New Game, Same story?
For the third game in a row, the Norfolk Tides’ starting pitching looked better than they had all season. However, it wasn’t enough to beat the Durham Bulls. As I’ve written about all week, the Tides pitching hasn’t been great but that has been changing the past few games.
In his last two appearances, including last night’s game, Suk-min Yoon has produced better outings than his first start this season for Norfolk. Yoon’s final line last night was this: 5.2 innings pitched, eight hits, two runs (one earned), four strike outs, and no walks. On any other night, Yoon might have ended up with a win instead of a loss. The Tides lost the game Friday night three to zero against Durham and their starting pitcher Nate Karns.
Friday’s game was one of those games where if you’re opponent, at the end of the night, you have to tip your hat to Karns. Karns pitched masterfully; in seven strong innings, he struck out nine and allowed just three base runners, two hits and one walk. Karns threw 96 pitches, 66 being strikes, and showed good command of his pitches throughout the game except for one. One of Karns’ pitches got away and hit Tides’ third baseman David Adams in the back of the helmet but Adams was able to get up and walk to the dugout without any signs of a concussion.
The Tides couldn’t get anything done at the plate against the other two Durham pitchers either. In total, the Tides managed to get three hits, all singles, and struck out 13 times. All season, the Tides, as a whole, have been struggling at the plate. Individually, there have been players for Norfolk who’ve had good games and have had a good season at the plate thus far but they need to find a way to produce runs. Norfolk has a chance to do just that as they take on the Bulls at home for the second game of a four game series tonight.
