Comeback Falls Short For Tides in Walk-Off Loss

ALLENTOWN, Pa. --- The Norfolk Tides (33-36) lost to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (38-31), 7-6, Thursday night at Coca-Cola Park. The Tides made a five-run comeback but couldn’t complete the win when the IronPigs walked-off the game. The Tides have lost seven of their last 11 games.

To start the game, Terrin Vavra led the game off with a home run, his first homer of the season. The homer would end up being Vavra’s only at bat, where he had to exit the game in the third after being hit by a pitch.

Lehigh Valley answered by taking the lead back. They scored two runs in the first inning, when Darick Hall tied the game on an RBI single. The second run scored on a throwing error, giving Lehigh Valley the lead. The IronPigs went on to score four more runs in the second. Edgar Cabral hit an RBI double to spark the inning. He scored on a home run by Mickey Moniak, his third of the season. Jorge Bonifacio hit a sacrifice fly to cap the inning, giving Lehigh Valley a 6-1 lead.

Norfolk would go on to make a five-run for the second night in a row. Jordan Westburg blasted a two-run homer to bring the Tides withing three runs in the third. Another run scored in the fifth when Kyle Stowers hit a sacrifice fly to score Westburg. The game tied in the seventh when two runs scored on a wild pitch plus an error, tying the game at six apiece.

Unfortunately for the Tides, the comeback couldn’t be completed as Jorge Bonifacio walked it off for Lehigh Valley on a hit down the left field line, giving them the 7-6 win.

Game three tomorrow night will feature Tides starter RHP Michael Baumann (0-4, 7.71), while LHP Bailey Falter (3-0, 1.54) will make the start for Lehigh Valley. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

POSTGAME NOTES

• LEADOFF DINGERS: Terrin Vavra led the game off with a home run, his first of the season...It was the fourth time a Norfolk Tide batter led the game off with a home run this season, with the last being Ryan McKenna on May 11 vs. Memphis...the other two were from Rylan Bannon (April 22 vs. Durham) and Richie Martin (April 24 vs. Durham).
• WILD WILD WEST: Tonight, Jordan Westburg went 2-for-5 with two runs scored and a two-run homer...in 13 games since his arrival (June 7), he’s hitting .368 (21-for-57) with 13 runs, five doubles, two triples, five home runs, 16 RBI and three walks (.400 OBP)...he has an extra-base hit in 10 of those 13 games so far.
• ALLEN-BEAU DUO: Relieving Tides starter tonight was Logan Allen, who threw 2.0 scoreless. He was followed by 4.0 scoreless innings from Beau Sulser, who allowed one hit and one walk to hold Lehigh Valley’s lead for a comeback attempt...Allen hasn’t allowed an earned run in his last four games (6.2 IP) while Sulser set his Norfolk Tides high in innings pitched.