on August 23, he is hitting .266 (17-for-64) with a hit in 13 of his last 16 games. 

 

SO NICE WE DID IT BRYSE: Right-hander Bryse Wilson began his Major League Rehab assignment with 2.1 IP on Tuesday night in his first game action since he landed on the Brewers 15-day IL on August 31. He surrendered one unearned run on four hits with a pair of strikeouts against the Redbirds. In 12 relief appearances for the Brewers this season, Wilson has allowed seven earned runs across 24.2 IP with 22 strikeouts and just one walk. It was his first action in Triple-A since June 11 when he was with Lehigh Valley (PHI). After beginning the season in the Phillies org, Wilson appeared in 12 games for the Iron Pigs, going 3-5 with a 6.29 ERA in 11 starts. Despite pitching in 100 games for the Brewers between 2023-2024 & 2026, Tuesday night was his Nashville debut. He made 72 appearances between Gwinnett (2018-21), Indianapolis (2022), Charlotte (2025) and Lehigh Valley (2026). 

 

BROCK-OFF: Nashville's 5-4 walk-off win over Memphis was the Sounds' eighth walk-off win of the year. Brock Wilken delivered the game-winning run with grounder to second base in the bottom of the 11th inning to score Ramon Rodriguez. Wilken is the eighth different player to deliver a walk-off win for Nashville this season. It was the third walk-off of his career. His last was on May 25 of last year for Double-A Biloxi when he also reached on a fielder's choice. His first career walk-off was a RBI single in the bottom of the ninth to beat the ACL Rangers in his sixth career game. It was Nashville's second time going to 11 innings this year and the first since May 15 against Iowa when the Sounds won 4-3. The Sounds improved to 3-8 in extra innings this year.

Earlier we had compiled this report including video evidence -

The Sounds started off their final week of play on a happy note with a 5-4 walk-off victory over their in-state rivals Memphis on Tuesday night.

Brandon Lockridge got Nashville on the board in the first inning with a two-out run scoring single, seen here courtesy of the Sounds’ X account:

Akil Baddoo then chipped one into shallow center to make it 2-0 after one.

Coleman Crow (4IP 7H 2R 1ER 1BB 2K) was on the mound for his penultimate start of the season. Crow immediately gave the two-run lead back in the second inning, due in part to his own throwing error. However, the shorter outing, couldn't take the shine off a memorable season for Crow, who managed to stay healthy and make his MLB debut, while throwing his most innings (117) in a season since 2022.

The score remained tied at two until the 4^th inning when Eduardo Garcia lined an opposite field single to give Nashville the lead 3-2.

The rehabbing Bryse Wilson came on for Crow and faced the minimum in the 5^th and 6^th innings thanks to a double play. In the 7^th, the Red Birds tied the game after an error and two singles chased Wilson from the game with the score knotted at 3-3.

Neither team could break through in the final two frames, so the game headed to extras.  In the 10^th, Blake Holub did well to limit Memphis to only one run, with the “ghost runner” scoring on a single to make it 4-3 Memphis. In the home half of the inning, Jeferson Quero followed suit with an RBI single of his own.

Ten innings would not be enough to decide things, so Brett Wichrowski was summoned from the Nashville pen to keep the game tied. Wichrowski did just that with his 8^th consecutive outing without an earned run (2R in 7.1IP) to give the Sounds a shot at a walk-off.

In the 11^th, Brock Wilken played hero by putting the ball in play to score the winning run from third:

Wilken, Quero, Baddoo, and Lockridge all had two-hit games for the Sounds.

RHP Carlos Rodriguez (0-6, 7.79 ERA) will get the ball on Wednesday, in the lone game for the affiliates.

 

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Biloxi pre-game media notes
Biloxi 6, Pensacola (Marlins) 3 (Game 1 of Best-of-Three Series)
Box Score

As always, you are encouraged to read the official round-up from the team’s site: 

Letson, Keith, Wood Lead Shuckers to Win in SLDS Opener - Shuckers take lead in playoff series for first time since 2019, stand one win away from returning to SLCS

Biloxi pulled out a hard-fought, tense 6-3 victory in game one of their Southern League Divisional Series in steamy Pensacola on Tuesday night.

