Early homers too much as Norfolk edged by Scranton
Scranton Wilkes-Barre used three early home runs and a solid start from veteran Chris Capuano to top the Tides 4-3 Tuesday night at Harbor Park. The loss snapped Norfolk's season-long winning streak at five games.
The RailRiders jumped out to an early lead against Norfolk right-hander Steve Johnson (1-1), who was making a spot start after a late scratch to scheduled starter Mike Wright. Kyle Roller put Scranton on the board first, as he lofted an opposite-field two-run homer with two outs in the first to give the RailRiders an early lead.
After the Tides got a run back in the first on an RBI groundout by Chris Parmelee, Scranton again utilized the long ball in the fourth inning to extend their advantage. Cole Figueroa and Austin Romine opened the frame with back-to-back homers off of Michael Bowden, extending the RailRiders lead to 4-1.
The four runs proved to be enough for Capuano (1-1), who was making a major league rehab assignment for a strained right quad. In his second appearance with the RailRiders, Capuano allowed two runs on seven hits in six innings of work, striking out three without walking a batter.
Trailing 4-2 entering the ninth, the Tides made things interesting against closer Nick Rumbelow, as Norfolk loaded the bases with one out thanks to an error and two singles. Michael Almanzar plated Nolan Reimold with a sacrifice fly to pull the Tides within a run, but Rumbelow retired Jayson Nix on a fly ball to center to wrap up the win and earn his fourth save of the season.
Steve Clevenger led Norfolk's offense with three singles, while Christian Walker and Henry Urrutia both added two hits apiece to help pace the 10-hit attack. Walker's two hits extended his hitting streak to eight games, the longest by a Tides player this season.
The two clubs wrap up their three-game set on Wednesday afternoon at Harbor Park, with first pitch set for 12:05. In a battle of left-handers, Chris Jones (0-1, 3.06) gets the start for Norfolk against Matt Tracy (0-0, 4.50).
Notes: Earlier Tuesday, Baltimore recalled infielder Rey Navarro from Norfolk to take the roster spot of Ryan Flaherty, who was placed on the Orioles disabled list with a right groin strain…Michael Bowden's 4.0-inning relief outing was his longest appearance since he threw 7.2 innings in a start for Pawtucket on July 2, 2010…Chris Parmelee went 0-for-4 with an RBI groundout, snapping his hitting streak at seven games…The one-run game was Norfolk's 18th in just 32 games this season…Chaz Roe retired all nine batters he faced over three innings of relief, striking out three.