The first inning of play this evening brought success for the Tides offense as they took an early 3-0 lead in the opening frame. After Connor Norby led off the game with a double, Joey Ortiz drove him in on a worm burner through the right side. Back-to-back RBI knocks by Coby Mayo and César Prieto capped the scoring in the first.
Not more than one inning later, the bats stayed hot for Norfolk, the Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, as Ortiz checked in with his second run driven in on the night with a sacrifice fly to center, allowing Maverick Handley to score on the play.
Offensive production would carry over to the third inning in a big way when Mayo obliterated an 0-2 pitch to left-center field for a solo shot that put the Tides ahead by a 5-0 score.
Nashville, the Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers, cracked the goose egg in the fifth when Abraham Toro ripped a two-run double down the right field line to pull the Sounds within three. An inning later Tyler Naquin went deep on a line drive home run and Payton Henry followed him up later in the frame with a two-run shot to tie the game at five apiece.
The tie was broken in the bottom of the seventh when Mayo doubled into the left field corner to bring Ortiz all the way around from first for the 6-5 lead. The Sounds captured the lead in the eighth with a bases loaded single off the bat of Toro to bring in the go-ahead run. Two more runs would score in the frame, and an additional run crossed in the ninth, giving Nashville a 10-6 lead.
In their final turn at bat, Mayo brought in a run on a sac fly and the winning run came to the plate later in the frame with one away in the inning and the bases loaded. Handley delivered an RBI single, but the Tides would fall short of the comeback, taking a 10-8 loss.
The Tides are back in action tomorrow night against Nashville with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m. Toeing the rubber for the Tides will be RHP Garrett Stallings (2-2, 4.44) while Nashville will send RHP Caleb Boushley (5-4, 4.65) to the hill.
Game Notes
- Connor Norby went 2-for-4 with a double and two walks…it is the fourth time this season he has reached base safely at least four times in a game, most recently accomplishing this on July 5 at Durham…it is his 30th multi-hit effort as a Tide this year which ranks first on the team…in 23 games hitting out of the leadoff spot this season, he has nine doubles, six home runs, 14 RBI and 14 walks…his 1.034 OPS when batting first in the order ranks 4th among qualified International League batters with at least 90 AB’s out of the leadoff spot.
- Coby Mayo went 3-for-4 with two runs, two doubles, a home run and four RBI…it is his second three-hit game as a Tide this season…his third inning blast was the longest by a Tides player this season, travelling a total of 453 feet…since his promotion to Norfolk on July 14, he leads the International League with 15 RBI.
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Chris Graham
