Bradish K's 10, three Tides homer in 6-2 win Friday

Kyle Bradish struck out a season-high 10 batters in five innings and three Tides went yard, helping Norfolk (18-25) defeat the Gwinnett Stripers for the third time in four games, winning by a 6-2 final score on Friday night at Harbor Park.

The Stripers got a first-inning run when first baseman Johan Camargo doubled home shortstop Orlando Arcia with two outs.

Tides center fielder Ryan McKenna tied the game with a solo blast to lead off the bottom of the first, his fourth long ball of the homestand. His six home runs this year rank second on the club, trailing only Tyler Nevin (9) despite McKenna having appeared in just 17 games with Norfolk.

A two-out RBI single by Stripers third baseman Ryan Goins in the top of the third put Gwinnett back on top. Bradish struck out the next hitter, Phillip Ervin, to limit the damage to one run.

Bradish (5.0IP, 3H, 2ER, 3BB, 10K) touched 96 mph with his fastball and struck out a pair of hitters in each of his five frames, at one point striking out four consecutive Gwinnett batters. He retired seven straight hitters to end his night.

With the Tides trailing 2-1 in the sixth, right fielder Yusniel Diaz led off the inning with a game-tying home run. A walk to first baseman JC Escarra and another home run, this time from second baseman Ramon Urias, gave Norfolk its first lead of the evening and chased Gwinnett starter Bryse Wilson from the game.

Two more Tides runners crossed the plate in the bottom of the seventh, as Urias singled home another run and Diaz, who had singled earlier in the inning, scored on a wild pitch to extend the Norfolk lead to 6-2.

Norfolk relievers Shawn Armstrong (1.0IP, 0H, 0R, 1BB, 1K), Dusten Knight (2.0IP, 2H, 0R, 1BB, 1K) and Eric Hanhold (1.0IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 3K) threw the final four innings without allowing a run.

Diaz and third baseman Domingo Leyba combined to go 5-for-9, while left fielder Jahmai Jones extended his on-base streak to 15 games with a walk in the sixth.

The 10 strikeouts recorded by Bradish are a Tides season high, breaking the mark he had set on June 6 at Durham (8). The right-hander entered play with a 13.4 K/9 ratio, third-best in Baltimore’s minor league system.

The Tides and Stripers (22-23) will face off again on Saturday evening, with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. The Norfolk starter is still to be announced, as the scheduled starter, left-hander Alex Wells, was instead promoted to Baltimore on Friday afternoon. Righty Touki Toussaint will make a Major League rehab start for Gwinnett.