Tides Win a Wacky One
The Norfolk Tides won their fifth straight game Wednesday night 14-7 over Scranton/Wilkes-Barre by producing 22 hits, one shy of the franchise record set early this season. The Tides’ offense was led by third basemen Brett Wallace who went four-for-five with one double and a walk.
The offensive surge started in the first inning Wednesday night for both teams. Norfolk produced four runs after capitalizing on an error by Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s second basemen Jose Pirela that allowed left fielder Quintin Berry to reach first.
Berry would score the first run on a double by Francisco Peguero. Peguero moved over to third base on a single to the outfield from Brett Wallace, and would then score on a groundout by Steve Clevenger. Wallace scored on a two-out double from Chris Marrero and Marrero scored on a single by Ivan De Jesus.
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre would not be outdone however. The RailRiders picked up three runs off Tides’ starter Kevin Gausman in the first by the way of a homerun from Kyle Roller following a single and a one-out walk. The RailRiders picked up another run in the second inning off Edgmer Escalona who replaced Gausman after one inning.
The Tides picked up one run in the third inning, two runs in the fourth, and five runs in the fifth. Clevenger doubled with no outs in the third and scored when Marrero singled into the outfield.
Peguero and Wallace picked up the two RBI in the fourth inning. Peguero picked up the first after he grounded out to the shortstop, allowing Alexi Casilla to score. With two outs in the inning, Wallace singled to centerfield, allowing Julio Borbon to score from third.
Borbon picked up two RBI in the fifth when he singled to the outfield which allowed Casilla and De Jesus to score. Two batters later Peguero doubled, scoring Borbon and moving Berry over to third after he singled. Wallace would pick up his second RBI of the game after he singled to the outfield. Marrero picked up the fifth, and final, RBI of the inning after hitting a sacrifice fly to the outfield.
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre tried to muster a comeback scoring one run in the fifth, sixth , and seventh inning each but the score was too much to overcome after the Tides’ picked up two more runs in the seventh. Relief pitchers Brock Huntzinger, 3.0 innings, and Chris Jones, 2.0 innings, finished the game off for the Tides.
The Tides play the third game of a four-game series with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Thursday night. Suk-min Yoon (2-5 5.67) will get the start for the Tides and Shane Greene (3-2 5.09) will get the start for the RailRiders. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05.
*Quick Note:
Gausman threw 26 pitches in the first inning but did not leave the game due to an injury. Baltimore Orioles starter Miguel González had an MRI on his pitching arm Wednesday night after waking up with pain on his right side on Tuesday.
González was scratched from his scheduled start Thursday, switching spots with Chris Tillman who was scheduled to pitch Saturday. If González is unable to pitch Saturday, Norfolk starter Kevin Gasuman would be called up to pitch, explaining why he left his start Wednesday night early.