Rutschman's Solid Night Not Enough in Tides Loss

The Norfolk Tides were unable to win after just barely losing the game, 3-1, to the Charlotte Knights at Harbor Park Saturday night. The Tides held the Knights to only three runs even though the Knights had 10 hits. Adley Rutschman led the Tides offense going 1-for-2 with two walks.

Even with two outs, the Knights were able to hit in a run. Ti’Quan Forbes singled and Matt Reynolds walked in the inning, after the Tides were able to get two outs in the previous at bats. Marco Hernandez singled to bring in Forbes and the Knights went up 1-0, after being held scoreless by the Tides in their previous meeting.

Zack Collins hits a solo home run in the fifth, his third of the year with the Knights. He has made five appearances with the Knights this year after coming down from the Chicago White Sox. He played 72 games for the White Sox this year before coming to the Knights after being optioned on August 26.

The Tides scored the only run of the game in the sixth inning after they were held to just two hits for the previous five. Ryan Ripken hit back-to-back doubles with Richie Martin to put the Tides within one run of the Knights, 2-1.

In the eight inning, the Knights scored once again, this time off a double by Reynolds that scored Forbes. The Knights had a baserunner in every inning, but the Tides were able to hold them to just three runs. The Knights went up, 3-1, with the Tides left to try and win in the ninth inning.

The Tides in the ninth inning had Pat Valaika and Mason McCoy both reaching on two fielding errors by the Knights, the only errors of the game by either team. Three strikeouts thrown by Knight’s Bennett Sousa ended the Tides hopes of making a comeback.

The Knights surprised many by doing well with two outs on multiple occasions. They had five hits, two walks, and one run all with two outs in four different innings. They came into the game with a .235 average when batting with two outs, with just over 260 hits on the year.

Tides starter Cody Sedlock received the loss after giving up a season-high seven hits to go along with a season-high in pitches with 94. This is the second time he had seen the Knights this year, the last time was on August 20, with him getting the win after striking out six and not walking any.

The Tides will play the last game of this series on September, Sunday 4 at 6:05 p.m. This loss puts them under .500 at home with a 26-27 record at Harbor Park. That game will be the last time the Tides will see the Knights at Harbor Park this year, with their next series against the Knights being on September 22-26 at Charlotte.