NORFOLK, VA (Release via Norfolk Tides) The Norfolk Tides (12-5) defeated the Rochester Red Wings (6-11), 9-1, on Thursday afternoon at Harbor Park. Big offensive innings early in the ballgame allowed Norfolk arms to settle in as the Tides came away with an impressive win.
After two scoreless frames to open the game, Darren Baker checked in with his second base hit of the afternoon. He stole second and scored on a Jake Alu single to center to give Rochester the 1-0 lead in the third inning of play.
The Tides picked up their first base hit on a Colton Cowser single up the middle in the home half of the third. He advanced to second on a wild pitch and later scored on a Kyle Stowers RBI single to even the score at 1-1.
Later in the inning, with Stowers and Joey Ortiz on base, Josh Lester worked a nine pitch at-bat with two outs in the inning and launched a three-run blast to right-center field to put the Tides in front, 4-1.
The scoring continued for Norfolk an inning later when Connor Norby lined a ball into the gap in left, bringing two more runs around in the fourth. Stowers kept the line moving with a two-run shot to right-center to bring the score to 8-1 with Norfolk still ahead.
For the third consecutive inning, the Tides found their way onto the scoreboard in the fifth as Daz Cameron roped a line drive over the head of the right fielder to put himself in scoring position for Shayne Fontana who drove him in with a base hit to center.
Bruce Zimmermann was able to finish off the sixth, his final inning of work for the afternoon, and a bullpen combination of Phoenix Sanders, Darwinzon Hernández, and Joey Krehbiel finished off the last few frames without allowing a hit, securing the 9-1 victory.
The Tides are back in action against Rochester at 6:35 p.m. tomorrow night. LHP DL Hall (0-1, 4.76) is listed as Norfolk’s probable starter and RHP Wily Peralta (0-0, 8.44) is scheduled to pitch for Rochester.
POSTGAME NOTES
Stowers Power: Kyle Stowers showed off at the plate this afternoon as he went 2-for-4 with three RBI while hitting his first home run of the season…Stowers passes Henry Urrutia for 17th on the career RBI leaderboard for the Tides as an O’s affiliate (99), and now immediately trails Nolan Reimold and Robert Andino (101).
Holy Cowser: Extending his hitting streak to 10 games this afternoon was Colton Cowser, who went 1-for-5…during the streak (since April 8), he’s hitting .395 (17-for-43) with 15 runs, two doubles, a triple, a home run, five RBI and six walks (.469 OBP)…the hitting streak is currently tied for the fourth-longest active streak in the International League.
Starting Off Strong: Today’s win brings the Tides 2023 record to 12-5 which marks the best start to a season through the first 17 games since 1994, the first year records were available. Norfolk is scheduled to play nine more games in April, putting them on pace to go 18-8 (.692), which would set the record for most April wins in franchise history (2013, 17-9).