Tides top Braves, move into Wild Card lead
Tsuyoshi Wada combined with two relievers on a five-hit shutout, pitching the Tides past the Gwinnett Braves 3-0 Tuesday night at Harbor Park.
Wada (4-5) turned in his second straight scoreless outing as he held the Braves to four hits over five solid innings. The 32-year-old southpaw walked one and struck out seven before giving way to Steve Johnson, who worked three shutout innings of relief in his first appearance with the Tides since being optioned from Baltimore. Wada escaped a one-out bases-loaded threat in the second inning before stranding two more runners in the fifth, helping Norfolk pick up its fourth straight victory.
Wada has now posted a 1.99 ERA (5-ER, 22.2-IP) over his last four starts, registering more strikeouts (25) than hits allowed (19) over that stretch while lowering his season ERA from 5.83 to 4.70.
After Johnson allowed one hit over his three innings of work, Jairo Asencio tossed a perfect ninth to close out the win and pick up his league-leading 22nd save of the season. The 22 saves are the fourth-most in a single season in franchise history, and Asencio has now has registered 14 consecutive scoreless outings.
The win was Norfolk's seventh in the last eight games and moved the Tides past the Pawtucket Red Sox into first place in the IL Wild Card standings. Over that eight-game span, Norfolk has tossed three shutouts while pitching to a 1.09 ERA (9-ER, 74.0-IP).
Norfolk plated all the runs they would need in the fourth inning, as Jonathan Schoop drove home Eric Thames with a double down the left field line before scoring on an RBI single by Alex Liddi. Both runs came against Braves starter David Hale (6-6), who entered the contest having thrown 13.2 shutout innings against the Tides this season.
The Tides added a seventh inning insurance run on a two-out run-scoring single by Yamaico Navarro. Navarro has now hit safely in four straight games, batting .400 (6-for-15) with two home runs and six RBI.
The two clubs will continue their five-game, four-day series Wednesday night, with first pitch slated for 7:05. Josh Stinson (6-5, 4.10) gets the call for Norfolk against right-hander Omar Poveda (5-7, 3.48). Wednesday night is Turn-Back-The-Clock night, where fans can purchase hot dogs, sodas and popcorn for 50 cents, courtesy of Smithfield Foods.
Notes: Xavier Avery went 3-for-3 with two stolen bases and a run scored. It was the first time a Tides player stole multiple bases in a game this season…Eric Thames had two singles and a run scored, upping his average to .333 in16 games since joining the Tides on July 20…Jairo Asencio, who pitched for Gwinnett in 2009 and 2011, has seven saves against the G-Braves this season…Earlier Tuesday, Norfolk placed catchers Ronny Paulino and Luis Exposito on the disabled list to make room on the active roster for Steve Johnson and Danny Valencia.