Tides edged in front of sellout crowd
Norfolk trailed the contest 4-3 entering the eighth inning, but Chad Moeller connected on a one-out, two-run double that scored Jolbert Cabrera and Jeff Fiorentino to give the Tides a 5-4 advantage heading to the ninth.
Tides closer Jim Miller entered in the ninth, but Jeff Bailey reached on a one-out single to ignite the comeback. Pinch-runner Freddy Guzman came on and stole second base, then moved to third on a grounder by Angel Chavez before Chris Carter grounded a ball just inside the first base bag to bring home Guzman and knot the score at 5-5.
After the Tides stranded runners at second and third in the bottom of the ninth, Bubba Bell connected on a long homer off of Miller (2-2) with one out in the tenth to give the Pawsox a one-run advantage.
Former Tide Fernando Cabrera allowed two runners to reach base in the bottom of the tenth frame, but he struck out Steve Torrealba looking with runners on second and third to notch his 15th save of the season.
Melvin Dorta had three hits and an RBI to help pace Norfolk, which fell to 5-16 in June with the loss.
The Tides hit into a triple play in the 5th inning, the first at Harbor Park since Norfolk turned the trick vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on June 15, 1997. With Joey Gathright and Justin Christian running on the play, Cabrera lined out sharply to second baseman Travis Denker, who stepped on second and tossed to first, retiring Christian easily. It was the first triple play the Tides had hit into since June 26, 2006, when Toledo accomplished the feat against Norfolk at Fifth Third Field.
Tides starter Chris Tillman turned in a solid outing, as the 21-year-old allowed two runs on seven hits in six innings of work. Tillman left the contest with a 3-2 lead, but Pawtucket plated two runs in the seventh inning off of Ross Wolf to deny him the win.
The crowd of 12,077 was the largest at Harbor Park since September 1, 2007.
Norfolk and Pawtucket will continue their four-game set on Wednesday night, with first pitch slated for 7:15. Dave Hernandez (3-2, 3.54) will take the hill for the Tides against right-hander Michael Bowden (3-3, 3.26).