O'Hearn's Big Night Gives Tides First Win at Home

NORFOLK, VA --- The Norfolk Tides (4-1) defeated the Gwinnett Stripers (2-3), 6-3, on Wednesday night at Harbor Park.

After a scoreless 1st inning, Drew Rom plunked a batter, allowed a single and a walk to load the bases with only one away in the second which led to a Justin Dean single into center field, bringing around two runs to put the Stripers on the board.

Shortly after, the Tides cut into Gwinnett’s early lead as Ryan O’Hearn led off the bottom of the second with a triple that one-hopped the wall in center field. Jordan Westburg drove in Norfolk’s first run of the game as a groundout to the shortstop scored O’Hearn.

A trio of base knocks loaded the sacks for the Tides in the bottom half of the third. With two gone in the frame, O’Hearn launched a 3-1 pitch the opposite way for a grand slam home run to give Norfolk the 5-2 lead.

With one aboard and two away in the top of the fifth, Yolmer Sanchez roped a ball to left field to pull the Stripers back within two.

Following the seventh-inning stretch, Lewin Diaz stepped up to the plate to lead off the bottom half of the frame. The Tides DH crushed a 2-1 pitch to right field, extending Norfolk’s lead to three with two to play.

Going into the ninth inning with a 6-3 lead, Norfolk reliever Yennier Cano entered the game with an opportunity to earn his first save of the season. After the first two Gwinnett batters reached base, Cano retired the next three hitters to close out the game.

The Tides nab their first victory of the season at Harbor Park and will go into tomorrow’s matchup against the Stripers with a 4-1 record. First pitch is scheduled for 12:05 p.m. with RHP Ryan Watson (0-0, -.--) listed as Norfolk’s probable starter and LHP Domingo Robles (0-0, -.--) is expected to pitch for Gwinnett.

*POSTGAME NOTES *

Brohearn Strikes Again: For the third consecutive game, Ryan O’Hearn went deep, this time with a go-ahead grand slam home run in the bottom of the 3rd with two outs in the inning...the long ball added to an impressive night at the dish where he also collected a triple, the first three-bagger by a Tides player this season...O’Hearn’s RBI total on the season now ties Josh Lester with eight runs driven in.

Díaz Destruction: Lewin Díaz clobbered his first home run of the season with a fly ball to right field coming off the bat at 105.6 MPH in the seventh inning...the solo blast gave the Tides their sixth run of the game, marking tonight as the fourth time in the Tides first five games this season that they have scored at least six runs.

Streaky Blinders: Two Tides batters entered tonight with a hit in each of Norfolk’s first five games...Ryan O’Hearn and Connor Norby both extended their hit streaks to five games to open the 2023 season in Wednesday’s matchup as Norby went 1-for-4 with O’Hearn collecting a multi-hit performance in which he totaled seven bases.