Historic Sixth Propels Tides to Commanding Victory

NORFOLK, VA --- The Norfolk Tides (6-1) defeated the Gwinnett Stripers (2-5), 21-2, on Saturday night at Harbor Park. It was a historic night where the Tides tie a franchise record for runs in an inning results in a dominating victory over the Stripers.

Both sides went down 1-2-3 in the opening frame, but Gwinnett would crack the scoreboard first in the top of the second as Yolmer Sanchez scored on a wild pitch, giving the Stripers a 1-0 lead.

It wouldn’t take long for the Tides to bounce back as a Hudson Haskin triple stung into the right-center gap scored Jordan Westburg and Josh Lester. Lewin Diaz then blooped one into shallow center field to bring in Haskin, giving Norfolk a 3-1 advantage.

The Tides continued to add on an inning later with Westburg doubling to bring in Connor Norby on a ball that squeezed past the diving center fielder. Norfolk continued to get runners on base and kept the line moving in the fourth as Maverick Handley scorched a ball back up the middle to score Haskin and extend the Tides lead, 5-1.

An already impressive night offensively for the Tides continued in the home half of the sixth when they exploded for 11 runs. In total, the Tides scored four runs on two separate fielder’s choices that included throwing errors. Three RBI singles, an RBI double, a sac fly, and a hit batter with the bases loaded accounted for the remaining seven runs in the inning, giving Norfolk a commanding 16-1 lead.

The run parade continued in the following innings for Norfolk, plating one in the seventh and four in the eighth to take an insurmountable 21-2 lead. Noah Denoyer then trotted out for his third inning of work in relief to close out the game and earn the save.

The Tides have won three in a row against Gwinnett and will finish the series against the Stripers tomorrow with first pitch scheduled for 1:05 p.m. LHP DL Hall (0-1, 9.00) listed as Norfolk’s probable starter, RHP Allan Winans (0-0, 0.00) is expected to pitch for Gwinnett.

*POSTGAME NOTES *

Making History 11 Runs At A Time: The Tides sent a total of 15 batters to the plate in the bottom of the sixth and tied a franchise record for most runs scored in an inning as they plated a total of 11 runs on only five hits...The last time the Tides hit that mark was on May 13, 2014 vs. Louisville in the fifth inning against the Bats in a game they went on to win, 14-8.

A Weeks Worth Of Hits: Connor Norby and Ryan O’Hearn both found the hit column yet again, making it seven straight games they have done so...Norby is batting .355 over the last seven games with a three-hit performance tonight...O’Hearn was the last Norfolk starter tonight to collect a hit, but did so in the seventh as he now owns a .313 season batting average.

Handley Just Hits: The Tides backstop, Maverick Handley, put together a four-hit performance in tonight’s contest, collecting two doubles and three RBI...His four hits and two doubles sets a Tides season high by an individual in a game this season.

Three Touchdowns: With 21 runs in the ballgame, the Tides set a franchise record as an Orioles affiliate for most runs in a game, topping the 20 they scored at Charlotte on April 19, 2016 in a 20-4 win...They came up just short of the all-time franchise record of 23 runs in a game, which they accomplished on April 13, 1982 on the road against Rochester.