Brewers Minor League Link Report (8/18): DSL Brewers Gold Clinch Division; Bleak Night for Rest of System

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It was an ugly night across the system for the Brewers' affiliates. Nashville was walked off. Biloxi dropped their 12th straight. Wisconsin lost a close one and Wilson was embarrassed. Sprinkled in, we saw some familiar faces in new places for the second straight week. The silver lining came in the DSL, where regular season play concluded and the DSL Gold squad clinched their division title.

Transactions:

Milwaukee Brewers sent SS Cooper Pratt on a rehab assignment to Wisconsin Timber Rattlers.
Nashville Sounds activated SS Freddy Zamora from the 7-day injured list.
Nashville Sounds placed SS Eduardo Garcia on the 7-day injured list retroactive to August 17, 2026.
SS Luis Peña assigned to Biloxi Shuckers from Wisconsin Timber Rattlers.
Biloxi Shuckers placed LHP Sam Garcia on the 7-day injured list.
RHP Joshua Quezada assigned to Wisconsin Timber Rattlers from Wilson Warbirds.
SS Brady Ebel assigned to Wisconsin Timber Rattlers from Wilson Warbirds.
RHP Wenderlyn King assigned to Wilson Warbirds from ACL Brewers.
SS Trey Ebel assigned to Wilson Warbirds from ACL Brewers.
RHP Andrew Gaines assigned to Wilson Warbirds from ACL Brewers.

Game Action:

Norfolk (Baltimore) 8, Nashville 7
Box Score

NOTE: There is currently not an online link available for the Sounds-provided summary, so we provide it directly here:

Sounds Walked Off in Norfolk

Tyler Black Belts Third Career Grand Slam

NORFOLK, VA – Nashville suffered an 8-7 walk-off loss in Norfolk on Tuesday night to open a 12-game road trip. The Sounds tied the game with a ninth inning run but saw the Tides answer with the game-winner in the bottom of inning as Nashville was handed their eighth walk-off loss of the season.

Sounds starter Colton Gordon saw Norfolk take a 4-0 lead after two innings and before the Sounds could even get a baserunner aboard off Norfolk starter Nestor German. Gordon loaded the bases in the bottom of the first off a walk, single, and hit batter with the first run of the game scoring via a sacrifice fly. The Tides leadoff batter in the bottom of the second singled his way aboard and advanced into scoring position on a throwing error by Brock Wilken. Gordon battled back to retire each of the next two but a two-out bunt single RBI scored Luis Vazquez from second on the play. Rece Hinds proceeded to make it a 4-0 game with a two-run home run to right field. Gordon finished his night after 4.0 IP with four runs allowed on four hits and struck out three with a pair of walks.

Luis Matos served as the first baserunner of the game for Nashville after he led off the top of the third with a single. He was followed aboard by Ethan Murray who drew a walk and Freddy Zamora who also singled in his return to the Nashville lineup to load the bases. Tyler Black cleared them with his second grand slam of the season and third of his career to even the score at 4-4. Nashville took their first lead of the game in the fifth after Jeferson Quero doubled home Bo Naylor with a two-out RBI. Wilken made it a two-run Nashville advantage with his 13th home run of the season to begin the top of the sixth.

After two scoreless innings in relief for Carlos Rodriguez, Brett Wichrowski took over on the mound for Nashville in the bottom of the seventh. Three straight one-out hits brought the Tides within a run after Heston Kjerstad doubled home a run and pushed the tying run to third. Wichrowski induced a ground ball to Murray who went home on the play to try and nab Hinds on a play at the plate. The tag by Naylor was late as Hinds scored with Kjerstad also able to score standing up on the play as the ball rolled away from Naylor towards the Norfolk dugout.

In the top of the ninth with Nashville down a run, Zamora walked and stole second. Naylor added his lone hit of the night to score Zamora and tie the game at 7-7. It was the fourth straight game with a RBI for Naylor who has recorded eight total over his last four games played. Back-to-back flyouts from the heart of the Sounds batting order sent the game to the bottom of the ninth.

Garrett Stallings was back on the mound after relieving Wihcrowski in the bottom of the seventh and stranding a two-out triple in the eighth. Hinds and Kjerstad each tallied their third hit of the night with singles to begin the inning with a wild pitch pushing both up an extra base and left Hinds standing on third as the potential winning run. A walk issued by Stallings loaded the bases for Jose Barrero who hit a ball deep enough to left field to allow Hinds to dash home for a third time and the walk-off win.

The Sounds and Tides will continue their six-game series on Wednesday night at Harbor Park. First pitch is scheduled for 5:35 p.m. LHP Thomas Pannone (4-1, 4.09 ERA) will get the start for Nashville in game two of the series.

