Jumping out to an early 3-0 lead in the second inning of play this afternoon were the Knights, the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, as Lenyn Sosa cleared the bases on a double to left-center.
Sosa then led off the top of the fifth with a solo home run, going deep on the first pitch he saw to extend the Charlotte lead to four. With the bases chucked, Sebastian Rivero brought in the fifth Charlotte run with a sac fly to center, putting the Knights up, 5-0.
Another bases-loaded opportunity presented itself for Charlotte later in the fifth frame, and Erik Gonzalez capitalized with a long single to right that brought in two more runs. A wild pitch in the following at-bat produced another run, and Charlotte’s run total came to eight.
The Tides, the Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, clawed their way back into the game with a productive sixth inning that began with Heston Kjerstad bringing home the first Norfolk run of the afternoon on a double in the gap. Shortly after, Joey Ortiz singled to score another run.
The Ortiz single put runners at the corners with one gone in the inning. Josh Lester followed it with a chopper to the second baseman, but a savvy baserunning move by Ortiz allowed Lester to reach safely and Ortiz to move to third, subsequently scoring the runner from third on the play. Daz Cameron and José Godoy kept the line moving with back-to-back RBI singles.
Momentum favored the Tides, and it was Colton Cowser who had the swing that tied the game in the sixth as his three-run blast to left field erased an eight-run deficit, and the Tides entered the seventh inning of play at an 8-8 score.
Ortiz struck again in the seventh by lacing a double into the right-center gap to score Kjerstad from first and then came around on a Lester single gving Norfolk their first lead of the afternoon. The Norfolk bullpen was able to lock it down through the final frames and the Tides earned the 10-8 victory, making it their largest comeback win of the season.
Norfolk continues action tomorrow night as first pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. against Charlotte. The Tides are expected to send RHP Justin Armbruester (1-0, 0.00) to the hill and the Knights are expecting LHP Garrett Davila (2-3, 5.40) to make the start.
Game Notes
Between Double-A Bowie and Norfolk this year, Heston Kjerstad has performed well in home games and continued the trend this afternoon as he went 2-for-4 with two runs scored, a double and an RBI…on the year he is slashing .362/.439/.696 with 10 doubles, three triples, 10 home runs and 21 RBI in 36 home games at both levels.
Colton Cowser went 2-for-5 with two runs, a home run and three RBI…his 10th blast of the year was his first game-tying home run of the season…he becomes the fifth Tides player to reach the double-digit mark on the long ball this year.
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Chris Graham
