Tides Ride McDermott Start, Seven-Run Ninth to Win

MEMPHIS, TN --- The Norfolk Tides (7-8, 43-47) defeated the Memphis Redbirds (8-8, 46-45), 11-1, on Friday night at AutoZone Park. After a quality start from Chayce McDermott, Norfolk batted around in the top of the ninth and hung seven runs on the Redbirds.

The Tides rattled off two hits and a walk in the top of the first to take an early 1-0 lead. Following a single by Connor Norby and a walk issued to Kyle Stowers, Garrett Cooper’s RBI single brought home Norby to put the Tides ahead.

On the mound, Chayce McDermott did not allow a runner to reach scoring position until the seventh inning when Nick Dunn walked and two ground outs advanced him to third base. He finished his outing allowing just one hit while walking four and striking out seven batters, working his team-leading fifth quality start of the season and the 16th quality start by a Tides starter this year.

Both teams did not score a run over the next six innings after Cooper’s first inning single. Then in the top of the eighth, Jackson Holliday, Nick Maton and Norby worked three straight one-out walks to load the bases. Stowers worked a fourth straight walk to give him an RBI and score Holliday to give the Tides a 2-0 lead. With the bases still loaded, Cooper roped an infield single up the middle to bring home two more runs and extend Norfolk’s lead to 4-0.

Niko Goodrum singled to lead off the top of the ninth, and Blake Hunt followed with a single to move Goodrum over to third base. Then, Maton singled up the middle to bring home Goodrum and give the Tides a 5-0 advantage. Holliday’s ground out brought home Hunt to further extend Norfolk’s lead to 6-0. After the Tides reloaded the bases, Coby Mayo drew a bases loaded walk to extend the Tides lead. Following a sacrifice fly from Cooper, Daniel Johnson roped a three-run home run, his 14th of the season, to extend Norfolk’s lead to 11-0.

Memphis tacked on their first run in the bottom of the ninth on an RBI single by Luken Baker. It stood as just the Redbirds' second hit of the night, and it was all they could muster against the Tides in Norfolk's 11-1 victory.

Game five of the series starts tomorrow night at 8:05 p.m., with LHP Tucker Davidson (2-3, 2.38) starting for the Tides. Memphis has yet to announce a starter for the game.

POSTGAME NOTES

The Jet Takes Off: Daniel Johnson finished tonight going 1-for-5 with a home run, three RBI and a run...his ninth-inning long ball snapped an 0-for-9 skid and gave him his first homer since June 20 at Lehigh Valley...through 70 games with the Tides, Johnson has hit 14 home runs while driving in 52 batters.

Coopin’ the Hits: In his 11th game with the Tides, Garrett Cooper went 2-for-4 with three RBI and a sacrifice fly, marking his fifth multi-hit game of the year with Norfolk...since joining the Tides on June 27 against Charlotte, Cooper is batting .365 (15-for-41) with six runs, a double, four home runs and 18 RBI, the most driven in by an International League batter during that span...Cooper has collected multiple RBI in four games with Norfolk thus far.

Chayce-in Zeros: In his start, Chayce McDermott went 6.2 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit while walking four batters and striking out seven en route to his team-leading fifth quality start of the season...the International League leader in strikeouts has now fanned at least seven batters in 12 of his 18 starts with the Tides this season...he is one of 16 players in the International League to have at least five quality starts this season.