The Norfolk Tides (43-44) swept a doubleheader against the Worcester Red Sox (45-42) on Thursday night at Harbor Park.
In Game 1, Norfolk won in walk-off fashion, 2-1, courtesy of a walk-off single from Terrin Vavra to score Cadyn Grenier, who stumbled home gracefully.
The Tides were bolstered by a complete-game from Matt Harvey, making his Norfolk debut. He allowed one run on five hits to go along with five strikeouts and three walks. It was his first complete game of any kind since Aug. 7, 2013, a nine-inning game while pitching for the Mets.
Christin Stewart had given the Woo Sox a brief 1-0 lead by hitting a solo shot in the fourth, but the Tides were equal to the task in the home half of the frame, scoring through an RBI-fielder’s choice by Rylan Bannon.
Norfolk took Game 2 by a score of 11-4 to claim the doubleheader sweep, the first time this season that they have swept a doubleheader at home.
The Tides broke a scoreless deadlock in the fifth, when Richie Martin and Jacob Nottingham scored on a sharp grounder from Beau Taylor that was ruled an error. Yusniel Diaz was then hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Kyle Stowers broke the contest wide open by clearing the bases with a three-run triple, his second of the twin bill. Martin then scored Stowers with an infield single, capping the scoring.
Norfolk once again got a dominant from its starter, with Mike Baumann working 5.0 scoreless frames and allowing just one hit. He fired four strikeouts but also issued four walks. Baumann has now yielded just two earned runs in his last 17.0 innings pitched.
After the Red Sox scored three times in the sixth, the Tides responded with four more runs of their own. That frame was highlighted by a two-run triple from Gunnar Henderson, in his final game with Norfolk before he departs for the All-Star Futures Game.
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Chris Graham
