It didn’t take long for the Tides, the Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, to get on the scoreboard as Ryan McKenna led off today’s action with a home run on the second pitch of the game. The first inning rally continued when Coby Mayo lined a ball into center for the Tides third consecutive single, scoring Heston Kjerstad on the play.
César Prieto followed up Mayo with a sacrifice fly that gave Norfolk an early 3-0 lead.
When the bottom of the second rolled around, Dalton Guthrie plated the first Gwinnett run of the afternoon with a single to right. The Stripers, the Triple-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves, would add two more in the frame as Vaughn Grissom collected an RBI knock of his own and Yolmer Sánchez drew a bases loaded walk to even the score at three apiece.
Gwinnett captured the lead in the third when Magneuris Sierra dropped down a bunt on a play where an errant throw allowed two runs to cross. A two-run single off the bat of Grissom extended the recently overtaken lead, going up 7-3 by the end of the inning.
The Tides began to chip away at the Gwinnett advantage only half an inning later as they plated three in an inning where Connor Norby drove in a run on a base hit up the middle and Kjerstad doubled to center to pull the Tides within one.
Joe Hudson launched a solo home run for Gwinnett in the home half of the fourth, and it wouldn’t be until the bottom of the eighth until either team would plate another run. Hudson scored on a fielder’s choice and Hoy Park dashed home on a wild pitch for the 10-6 Gwinnett lead in the eighth.
Down four in their final turn at-bat, the Tides rallied to tie the game with back-to-back two-run doubles off the bats of Mayo and Prieto. The Stripers would load the bases in the bottom of the ninth and Park delivered the game-winning hit with a looping single to right, tagging the Tides with the 11-10 loss.
The Tides look to get back in the win column tomorrow night against Gwinnett with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
The Tides will send RHP Garrett Stallings (1-2, 5.59) to the hill while the LHP Max Fried (0-0, 0.00) will make a rehab start for Gwinnett.
Game Notes
- Heston Kjerstad went 3-for-5 at the plate with a run scored, two doubles and two RBI…it was his second three-hit game and his 11th multi-hit performance with the Tides this season…in the second half, he is batting .404 (21-for-52) with four doubles, a triple, a home run, 11 RBI and eight walks while slashing .492/.577/1.069
- Notching a multi-hit performance in back-to-back games today was Coby Mayo, who went 3-for-5 at the dish with a run, a double and three RBI…in five games with the Tides since his promotion from Double-A Bowie on July 14, he is batting .333 (7-for-21) with two doubles, a home run and currently leads the International League with 10 RBI in that span.
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Chris Graham
