Strong outing from Matusz lifts Tides

Brian Matusz was dominant Thursday afternoon at Harbor Park, and the Norfolk Tides offense broke open a pitcher’s duel to defeat the Lehigh Valley IronPigs 7-0 in front of 5,076 fans.

Matusz (2-3, 3.46) went the distance to earn his second-straight victory in shutout fashion. The former first round draft selection allowed just five hits on the afternoon and rarely found himself in trouble on the afternoon.

One of the few instances came in the 4th inning when Carlos Rivero followed Cody Overbeck’s one-out single with a double that gave the visitors runners at second and third in a scoreless contest. Matusz worked himself out of the jam by striking out the next two batters to end the threat. The left-hander tied a season-high with eight strikeouts on the afternoon.

Lehigh Valley starter Ryan Feierabend kept his team in the game, matching Matusz pitch for pitch through six innings, but the wheels came off in the 7th inning when the Tides offense finally busted through on the scoreboard with back-to-back doubles to leadoff the frame from Ryan Adams and Jake Fox. The Tides increased their lead later in the frame with three-straight two-out singles, the second of which ran Feierabend from the game.

Feierabend (9-8, 5.71) was charged with four runs on seven hits in 6.2 innings. He struck out five batters and walked one.

Phillippe Aumont wasn’t effective in relief for the IronPigs. The Philadelphia farmhand was greeted with an RBI single by Carlos Rojas and then walked consecutive batters, the second of which plated the Tides fourth run of the inning.

Aumont trotted to the mound to start the 8th inning but wouldn’t finish the frame after allowing consecutive singles to Fox and Brandon Snyder to lead off. Following a walk to Rhyne Hughes, Brendan Harris came through with a two-run single that broke the game open and finished Aumont’s afternoon. He was credited with 0.2 innings pitched and allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits. He also walked three batters.

Matusz’s complete game shutout was the Tides second of the season. Brad Bergesen threw the other on June 8 against Pawtucket.

The Tides will travel to Charlotte Friday for the start of a four-game series with the Knights. The Tides will return to Harbor Park on Tuesday, August 16 to face the same Charlotte club. RH Mitch Atkins (2-5, 5.20) will take on RH Joe Bisenius (4-1, 3.20) in the opener Friday night.

Walkoff hit boosts Tides to W

Ryan Adams delivered the game winner for the Norfolk Tides Wednesday night at Harbor Park to defeat the Lehigh Valley IronPigs 5-4 in front of 4,810 fans.

Carlos Rojas got the inning started with a leadoff walk. Kyle Hudson followed with a sacrifice bunt attempt, but Justin DeFratus made an errant throw that sailed over Kevin Fransden’s head at first base and gave the Tides runners at second and third base with no outs. The IronPigs opted to intentionally walk Matt Angle ahead of Adams’s walk-off hit.

The scenario seemed unlikely just a half inning prior as the IronPigs nearly duplicated their heroics from the previous night off Tides reliever Willie Eyre. Delwyn Young led off the inning with a double. Pete Orr then hit a ball to Carlos Rojas at shortstop who threw late to third base to give the visitors runners at the corners with no outs. Following a groundout, Eyre intentionally walked Erik Kratz to load the bases. The strategy paid off as Eyre was able to get Carlos Rivero to ground out into a double play to end the threat unscathed.

Eyre (1-0, 0.00) picked up the win after tossing just the 1.0 inning.

Rich Thompson nearly single-handedly gave the IronPigs a 2-0 lead after three innings. The speedy centerfielder tripled to lead off the game before scoring on a sacrifice fly from Fransden. Thompson later singled to lead off the 3rd inning and immediately stole second base. He moved up another bag on an errant pick off attempt by Tides starter Chris George and came around to score on Fransden’s ground out.

George locked in after giving up the leadoff single to Thompson in the 3rd inning. The former first round draft selection retired 14-straight batters to allow his team to get back into the game.

The Tides took a brief lead in the 6th inning. Trailing 2-1, Tyler Henson and Robbie Widlansky connected on back-to-back home runs to make it 3-2. The Tides added another run later in the frame on an RBI single by Hudson.

The lead was short lived, though. George retired the first two batters of the 7th inning before his streak ended on a Kratz double. Rivero followed with a game-tying two-run homer to tie the game.

George lasted 7.0 innings and allowed four runs (three earned) on six hits.

DeFratus (2-2, 4.34) took the loss after tossing 1+ innings. He didn’t record an out in the 9th inning after allowing no hits and one walk in the 8th inning.

The two clubs will finish up their four-game series with a matinee contest Thursday at 12:30. LH Brian Matusz (1-3, 4.14) will try to salvage a split opposite LH Ryan Feierabend (9-7, 5.72).

Tides blow ninth-inning lead in loss

The Norfolk Tides gave up six runs on one hit in the 9th inning Tuesday night at Harbor Park and fell to the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs 11-6 in front of 3,828 fans.

