It was Nashville, the Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers, who found the scoreboard first this evening when a leadoff single in the bottom of the second followed shortly by a double put two runners in scoring position for Eddy Alvarez who drove in both runners with a single to left, giving the Sounds the early 2-0 lead.
Both staffs would keep the opposition at bay through the following innings. Kyle Dowdy came out of the bullpen in the third to take over for Eduard Bazardo and twirled three shutout innings with three strikeouts to keep the Tides within striking distance.
When the sixth inning rolled around, the Tides, the Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, were able to break the scoreboard after Ramón Rodriguez found his way on with a double to lead off the inning. Colton Cowser moved him over with an RBI single and Heston Kjerstad knocked him in with a groundout, putting the first run on the board for Norfolk.
The Tides were able to chase Robert Gasser in the seventh and had traffic on the basepaths with runners in scoring position for Rodriguez to potentially put Norfolk in the lead, but Tyson Miller prevented any Norfolk damage and the Tides still trailed 2-1.
The eighth brought success for Norfolk with Ryan Mountcastle reaching on a walk and making his way to third on a throwing error on Jordan Westburg’s infield single. In his first game back with the Tides, Josh Lester delivered an RBI base hit to center to tie the game at two apiece.
Nick Vespi entered from the bullpen in the ninth and retired the side in order to send the game to extras. With Cowser acting as the runner on second to the begin the tenth, Westburg was able to bring him around on a base hit up the middle to put the Tides in the lead, 3-2. The Sounds tied the game with a sac fly off the bat of Abraham Toro.
Daz Cameron was ripped a double down the left field line to bring in the go-ahead run in the eleventh. A wild pitch allowed Cameron to score later in the frame and the Tides led 5-3 going into the bottom half of the inning. Vespi trotted out for his third inning of work and sealed the deal, giving Norfolk the come-from-behind victory.
The Tides are back in action tomorrow afternoon for the series finale and the conclusion to the first half with first pitch scheduled for 3:05 p.m. in Nashville. The Tides will send RHP Mychal Givens (0-0, 2.08) to the mound while the Sounds are expected to start RHP Jason Alexander (MLB Rehab).
Game Notes
Jordan Westburg went 3-for-5 at the dish with an RBI…it is his 25th multi-hit game on the year, the most of any TIdes player this season…it is also his sixth three-hit performance of the year which is now tied for the most on the team with Josh Lester.
Nick Vespi earned his third winning decision of the year by holding Nashville hitless while recording a strikeout to close out the game…he has been lights out since April 28 where he has pitched in 15 games while posting a 0.49 ERA with five saves and 14 strikeouts…over that span, he is limiting opponents to a .138 batting average and holds a 0.82 WHIP.
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Chris Graham