The game started with some fantastic defense in the first inning. After Dylan O’Rae walked and stole second, Andrew Fischer was robbed on a grounder up the middle to keep the game scoreless. In the bottom of the first inning, center fielder Braylon Payne returned the favor with a defensive gem of his own, on this throw courtesy of the Shuckers’ X account:

Bishop Letson (5IP 6H 1R 1ER 3BB 4K) was the beneficiary of the fine defense as he worked around traffic all night on what was a memorable 22^nd birthday for the right hander.

The game was scoreless until the fifth inning, when Damon Keith continued his season-long assault on Blue Wahoos’ pitching with a mammoth solo shot that is now in orbit somewhere around earth:

Keith came into the game with six home runs, a 1.184 OPS, and 22 RBI in 18 games against Pensacola this season.

O’Rae then added to the lead with a smash to second that was too hot to handle, making it 2-0 Shuckers.

It was good to see O’Rae contributing all over the field on Tuesday after a tough second half. O’Rae was so pivotal to the Shuckers’ early season success with his ludicrous on-base rate and propensity for base thievery.  

Pensacola got one back in their half of the fifth on a two-out single to leftfielder Josh Adamczewski that was fired into home a beat late. That cut the lead to 2-1 Biloxi.

In the sixth inning, the Shuckers broke the game open with a three-run rally. First, Adamczewski looped a ball to third base that sidewinded into the Shuckers’ bullpen to make it 3-1.

Then catcher Matthew Wood tested the other baseline with a two-run double into the rightfield corner to make it 5-1 Biloxi:

Then the game was in the hands of both teams’ bullpens, which would not inspire much confidence among any Shuckers’ fans who watched the team since the beginning of August. Wande Torres was the first man to get the call and after a scoreless 6^th inning, Torres was burned by a two-out single in the 7^th that cut the lead to 5-3.

However, the difference in the final two frames was the execution of big pitches in clutch moments as Travis Smith and Ryan Birchard combined for four strikeouts, with just one hit allowed in the final 2.1 innings to slam the door.

The Wahoos’ bullpen walked four men in the final three innings, much to the chagrin of the vocal Pensacola fans in attendance. On a night when the temperature was 86 degrees with 83 percent humidity, tempers boiled over with the home plate umpire’s strike zone. In the stands, in the dugout, and on the mound, everyone was chirping and demonstrative with the umpire as Pensacola closer Jake Sellinger lost the zone late in the game.

In the 9^th, Keith added an insurance run on a double to give the Shuckers the winning margin of 6-3. Keith, Wood, and Fischer all had two-hit days for Biloxi, who struck out 15 times as a team. O’Rae and Mike Boeve were each on base three times with two walks and a hit apiece.

Wish to see all those clips in news report view? Biloxi's WLOX has you covered as they put together all the clips of the road game.

LHP J.D. Thompson (0-3, 4.33 ERA in 27IP at AA) will make the biggest start of his career (18 starts across three levels this season) in game two on Thursday night. It will be the 2025 2^nd-round pick’s 7^th start at AA this season. Eliazar Dishmey (4-1, 3.30 ERA, 92K in 71IP at AA) will take the hill for Pensacola. 

 

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Well friends, that's the last scheduled Tuesday games for the Brewers' affiliates. However, I have a good feeling the Shuckers are going through to the Southern League championship. If that's the case. I hope to see you back here next week to celebrate their title, and then I will bid you adieu at that time. Thanks for reading!

 

Organizational Scoreboard including starting pitcher info, game times, MiLB TV links, and box scores
Current Milwaukee Brewers Organization Batting Stats and Depth
Current Milwaukee Brewers Organization Pitching Stats and Depth

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[Jim Goulart]

Interesting absence for Jaron DeBerry in the pecking order. More to the story?

 

[Jim Goulart]