Tides Battle Late, Fall Short in Loss to Memphis

NORFOLK, V.A. ---The Norfolk Tides (33-33) lost to the Memphis Redbirds (35-31), 5-3, on Thursday afternoon at Harbor Park. Memphis took a 4-0 lead by the seventh inning, and held off the Tides despite a three-run eighth inning from Norfolk.

The two clubs once again went scoreless through the first three innings of Thursday’s game. Following a single and a walk by Memphis in the top of the fourth, Thomas Saggese singled in Luken Baker and Cesar Prieto to give the Redbirds a 2-0 lead.

On the mound, Chayce McDermott held Memphis to three earned runs through 6.2 innings of work, relinquishing just four hits and four walks while striking out three batters to keep the Tides within striking distance.

After McDermott exited, Memphis tacked on two more runs in the top of the seventh inning thanks to an RBI single from Matt Koperniak that gave the Redbirds a 4-0 lead.

Norfolk managed to get two runners on in the bottom of the eighth inning on back to back walks issued to Donta’ Williams and Connor Norby. Two batters later, Billy Cook blooped an RBI single in front of Memphis’s right fielder to bring home Williams and get Norfolk on the board to make it 4-1 Redbirds. The next batter, Daniel Johnson, roped an RBI double down the right field line to bring home Norby and Cook, cutting Memphis’s lead to 4-3.

Memphis added back a run in the top of the ninth on a sacrifice fly out by Luken Baker to extend their lead to 5-3. Norfolk could not mount a comeback in the bottom half of the inning and fell to the Redbirds for the second time this series.

The Tides will take on the Redbirds tomorrow night in the fourth game of their six-game series. The Tides will start RHP Brandon Young (1-0, 5.25), while LHP Zack Thompson (2-1, 2.67) will take the mound for Memphis. First pitch is 6:35 p.m.

POSTGAME NOTES

Hackin’ Haskin: A day after Hudson Haskin finished 3-for-3 at the plate, he went 1-for-4 with a stolen base and has now hit safely in five of his last six games...he has also reached base safely in nine of 10 games played this month and is batting .212 (7-for-33) with three runs, a double, a home run, seven RBI and six walks and is posting a .317 on-base percentage...Haskin is now tied for fourth-most stolen bases on the team with seven alongside Connor Norby.

Chayce-in Zeros: On the mound, Chayce McDermott pitched 6.2 innings in his 13th start of the season for Norfolk, tying his season high for innings pitched set on May 3 at Nashville when he carried a perfect game into the seventh inning against the Sounds...he allowed three earned runs on four hits and four walks while striking out three batters while earning his third quality start of the season and second in as many outings...it’s the first time in his professional career that McDermott has worked back-to-back quality starts...he and Cade Povich (May 18 - 25) are the lone Tides starters this season to notch quality starts in back-to-back outings this year.

Welcome Williams: In his first start at Harbor Park, Donta’ Williams went 1-for-3 with a walk and a run, notching his first career Triple-A hit with a single in the bottom of the third...Williams, who became the seventh player from Baltimore’s 2021 MLB draft to reach Triple-A with Norfolk last week, has now worked a walk in back-to-back starts for the fourth time this season after doing so three times with Double-A Bowie.

DJ Drives ‘em In: For the second straight game, Daniel Johnson drove in two runners as part of a 1-for-4 day at the plate...his RBI double in the eighth inning marked his 20th extra base hit of the season for Norfolk and his ninth double of the year...Johnson has collected 39 RBI this season, the second-most among Tides hitters behind Heston Kjerstad (50)...he has collected a base hit in six of the last seven games (since June 5), and is batting .343 (11-for-32) with four runs, a home run, seven RBI and a walk.