Haskin Powers Tides to Win Over Memphis

NORFOLK, V.A. --- Keyed by three-hit games from Heston Kjerstad and Hudson Haskin, the Norfolk Tides (33-32) beat the Memphis Redbirds (34-31), 5-4, on Wednesday night at Harbor Park. Haskin reached base safely in all four at bats for the first time this season, while Carlos Tavera tossed four innings of two-run ball in relief en route to his first career Triple-A win.

Both Memphis and Norfolk traded zeroes for the first three innings while mustering just three combined hits. Then in the bottom of the fourth following a walk to Nick Maton, Hudson Haskin belted a three-run home run over the center field wall for his second homer of the season to give the Tides a 3-0 lead.

The Redbirds quickly added back in the top of the fifth inning when Jared Young launched a two-run home run into Norfolk’s bullpen to cut the Tides lead to 3-2. Norfolk came back in the bottom half of the inning and loaded the bases with walks to Jackson Holliday and Billy Cook and a double by Heston Kjerstad. Then, Daniel Johnson skied a sacrifice fly out to deep center field to bring home Holliday and extend Norfolk’s lead to 4-2.

Memphis once again responded with a run on the top of the sixth when Matt Koperniak collected a solo home run to make it 4-3 Tides. Then in the top of the eighth inning, the Redbirds tied the game up at 4-4 thanks to an RBI double by Thomas Saggese.

The Tides struck back in the bottom half of the inning, first by putting Holliday on with a walk and Kjerstad reaching on a single. Following an intentional walk issued to Cook to load the bases, Johnson worked a seven-pitch walk to bring home Holliday and give Norfolk a 5-4 advantage.

Memphis managed to get two runners on base in the top of the ninth, but Norfolk swung a double play to take down the Redbirds and cap off the 5-4 win. The victory marked their first home win from Tuesday through Thursday at Harbor Park this season.

The Tides will take on the Redbirds tomorrow night in the third game of their six-game series. The Tides will start RHP Chayce McDermott (2-3, 3.57), while RHP Gordon Graceffo (6-5, 4.50) will take the mound for Memphis. First pitch is 12:05 p.m.

POSTGAME NOTES

Hackin’ Haskin: In the win, Hudson Haskin finished 3-for-3 with a double, a home run, three RBI, a walk and a run...three RBI is the most Haskin has collected since May 24 (Game 1) with Aberdeen against Jersey Shore when he also drove in three runners...after falling a triple shy of the cycle, Haskin reached base safely in all four times he went to the plate for the first time since April 1, 2023 with the Tides at Durham.

Cheddar Kjerstad: A day after going 1-for-4 at the plate, Heston Kjerstad finished 3-for-5 with a double while extending his on-base streak to nine games...during his on-base streak (since June 2 vs. Gwinnett), Kjerstad is batting .289 (11-for-38) with five runs, two doubles, a triple, a home run, six RBI and three walks.

DJ Drives ‘em in: Despite not recording a hit in the win tonight, Daniel Johnson drove in two runners while scoring a run...Johnson, who has now driven in 37 runners this season, has collected multiple RBI in 12 times this season with the Tides...he ranks second among Tides hitters in RBI this season, trailing only Heston Kjerstad (50).