Norfolk starter Grayson Rodriguez matched a career-high in strikeouts with 12. It wasn’t enough to put away the Bulls, the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays, who scored six runs in the ninth to walk-off for a win.
Rodriguez was dominant throught out the game. He struck out 12 of 21 batters faced. From the second out to in the third, through two outs in the fifth, seven straight Durham outs were by strikeout. He finished after the sixth inning, allowing just three hits and no walks, exiting as the pitcher of record.
The game was scoreless into the seventh before Norfolk, the Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, broke things open with a Daz Cameron RBI double. He scored on a César Prieto single to double the lead. Maverick Handley capped the inning with a two-run homer, giving the Tides a 4-0 lead. One more insurance run was added in the fifth when Connor Norby knocked an RBI single to make it 5-0.
The insurance was needed and wasn’t enough, as the Bulls came back in the ninth. Nick Dini walked with the bases loaded to break up the shutout. Tristan Gray followed with a two-run single. With the bases loaded, Osleivis Basabe roped a bases loaded double to score three runs, walking off with a 6-5 win.
Game 2 of the series is set for 6:35 p.m. tomorrow night. The Tides are expected to throw LHP Drew Rom (5-5, 5.94), while the Bulls probable is RHP Evan McKendry (7-1, 3.52).
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Chris Graham
