Norfolk Tides walk off Syracuse Mets, win series opener, 9-7

The Norfolk Tides (29-10) walked off the Syracuse Mets (16-24), 9-7, on Tuesday night at Harbor Park, on a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth from Daz Cameron.

After trailing 6-0 in the fourth, the Tides, the Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, had a win probability of 3 percent.

They made that 3 percent go a long way.

The first runs of the games didn’t score until the third inning. Syracuse knocked both of the runs in on a two-run single by Ronny Maruicio. Those were the only runs Tides starter DL Hall allowed on the night, but was also his final inning. He retired the first six batters he faced with two strikeouts.

Syracuse scored four more runs in the fourth inning. Jaylin Davis broke the scoring open with an RBI single. Tim Locastro knocked in the next run on an RBI single himself. The merry-go-round continued when Mauricio knocked in his third run of the night on a single. The scoring was capped on an RBI single by Mark Vientos to put the game at 6-0.

The Tides started to rally in the bottom-half of the fourth. Josh Lester broke the shutout with a solo home run that frame, his 10th of the season. Two more runs scored for the Tides in the sixth when Jordan Westburg knocked an RBI double, followed by an RBI groundout later in the inning to put the game at 6-3.

The Mets added an apparent insurance run in the seventh when Vientos launched a solo home run. Norfolk did get that run back on an RBI fielder’s choice in the bottom-half to make it 7-4.

Norfolk kept crawling back in the eighth when Maverick Handley ripped a two-out RBI single to make it 7-5.

The comeback was completed in the ninth, starting with Westburg knocking another RBI double. The, with runners on second and third with one out, Cameron played the hero by walking-off on a three-run homer.

Game Notes

Daz Cameron went 3-for-5 with two runs, a double and a walk-off three-run homer…while riding a eight-game hitting streak, he’s hit safely in 15 of his last 17 games (since April 20), batting .349 (22-for-63) with 12 runs, five doubles, five home runs, 15 RBI and six walks while slashing .417/.667/1.084…when Daz is in the starting lineup, the Tides boast a 23-3 record…the most recent Tide to have a walk-off home run was Patrick Dorrian on June 2, 2022 vs. Jacksonville

Next Up

Game 2 of the series is set to start tomorrow night at Harbor Park with first pitch at 6:35 p.m. The Tides are scheduled to start RHP Chris Vallimont (1-0, 3.58), while Syracuse is scheduled to throw RHP Dylan Bundy (0-1, 10.64).