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Norfolk walks off Charlotte with 10th inning homer from Josh Lester in 3-1 win

Chris Graham

norfolk tides The Norfolk Tides (66-38) defeated the Charlotte Knights (40-65), 3-1, in 10 innings on Thursday night at Harbor Park.

It was another pitchers’ duel Thursday with neither team scoring through the first four innings. It would be Charlotte, the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, that struck first in the fifth when Adam Haseley led off with a single. He scored when Nate Mondou hit a sacrifice fly to put them up, 1-0.

The triple would end up being the only hit for Charlotte thanks to stellar pitching by the Tides staff. In his second career Triple-A start, Cade Povich tossed a quality start, going 6.0 innings and allowed the one run on the one hit and a walk while striking out four.

Chase Solesky, the starting pitcher for the Knights, pitched nearly as well as Povich. Solesky didn’t allow a run throught the first six innings. However, the Tides, the Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, started getting on him in the seventh, starting with two outs and walked Josh Lester. Lewin Diaz followed with a long single to right center that was booted by Charlotte’s right fielder. That scored Lester from first, tying the game at 1-1.

The Tides bullpen continued to pitch well after Povich’s exit. Keegan Akin and Mychal Givens had their MLB Rehab assignments transferred to Norfolk today and both pitched. Akin followed Povich with a scoreless innings, then Givens retired six-of-seven batters for 2.0 scoreless innings. The game was still tied 1-1 after nine innings and Logan Gillaspie came in the 10th to put the Knights down 1-2-3.

Lester ended up leading off the bottom of the 10th and blasted his 16th home run over the left-center field wall to complete a walk-off victory for the Tides. Norfolk now leads this week’s seven game series, 3-1.

Game 5 of the series is set for tomorrow night with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m. against the Knights. The Tides are scheduled to throw RHP Ryan Watson (4-3, 5.01) while Charlotte is expecting to send RHP Luis Patiño (0-7, 8.92) to the hill.

Game Notes

  • In his second career Triple-A start, Cade Povich tossed his first quality start for the Tides…he went 6.0 innings, allowing one run on one hit and one walk while striking out four…Tides starters have been strong through four games this series, allowing a 0.39 ERA (1 ER, 23.0 IP).
  • Josh Lester, who hit the walk-off home run for the Tides, finished 2-for-3 with two runs, a double, the two-run homer and a walk…it was his 16th home run of the season, while totaling 65 RBI this season…it was his first home run with Norfolk since July 18 at Gwinnett…in three games vs. Charlotte this series, he’s hitting .300 (3-for-10).

Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019, and Team of Destiny: Inside Virginia Basketball’s Run to the 2019 National Championship, and The Worst Wrestling Pay-Per-View Ever, published in 2018. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, or subscribe to his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].