Tides Edge Bulls 4-3; Split Series
Norfolk, VA --- Ryan Flaherty singled home the tie-breaking run in the fifth as the Norfolk Tides shaded the Durham Bulls 4-3 in the series finale at Harbor Park on Wednesday night.
Flaherty punched a two-out single to left field against Will Inman (L, 0-1) to score Xavier Avery with the go-ahead run. Avery had walked and stolen second base.
Durham (27-19) scored first against Josh Stinson (L, 0-1) when Vince Belnome doubled home Jason Bourgeois from second base.
But in the last of the first, Brandon Wood, who homered last night, drilled a three-run double in the first to give the Tides a 3-1 lead against Alex Torres, who was making his return after two solid appearances for the Tampa Bay Rays. However, Torres would need 34 pitches to get through the first inning.
The Bulls scored a run in the second and in the fifth to tie the game. Brandon Guyer tripled to leadoff the second, then scored on a grounder by Mike Fontenot. In the fifth, Belnome looped a single to left field to bring home Tim Beckham with two outs to knot the game 3-3.
Norfolk (31-15) pushed across the eventual winning run against Inman in the fifth and held on the rest of the way.
The Bulls filled the bases with none out in the eighth, but couldn't inflict any damage. Belnome struck out against Mike Belfiore, then Manny Delcarmen entered to strike out Shelley Duncan and induce a grounder from Leslie Anderson.
The Bulls, who were pushed four games behind the South Division-leading Tides, continue their road trip at PNC Park in Scranton, PA on Thursday night at 6:35 PM ET. Mike Montgomery will make his return to the Bulls to start the opener. Montgomery has only appeared once this season, facing Norfolk on April 7th before heading onto the disabled list.