The Tides, the Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, scored all three of their runs on solo homers to take the 2-1 series lead.
The first pitch of the game would blast over the right-center field wall by Colton Cowser to get the Tides off to a 1-0 start. Jacksonville would respond in the second with an RBI single by Jake Mangum to tie the game. Norfolk jumped right back out in front in the third when Cowser belted his second home run in as many at bats to take the 2-1 lead.
The run allowed in the second would be the only batter to cross the plate against Tides starter Cole Irvin. He ended up going 7.0 innings, allowing five hits and four walks while striking out four. He also forced the Jumbo Shrimp to ground into two double plays, and threw 68 of his 96 pitches for strikes (70.8%).
Norfolk doubled their lead in the eighth when Joey Ortiz went oppo-taco to put the game at 3-1. It was Ortiz’ second home run of the season.
The Tides bullpen ended up finishing the job, with Darwinzon Hernandez getting his third hold of the season in the eighth and Eduard Bazardo closed out the 3-1 win with his second save of the season.
Game Notes
Cole Irvin earned the win, improving to 4-1…it was his third straight game with a quality stat, tying him for the longest such streak this season…in those three starts, he’s 2-0 with a 2.41 ERA (4 ER, 20.0 IP) and 13 strikeouts to two walks while allowing a .219 opponent’s average…it was his fourth quality start this season, taking the team lead in that category.
Colton Cowser went 3-for-3 with two solo home runs and a walk…it was the fifth time this season he’s reached safely four times in a game, which leads Norfolk…it was the second multi-homer game of his career, with the other happening with Bowie last season in game two on July 14 vs. Akron…his first homer was the third time he’s led off a game with a home run this season, with the other two happening on April 18 and 22, both against Rochester..
Joey Ortiz finished the night 1-for-3 with a walk…it was his third home run of the season, with each of them happening in May.
Next Up
After taking the 2-1 series lead, the two squad will play game four at 7:05 p.m. game tomorrow night. Norfolk is scheduled to start RHP Chris Vallimont (1-0. 2.66) while RHP Ronald Bolaños (1-2, 3.71) is the probable for Jacksonville.
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Chris Graham