POSTGAME NOTES:

SLAMMIN SOUNDS, PT. 11: Tyler Black hit his second grand slam of the season and third of his career on Tuesday night in Norfolk. Black is now tied for the most grand slams hit by a Nashville player in their career. Erick Peterson and J.R. House also each hit three over their time in Nashville. Peterson hit two during the 1981 season and added his third in 1983 while House hit all three of his during the 2004 season. Black is the 17th different Nashville player to record multiple grand slams in the same season, and the fifth to do it this season, joining Brock Wilken, Luke Adams, Akil Baddoo, and Eddys Leonard. Nashville leads all Minor League Baseball with 11 grand slams this season. High-A Dayton (CIN), Double-A Somerset (NYY), and Double-A Springfield (STL) have each hit nine this year and are tied for second behind the Sounds. The 11 grand slams add to a historic season for Nashville, who had never hit more than six in any single season entering the year.

BAYSIDE BROCKETS: Brock Wilken tied the team lead with his 13th home run of the season on Tuesday in Norfolk. He tied Luke Adams atop the Nashville leaderboard for round trippers and leads the club with his 65 RBI this season. The 13 long balls are the third-most Wilken has recorded in a single-season of his professional career behind his 18 in 2025 with Double-A Biloxi and 17 he hit in 2024 with the Shuckers. Wilken has 53 career home runs and is now tied for the second-most in the farm system since 2023 along with former Sound Wes Clarke. Eric Bitonti leads all Brewers minor leaguers over the span with his 56 home runs.

R-BO-I: Bo Naylor recorded his fourth straight game with a RBI after plating Freddy Zamora in the top of the ninth inning on Tuesday night to tie the game at 7-7. Naylor has eight RBI total over his last four games played. He is the eighth different Nashville player to have a RBI streak of 4+ games this season for Nashville and the first since Luke Adams (July 9-17). Cooper Pratt posted a RBI in five straight games to lead all Nashville players. Since appearing in his first game with Nashville on August 4, Naylor is hitting .270 (10-for-37) with a double, three home runs, 10 RBI, and seven runs scored. Since making his Triple-A debut with Columbus in 2022, Naylor has produced 129 RBI in 180 games with 38 doubles and 38 home runs in Triple-A.

Nashville lost a heartbreaker on Tuesday, rallying back from an early four run deficit to take the lead in the middle portion of the game, only to get walked off in the 9^th.

Colton Gordon (4IP 4H 4R 4ER 2BB 3K) started and put the Sounds in an early hole, but was bailed out when Tyler Black delivered a game-tying grand slam in the third inning, courtesy of the Sounds’ X account:

In the 5^th, Jeferson Quero popped a ground rule double into the wind to give the Sounds the lead, and then Brock Wilken extended the lead with his 13^th home run of the year:

Carlos Rodriguez gave the Sounds a chance with two shutout innings, but then the bullpen faltered. Brett Wichrowski continued his difficult season allowing three runs (two earned) while retiring just one batter in the seventh. That gave Salem a 7-6 lead heading into the 9^th.

In the 9^th, the freshly activated Freddy Zamora walked, stole second, and then scored on a Bo Naylor single. But in the bottom half of the inning, the wheels fell off for Garrett Stallings. Stallings allowed a pair of singles, a wild pitch, and a walk to load the bases with nobody out. A sac fly then gave the walk-off win to Salem.

The loss drops the Sounds to 65-56 on the season. Wednesday's starter is TBD.

Biloxi pre-game media notes
Rocket City (Angels) 7, Biloxi 3
Box Score

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

Peña Records 1st Double-A Hit, Shuckers Drop Opener to Trash Pandas - Thompson sets new career-high with eight strikeouts, Cruz strikes out seven in relief

The tough times continued for Biloxi on Tuesday as the Shuckers once again fell behind early on their way to a 7-3 loss, their 12^th consecutive defeat.

2025 2^nd-round pick JD Thompson took his second start at AA and struck out a career high eight in four innings of work. Unfortunately Thompson allowed two runs in the first and another in the third and the Trash Pandas never looked back.

The Shuckers’ prospect-laden lineup managed just five hits on the night. Luis Pena made his AA debut playing third base and collected his first hit, courtesy of the Biloxi X account:

Damon Keith had the only extra-base hit for the Shuckers, with a run-scoring double to open the scoring:

The other RBIs came courtesy of an Andrew Fischer sac fly and a Mike Boeve ground out.

Stiven Cruz came on for Thompson and struck out seven in three innings of work. However, the bullpen couldn’t keep the game close as Rocket City responded to Biloxi’s rallies and were never really threatened until late in the game.

In the top of the 9^th, the Shuckers loaded the bases on an error, a walk, and a single. That brought Braylon Payne to the plate as the tying run, but Payne struck out to end the game.

The loss drops the Shuckers below .500 (55-56) for the first time since May 27^th. No starter has been named for Wednesday’s game.

Wisconsin pre-game media notes
Lake County (Guardians) 4, Wisconsin 3
Box Score

Captains Steer Past Rattlers - Lake County’s late run tops Wisconsin

Wisconsin dropped a tough defeat, losing 4-3 at home to Lake County on Tuesday. The game started out well, as Brady Ebel, in his Wisconsin debut, drew the first of his four walks to open the game. The rehabbing Cooper Pratt then singled, and eventually both players scored on Eric Bitonti’s clutch two-out two-run single. You can see all the highlights below from the Rattlers’ YouTube page.