Mark Worrell (0-6, 4.22) fell behind the eight-ball immediately after entering the game with a one-run lead in the 9th inning and never recovered. Brandon Snyder’s error to lead off the inning allowed IronPigs’ speedster Rich Thompson to reach second base. Kevin Frandsen followed with a sacrifice bunt to Snyder, but the Tides first baseman’s throw to third base was late, giving Lehigh Valley runners at the corners. Domonic Brown then walked to load the bases before Brandon Moss tied the game with a sacrifice fly. The visitors took the lead two batters later when Worrell’s pitch hit Delwyn Young with the bases loaded.

Worrell gave up six runs in all (two earned) without allowing a hit during his 0.1 innings on the hill. He walked three batters and hit another. He was pulled from the game after issuing a bases loaded walk to Erik Kratz. Lehigh Valley broke open the game two batters later off Zach Phillips with a two-run double by Freddy Galvis.

The Tides took the lead in the bottom of the 8th inning after trailing by a run at the start of the frame. The home team opened the frame with consecutive singles and each runner moved up a bag on Matt Angle’s sacrifice bunt. Following an intentional walk to Kyle Hudson that loaded the bases, Ryan Adams came through with a sacrifice fly to tie the game before Jake Fox put Norfolk ahead with an RBI single to center field.

The Tides held a 3-0 advantage after the 1st inning, scoring all their runs with two outs. Snyder put them on the board with an RBI single that plated Angle, and Tyler Henson followed with an RBI single of his own. Robbie Widlansky then cranked a single up the middle that scored Snyder before Henson was thrown out at third base on the play trying to advance.

Lehigh Valley starter Brian Bass calmed down considerably after the shaky 1st frame. He left with his team ahead 5-4 after tossing 6.0 innings and giving up four runs on 11 hits.

Rich Thompson added a two-run homer in the 3rd inning to cut the Tides initial lead to 3-2. Carlos Rivero also added three RBI, including an RBI double in the 4th inning and an RBI triple in the 6th inning.

Rick VandenHurk took his second-straight no-decision. The Dutch born righthander was charged with five runs on seven hits in 6+ innings of work. He struck out a batter and walked two.

Henson added a second RBI single in the 5th inning that briefly tied the game at 4-4.

Ryan Adams’s 14-game hitting streak came to an end with an 0-for-4 performance.

Michael Schwimmer (8-1, 1.80) took the win despite blowing a save. He tossed 1.2 innings and gave up just one hit. The lone scored with him on the mound was charged to Juan Perez.

The same two teams will play again Wednesday at 7:15. LH Chris George (5-4, 4.24) will take the ball opposite RH Nate Bump (3-7, 5.19). The first 2,000 ladies 18 & older to enter Harbor Park will receive a Tides sun visor compliments of Diet Coke and WAVY TV 10.

Tides fall to Lehigh Valley

The Norfolk Tides couldn’t figure out Scott Mathieson Monday night at Harbor Park, and fell to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs 6-3 in front of 4,033 fans.

Mathieson (1-1, 2.73) tossed 7.0 innings and seemed to get stronger as the night continued. The British Columbia native, who was consistently throwing in the high 90’s in his final frame, struck out eight batters on the night and walked just one. His lone blemish came in the 1st inning when served up a two-out solo home run to Ryan Adams.

The IronPigs got the run right back right away by scoring three times in the 2nd inning off Steve Johnson. The visitors opened with three-consecutive hits off the Tides starter, capped by a two-run double from Erik Kratz that put them ahead for good. Two outs later, Rich Thompson added the first of two run-scoring doubles.

Johnson (0-5, 6.17) calmed down after the shaky 2nd inning and pitched into the 7th frame before being pulled after serving up an RBI double to Pete Orr that pushed the IronPigs’ lead to 5-1. He was charged with five runs on 10 hits during his time on the mound. He struck out five batters and walked three.

The Tides made a run in the 8th inning after Mathieson was removed in favor of Mike Zagurski. Brendan Harris and Matt Angle sandwiched singles between Carlos Rojas’s walk to load the bases with no outs. Harris came around to score on the next at-bat with a fielders’ choice by Kyle Hudson. After Angle and Hudson moved up a bag on a wild pitch, Ryan Adams plated the Tides third and final run with a sacrifice fly.

Adams home run ran his hitting streak to 14 games, tying the Tides season high that is also held by Brandon Snyder. Adams is hitting .354 (22-for-62) during the stretch.

Matt Angle continued his hot run with two more hits. He is hitting .379 (44-for-116) in 27 games since June 30.

The Tides will try to get back on the winning side Tuesday night at 7:15. RH Rick VandenHurk (6-13, 4.80) will take the ball opposite RH Brian Bass (6-8, 4.01).