The Tides, the Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, came swinging out the gates to begin play tonight as Colton Cowser kicked things off by pushing a bunt past the pitcher. He came around to score on a Heston Kjerstad sacrifice fly, putting the Tides ahead in the first. Josh Lester produced another run later in the frame with a double off the top of the wall in right, giving Norfolk a 2-0 lead.
When the top of the third came around, Charlotte, the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, bit into the Norfolk lead as Yolbert Sanchez scored Erik Gonzalez on a sac fly to center, bringing the score to 2-1 in favor of the Tides.
Evening the score in the fourth was Oscar Colás, who lined a ball off the right field foul pole to bring the game to a 2-2 tie. They jumped into the lead later in the inning with Nate Mondou doubling to bring home Victor Reyes for the 3-2 Charlotte lead.
Following a double by Joey Ortiz with two outs in the fifth, Lester laced another double into the left center gap to tie up the ballgame, 3-3. As the game entered the seventh, the game remained deadlocked until Colás went deep for a second time to put the Knights back on top at a 4-3 score.
Down a run in their final turn at bat, the Tides rallied to put runners in scoring position for Daz Cameron after a double off the bat of Ortiz moved Kjerstad to third. Cameron was able to put the ball in play on an 0-2 count and brought home the tying run on a fielder’s choice, sending the game to extras.
Joey Krehbiel trotted out for another inning of work out of the bullpen and shut down the Knights to give the Tides a chance to win the game in the bottom of the tenth. With Ortiz at the plate and the bases loaded, he worked a full count and ended up drawing a walk to bring in the winning run, giving the Tides the extra innings, 5-4 walk-off win.
Norfolk continues action tomorrow night as first pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. against Charlotte. The Tides are expected to send RHP Chris Vallimont (2-5, 5.02) to the hill and the Knights are expecting LHP John Parke (1-4, 7.00) to make the start.
Game Notes
Going 2-for-3 with two doubles, two RBI and two walks was Josh Lester…since April 20, he’s hit safely in 31 of 41 games without going hitless in back-to-back games…during that span, he’s hitting .317 (52-for-166) with 28 runs, nine doubles, two triples, nine home runs, 44 RBI and 15 walks while slashing .368/.561/.885…he has 57 RBI this season, ranked third-most in the International League.
Connor Norby went 2-for-5 at the plate with a double…since April 28, Norby hasn’t gone hitless in back-to-back games, hitting safely in 41 of 53 games…in that span, he’s batting .295 (64-for-217) with 35 runs, 20 doubles, a triple, seven home runs, 29 RBI, 15 walks and is slashing .335/.479/.814.
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Chris Graham