Unfortunately after the hot start, Wisconsin would not manage much offense the rest of the game. After Lake County had rallied off Rattlers’ starter Jacob Morrison (3.2IP 3H 3R 3ER 3BB 5K) to take a 3-2 lead, Pratt tied the game with a sac fly in the fifth. Wisconsin managed just five hits on the night and was 1-for-9 with RISP.

The game remained knotted at three until the 8^th, when Lake County used a HBP, double, and sac fly to take the lead. Andrew Healy was the tough luck loser in this one, despite throwing four innings of one-run ball with seven strikeouts. Healy has a 16:2 K:BB rate through his first 14 innings at the level.

With the defeat, the Rattlers drop to 3.5 games back in the second half standings. RHP Josh Knoth (4-3, 4.68 ERA) takes the mound in the early game on Wednesday.

Wilson pre-game media notes
Salem (Red Sox) 21, Wilson 4
Box Score

Wilson Allows Season Highs in Big Loss - Ebel Records First Hit

Wilson was steamrolled in their series opening loss to Salem on Tuesday night. Salem put up three touchdowns across the first five innings of the game on their way to a 21-4 drubbing of the Warbirds.

Joan Pena (2.1 IP 10ER), Thomas Conrad (1.2IP 5ER) and Enderson Mercado (.2IP 6ER) were all battered by the RidgeYaks’ lineup. Salem tallied rallies of 4-1-7-3-6 runs to open the game as the carousel kept spinning all night long. Only Ismael Yanez (1.1IP 1H 2B 2K) and seldom used backup catcher Eric Martinez (2IP 3H) got through the game unscathed. Perhaps the Salem offense tired themselves out by the 6^th inning of play.

The Warbirds did manage nine hits on offense. Juan Ortuno led the team with three hits, including a double, three steals and two runs scored. Brailyn Antunez continued his torrid stretch at Wilson with another multi-hit game, while Carsten Sabathia III doubled twice. Antunez is now carrying a 1.271 OPS through his first 18 games in Low A.

Trey Ebel made his full-season debut and picked up right where his brother Brady left off with a hit and two walks.

LHP Joey Broughton (0-3, 5.55 ERA) will make his 7^th start (12^th appearance) on Wednesday as Wilson will look to flush this one from memory as quickly as possible.

DSL Brewers Gold 15, DSL Pirates Gold 6
Box Score

The DSL Brewers Gold concluded their regular season on Tuesday with a resounding 15-6 victory over DSL Pirates Gold.

The Brewers jumped all over the Pirates early and the outcome was never in doubt after the second inning. In the first inning Ricki Moneys and Leanders Matos each walked and stole base, then Josue Rodriguez plated them both on an RBI single to make it 2-1 Brewers. In the second inning, the Brewers sent 13 men to the plate and scored eight runs to put the game out of reach. Moneys had a two-run triple and Fernandez had the big blast with a three-run home run, part of a five RBI day for the 17-year-old left fielder. The hectic second inning featured six walks, four wild pitches, a balk, and an error. As a team, the Brewers had a staggering 17 walks on the day.

Santiago Garcia was one of the other offensive stars of the day. Garcia finished a triple shy of the cycle and belted his first home run of the season (120 at-bats).

On the mound for the Brewers; starter Daniel Garcia allowed three run in three innings of work. Joan Gonzalez was filthy, striking out eight in his four innings of work. Garcia was one out shy of a clean inning, when a two-out error in the seventh inning led to three unearned runs scoring before the final out was recorded

With the win, the Gold squad (34-20) clinched the DSL Central Division and will advance to the DSL playoffs. We will await word on timing and first opponent for the playoff push.

DSL Rojos (Reds) 10, DSL Brewers Blue 5
Box Score

The DSL Brewers Blue finished their DSL season on a sour note, dropping a 10-5 decision to the DSL Rojos on Tuesday. The Blue squad fell behind early, but showed their grit rallying to tie the game and eventually take a brief lead. However, the Rojos put the game away with big rallies in the sixth and eighth inning.

The Brewers actually outhit the Rojos 8-5 on the day, but were doomed by a pitching staff that allowed 10 walks. Angel Gonzalez paced the offense with three hits, including a triple. Jose Rodriguez had two hits, a walk, and a run scored. Diego Frontado knocked in two runs on a double. The 17-year-old Frontado finishes his impressive first season in the system with a .979 OPS and 46 RBI.

The Brewers emptied the clip on the bullpen in the final game of the season. Six different pitchers were used. Carlos Canales (1IP 1BB) and Jean Rodriguez (2IP 2BB 1K) were the noteworthy performances as the pair worked hitless and scoreless outings in relief.

The game turned when the Rojos capitalized on command issues from the Brewers bullpen, scoring four runs in the sixth with the help of three hit batters, three walks, and a wild pitch.

The Brewers Blue finish the season 31-24 and just miss out on qualifying for the playoffs.

Well, at least the Brewers game was a fun one on Tuesday. The DSL has wrapped on the regular season, so it's just the four full-season affiliates in play on Wednesday. Wisconsin once again has the early game at noon CT.

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