Stowers, Johnson Home Runs Not Enough in Tides Loss

NORFOLK, VA --- The Norfolk Tides (9-14) fell to the Gwinnett Stripers (11-11), 4-3, on Wednesday night at Harbor Park. Kyle Stowers and Daniel Johnson launched home runs, while Bruce Zimmermann worked his first quality start of the season in the loss.

The Tides got the scoring going in the bottom of the second, striking first for the first time this series. After Hudson Haskin was hit by a pitch, Daniel Johnson and Noelberth Romero worked back to back walks to load the bases. Then, Errol Robinson notched his 10th walk of the season to bring in Haskin and give Norfolk a 1-0 lead.

Norfolk added on another run in the bottom of the fourth when Johnson launched a 1-2 pitch over the right-center field wall for his second home run of the season to give the Tides a 2-0 lead. They tacked on another insurance run in the bottom of the fifth when Kyle Stowers connected for his seventh home run of the season.

Gwinnett knotted the game up at 3-3 in the top of the sixth and took their first lead of the night the following inning on an RBI single from Forrest Wall. The Stripers threatened again in the top of the ninth, but Matt Krook got out of the bases loaded jam without allowing a run. The Tides were not able to mount a comeback in the bottom of the ninth, however, and dropped their second straight game to start the series against Gwinnett.

The Tides will face the Stripers in the third game of their six-game series tomorrow, with first pitch scheduled for 12:05 p.m. LHP Cade Povich (2-1, 0.83) is the listed probable for Norfolk, while Gwinnett will start LHP Dylan Dodd (2-1, 4.22).

POSTGAME NOTES

The Jet Takes Off: Collecting his second home run of the season tonight was Daniel Johnson...he finished 1-for-2 with the long ball, an RBI, a walk and a run and is now on a five game hitting streak...since the start of the streak (April 18 at Jacksonville), Johnson is batting .352 (6-for-17) with two home runs, three RBI and a double...both of Johnson’s home runs have come off the bat at 100 MPH or faster, with his first homer on April 20 in Jacksonville registering at 107.4 MPH.

Rockin’ Robinson: Notching his fifth RBI of the season was Errol Robinson, who went 1-for-2 with a double, an RBI and a walk...the game snapped an 0-for-13 skid that lasted Robinson’s last four games...the double marked his 85th two-bagger of his minor league career, while the RBI was Robinson’s 45th at the Triple-A level through 156 games.

He Gets on: Extending his on-base streak to nine games tonight was Connor Norby...the left fielder finished 1-for-4 at the plate with a third inning single...since the start of his streak on April 14 against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Norby is slashing .282/.349/.410 with two doubles, a home run and three RBI...his streak is tied with Daniel Johnson for the longest active on-base streak among Tides hitters and is tied with Heston Kjerstad for the second-longest streak by a Norfolk hitter this season.

Zimm’s the Mann: In his start tonight, Bruce Zimmermann working six innings, allowing three earned runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out a pair of batters...the outing marked his first quality start since June 18, 2023 with the Tides against Worcester.