Tides Comeback Falls Short in Loss to Memphis

NORFOLK, V.A. --- The Norfolk Tides (32-32) lost to the Memphis Redbirds (34-30), 4-1, on Tuesday night at Harbor Park. Memphis held Norfolk to five hits, while the Tides dropped their fourth straight game to fall back to .500 on the year.

Memphis began the scoring Tuesday night, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Jordan Walker launched a solo home run, his second of the season, over the left-center field wall. The Tides managed to load the bases in the second inning after a Daniel Johnson single, Nick Maton getting hit by a pitch and Shayne Fontana walking. They couldn’t bring home any runners and managed just one more base runner until the fifth inning when Jackson Holliday walked and Heston Kjerstad collected a single.

The Redbirds extended their lead to 2-0 in the top of the fourth when Thomas Saggese launched a solo homer over the left field wall. Norfolk managed two more runners on in the bottom of the sixth inning, but once again were unable to plate either of them.

After Norfolk held Memphis scoreless for the following four frames, the Redbirds tacked on two more runs in the top of the ninth. Following a single from Jared Young, Nick Raposo launched a two-run home run to give Memphis a 4-0 lead.

The Tides finally broke the shutout in the top of the ninth when Maton launched the first pitch he saw to lead off the ninth inning over the center field wall for his sixth long ball of the season to make it 4-1 Memphis. Despite Fontana reaching base on a single in the next at bat, Norfolk couldn’t complete the comeback and fell to the Redbirds in their first game of the homestand.

The Tides will take on the Redbirds tomorrow night in the second game of their six-game series. The Tides will start RHP Justin Armbruester (1-5, 10.40), while RHP Sem Robberse (5-4, 4.46) will take the mound for Memphis. First pitch is 6:35 p.m.

POSTGAME NOTES

Cheddar Kjerstad: One game after collecting a double and a run in Sunday’s loss to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Heston Kjerstad finished 1-for-4 as one of three Tides batters to collect a hit...the International League’s RBI leader extended his on-base streak to eight games (since June 2 vs. Gwinnett), the longest active on-base streak among Tides hitters...during his streak, Kjerstad is batting .242 (8-for-33) with five runs, a double, a triple, one home run, six RBI, three walks and a stolen base.

The Jet Takes Off: In the loss, Daniel Johnson went 1-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to five games while adding his sixth stolen base of the season...after going 0-for-16 to start the month of June, Johnson is batting .400 (10-for-25) with three runs, a home run and three RBI during his hitting streak and has collected two multi-hit efforts over his last five outings (since June 5 at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre)...his six stolen bases are tied for fifth-most on the team with Hudson Haskin.

Maton Mashes: Nick Maton capped off the night as the lone Tides hitter with a multi-hit effort after he went 2-for-3 with a home run, an RBI and a run...after he collected two hits in Sunday’s game, Maton has now gone back-to-back games with multiple hits for the first time since September 6 - 7, 2023 with Toledo at Indianapolis...Maton has now notched nine multi-hit games this season with the Tides, four of which have come in June.