Following a scoreless first inning, Jordan Westburg got things rolling for the Tides, the Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, in the second as he led off the frame with a solo blast to left field on a 3-2 pitch that soared 416 feet, giving Norfolk their first run of the afternoon.
The Jumbo Shrimp would even the score in the home half of the second as Austin Allen belted a solo shot of his own that just cleared the wall in left-center field. Jacksonville would string a pair of hits together in the third to take a 2-1 lead, their first in the last 21 innings when they most recently held the lead in the first inning against the Tides on Friday evening.
Another run would cross in Jacksonville’s favor for the third straight inning with an RBI triple off the bat of Jake Mangum in the fourth. The Shrimp would jump ahead to a 4-1 lead by the end of the fourth with Mangum scoring on a fielder’s choice.
Scoring would halt for a few innings until Shayne Fontana reached base in the seventh on a walk. He moved up on a wild pitch later in the frame and would come around to score with Colton Cowser ripping a ball into right field for single, cutting into the Jacksonville advantage.
To lead off the bottom of the seventh, Xavier Edwards walked and stole second, setting up Jordan Groshans with an opportunity to drive in another Jacksonville run, which he capitalized on with a single to right, extending the Jumbo Shrimp lead to 5-2. They would add three more in the bottom of the eighth to go ahead by six runs before Norfolk’s last turn at bat.
The Tides were unable to rally in the ninth and took the loss in the series finale to the Jumbo Shrimp. Despite the loss, the Tides still come away with a series victory, winning four of six against Jacksonville.
Game Notes
Colton Cowser went 1-for-2 today with an RBI single and two walks…in the series against Jacksonville, he had four multi-hit games and batted .500 (11-for-22) with nine runs scored, two home runs, and five RBI.
Going 2-for-3 with a home run and a walk this afternoon was Jordan Westburg…his second inning blast was his 11th of the season, which leads the Tides and is tied for fifth in the International League…he also ranks among league leaders in RBI (2nd, 38), runs (T-3rd, 31) and slugging (7th, .626).
Next Up
Norfolk returns home on Tuesday night to welcome the Syracuse Mets to town with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m. Neither side has announced a probable starter.
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Chris Graham
