NORFOLK (WAVY) – Since being traded to the Orioles organization in 2020, Garrett Stallings has been working his way up the various ranks of minor league baseball. Finally getting the call with a promotion to AAA meant a little extra for the former fifth round pick of the Angels. Stallings is a Chesapeake native that graduated from Grassfield high school. He said Saturday was the first time he pitched in Hampton Roads since his high school days.
He made his first home start for the Tides and had quite the impressive game despite the loss.
–Release via Norfolk Tides –
The Norfolk Tides (51-27) fell to the Charlotte Knights (36-43), 3-2, in ten innings on Saturday night at Harbor Park. In their second-straight extra innings game, the Tides come up short in a pitcher’s duel.
Garrett Stallings needed only two pitches to record the first two outs of tonight’s ballgame, but it was Oscar Colás who continued to be a thorn in the side of Tides pitching as he launched a solo home run that just cleared the wall in right to put the Knights up by one in the opening frame.
Just as Colás continued to swing a hot bat, Josh Lester followed suit with a double off the wall in center to bring around Ryan Mountcastle to even the score. Joey Ortiz then stepped up to the plate to put the Tides in front, 2-1, with an RBI single lined into center.
Settling in after surrendering the first inning home run in the first was Stallings. He kept the Charlotte hitters at bay and retired seven in a row to finish his evening, earning a quality start while striking out the side in the sixth to keep the Norfolk lead intact.
Down to their last out with no one aboard, Charlotte collected a pair of doubles to tie the game at two apiece in the ninth. The Tides loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth, but couldn’t scratch the winning run, sending the game to extras.
Charlotte was able to score a run on a Victor Reyes RBI single in the top of the tenth and the Tides were unable to answer, falling to the Knights by a 3-2 score in ten innings.
Norfolk continues action tomorrow night as first pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. against Charlotte. The Tides have yet to announce a starting pitcher while the Knights are expecting to send LHP John Parke (1-4, 7.00) to the hill.
POSTGAME NOTES
Mounty Python: Continuing to haunt Charlotte pitching tonight was Ryan Mountcastle as he went 4-for-5 with a run scored…it is the second time he has collected a three-hit game this season with the only other such performance occurring in his nine RBI game for Baltimore on April 11 when he went 3-for-4 with two home runs…he has now played in 29 career games against Charlotte and is batting at a .368 (42-for-114) clip with 18 runs, seven doubles, four home runs, 20 RBI while slashing .435/.535/.970.
Stallings’ Stuff: In his first start at Harbor Park, Garrett Stallings pitched six full innings, allowing only one run on four hits while striking out nine…it is tied for his longest outing of the year as he pitched six shutout innings on April 16 against Akron while pitching for Double-A Bowie, also making it his second quality start this season…his nine strikeouts are tied for the second-most he has collected in a single game in his career, coming one short of his career-high of 10 which he recorded on July 2, 2022 against Richmond as a member of the Baysox.
JoJo’s Mojo: The hot bat of Joey Ortiz was on fire yet again tonight as he went 3-for-5 with an RBI and a stolen base…he extends his hitting streak to 10 games, batting .439 (18-for-41) with five doubles, one triple, two home runs, nine RBI and three stolen bases while slashing .500/.756/1.256…he’s also had multiple hits in four straight games, the second time Ortiz has had such a streak this season with the other streak happening from April 14 – 20 where he collected five straight multi-hit games, four of which were three-hit performances.