Norfolk Comeback Bid Falls Short in Loss

NORFOLK, V.A. --- The Norfolk Tides (0-2, 36-41) lost to the Charlotte Knights (2-0, 35-41), 6-4, on Wednesday night at Harbor Park. The Tides notched two runs in the bottom of the eighth thanks in part to a Coby Mayo home run, but couldn’t complete the four-run comeback and dropped their second straight game to Charlotte to begin the series.

Charlotte led off the game with two straight walks to begin the top of the first inning. Then, Michael Chavis launched his second home run of the season with the Knights over the left field wall to give Charlotte an early 3-0 lead. The Tides quickly responded in the bottom half of the inning, cutting the deficit to 3-1 when Coby Mayo’s RBI single brought home Connor Norby.

Following a two out walk issued to Chavis in the top of the third, Bryan Ramos collected an RBI double that brought him home and extended the Knights’ lead to 4-1. In the bottom of the fourth, Billy Cook worked a one out walk before stealing second base. Two batters later, Connor Pavolony roped an RBI single up the middle to bring home Cook and cut Charlotte’s lead to 4-2.

The Knights strung together two hits and a walk in the top of the fifth to tack on another run and give them a 5-2 advantage. The unearned run stood as the lone blemish of Nolan Hoffman’s outing. In relief of starter Brandon Young, Hoffman pitched three innings, allowing just two hits and a walk while striking out for batters before handing the ball off to Wandisson Charles for the seventh.

Charlotte worked two walks and collected a single to begin the top of the seven and load the bases, bringing home a runner on a ground ball by Bryan Ramos to extend their lead to 6-2. After being held to just five hits through the first seven innings, Mayo once again broke through in the bottom of the eighth inning when he took the third pitch he saw over the left field fence for a solo home run, his 16th of the season, to cut Norfolk’s deficit to 6-3.

The Tides continued to climb back after Mayo’s home run. Daniel Johnson drew a walk in the next at bat, stole second base and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Then, Anthony Servideo grounded out to shortstop and brought Johnson home to make it 6-4 Charlotte. Norfolk managed to get a runner on base in the bottom of the ninth on a leadoff single by Noelberth Romero, but were unable to bring him home and dropped their second straight game to Charlotte.

The Tides will take on the Knights tomorrow night in the third game of their six-game series. The Tides will start RHP Julio Teheran (1-0, 5.63), while RHP Nick Nastrini (1-5, 5.49) will take the mound for Charlotte. First pitch is 12:05 p.m.

POSTGAME NOTES

Extra Mayo: A day after finishing as the only Norfolk hitter to drive in a run, Coby Mayo finished 2-for-4 with a home run, two RBI and a run as the lone Tides batter with a multi-hit evening...he has now homered in back-to-back games for the second time this season after he launched a home run in four straight games from April 28 - May 2...Mayo has now hit safely in six straight games (since June 19 at Lehigh Valley), the longest active hitting streak among Norfolk hitters...during that streak, Mayo is batting .458 (11-for-24) with six runs, two doubles, three home runs and six RBI.

Holliday Season: Atop Norfolk’s lineup, Jackson Holliday finished 1-for-4 with a walk, extending his on-base streak to five games...Holliday, who entered the night ranking second in the International League in walks, worked his 59th walk of the season in his 62nd game between Baltimore and Norfolk...he currently leads all hitters in the Orioles organization in walks and on-base percentage while ranking second behind Gunnar Henderson in runs (61).