The Tides have won nine of their last 10 games and are now 3.0 games ahead in the International League East Divison with an 11-5 loss by Durham vs. Memphis earlier today.
Nate Mondou of Charlotte broke the scoring open in the bottom of the first with a solo shot. Norfolk answered right back in the second and third innings. Jordan Westburg singled, then stole second and third base. He was hit in on a sacrifice fly to tie the game. The bases became loaded in the third inning with Westburg up, who hit a grand slam, his fourth home run of the season, to put the Tides up, 5-1.
Norfolk allowed an unearned run in the third inning, but that’s all they allowed until the eighth. Tides starter Ryan Watson would last 4.0 innings, allowing the one earned run on the homer, before being relieved by Morgan McSweeney. He faced the minimum in the fifth before Chris Vallimont took over long relief duties.
The Tides extended their lead in the seventh when Colton Cowser hit a two-run home run in the seventh. They scored another two runs in the eighth when Anthony Bemboom knocked an RBI single, followed by an RBI groundout by Cowser to give Norfolk the 9-2 lead.
The Knights didn’t quit despite the heavy deficit. They scored two runs off Vallimont in the eighth, and one more in the ninth before he was relieved by Logan Gillaspie with the bases loaded. He struck out the final batter of the game for his first save, while Vallimont earned his first win of the season.
Tomorrow, the Tides will throw LHP Bruce Zimmermann (1-1, 2.87) while Charlotte is scheduled to start RHP Daniel Ponce de Leon (0-1, 5.06). First pitch at 11:05 a.m.
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Chris Graham
