Long ball sinks Norfolk in loss to Gwinnett

The Norfolk Tides (22-25) fell to the Gwinnett Stripers (24-23), 7-4, on Saturday night at Harbor Park in front of a crowd of 6,120.

The Stripers jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first on an RBI-single from Hernán Pérez and never looked back in the contest. They later added four runs in the fourth, capped by a three-run home run by Greyson Jenista off of the video board in right field, making it a 5-0 ballgame.

The Tides added a pair of runs in their half of the fifth on back-to-back bases loaded walks drawn by Cadyn Grenier and Shed Long Jr. Grenier would later drive in Dylan Harris with an RBI-double in the sixth. Harris walked three times tonight, a career-high at the Triple-A level.

Gwinnett added a run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly in the fifth from Alex Dickerson and another in the seventh on a solo shot from Pérez.

Kelvin Gutiérrez was the lone Tide to have a multi-hit effort in the contest, going 4-for-5, all singles. It was his second-straight multi-hit game, after recording a pair of hits yesterday.

Nick Vespi worked a scoreless ninth inning and has not allowed an earned run in his first 15 games, spanning 17.1 innings.

The Tides brought the winning run to the plate in the ninth in the form of DJ Stewart with the bases loaded, but he struck out on a foul tip to end the game.

The two teams will be back in action tomorrow in the finale of this six-game set. RHP Dean Kremer (0-0, 0.00) will be starting for the Tides in his second MLB rehab appearance with the club. RHP Touki Toussaint (2-1, 5.00 ERA) is tabbed to make the start for the Stripers, with first pitch slated for 1:05 p.m.