Homers, Wilson help Tides even IL Semifinals

Norfolk used home runs from Henry Urrutia and Christian Walker and a strong outing from Tyler Wilson to knock off the Columbus Clippers 6-1 Friday afternoon at Harbor Park. With the win, Norfolk evened up its IL Semifinals matchup at one game apiece.

The game was the continuation of a suspended contest from Thursday night, which was delayed due to heavy rain with the game scoreless and Norfolk coming to bat in the second inning. The Tides wasted little time in jumping on right-hander Toru Murata (0-1) Friday, as Urrutia belted an opposite field two-run homer with one out in the third frame to give the Tides an early 2-0 advantage.

Norfolk extended its lead to 3-0 in the fourth inning on an RBI groundout by Michael Almanzar, then upped its lead to 5-0 one inning later on a two-run home run by Walker. Walker, who led the International League with 13 home runs and 44 RBI after the All-Star break, added a third RBI in the contest when he drew a bases loaded walk in the sixth inning.

The early offense was more than enough for Wilson (1-0), who earned the win after allowing one run on four hits over 5.0 innings of work. Wilson, who was making the first relief appearance of his career in back of Thursday's starter Chris Jones, walked one and struck out three while throwing 45 of his 67 pitches for strikes. It was just the second start for Wilson since being reinstated from the disabled list on September 3 with a strained oblique muscle.

Rey Navarro and Junior Lake each had two hits and a run scored for Norfolk, while Pedro Beato and Oliver Drake each worked a scoreless inning of relief.

Audy Ciriaco homered for Columbus, while Erik Gonzalez tripled as part of a two-hit game. The loss was the first for Toru Murata since July 3, as the 30-year-old right-hander led the International League with 15 victories this season.

The series shifts to Columbus Saturday, as the two clubs square off in Game 3 Saturday night from Huntington Park. Elih Villanueva (4-5, 4.71) gets the start for Norfolk against right-hander Will Roberts (3-4, 3.06), with first pitch slated for 7:05 pm. The game will be broadcast live on 92.9 The Wave and carried on MiLB.tv.  

Notes: Columbus turned a 5-4-3 triple play on a ground ball by Audry Perez to end the second inning, the first triple play turned against the Tides since August 31, 2014. The last triple play at Harbor Park came exactly one month ago, when Norfolk turned a 5-4-3 triple play against Durham on August 11…Prior to Henry Urrutia's homer, the last Norfolk player to homer in the postseason was Prentice Redman on September 8, 2005…Norfolk plated a run without a hit in the sixth inning, as two Clippers reliever combined to issue four walks.