The Durham Bulls broke open a tie ballgame with four late runs to sink the Tides 7-3 in front of 7,352 fans Sunday evening at Harbor Park.
The Durham Bulls broke open a tie ballgame with four late runs to sink the Tides 7-3 in front of 7,352 fans Sunday evening at Harbor Park.
The contest was tied at 3-3 entering the seventh inning before the Bulls broke the stalemate with a two-run home run by Michah Johnson off of Andrew Faulkner (6-2). One inning later, Andrew Velazquez lined a two-run double off of Lucas Long to extend Durham's advantage to 7-3.
Norfolk starter John Means did not factor in the decision after turning in his team-leading 10th Quality Start of the season. Means yielded three runs on six hits over six innings of work, striking out four without walking a batter. The West Virginia University product now has 127 strikeouts between Norfolk and Bowie this season, the third-most among Orioles minor leaguers behind Keegan Akin (138) and Zac Lowther (137).
Mike Yastrzemski singled, walked and scored two runs to help pace Norfolk's offense, while Joey Rickard added a double and a run scored. Anthony Santander added a sacrifice fly and a run-scoring groundout for Norfolk, which dropped to 5-12 against Durham this season - including just 2-8 at Harbor Park.
With the loss, Norfolk's divisional hopes took a big hit, as the Tides (68-64) now find themselves 5.5 games back of the Bulls (73-58) with eight games left in the regular season. Durham's magic number to clinch the IL South division now stands at three.
The Tides are now one of four teams within 1.0 game of the IL Wild Card lead, currently held by Columbus (69-63). Toledo (68-63) is a half-game back of the Clippers, while Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (67-63) and the Tides are just 1.0 game back.
The Tides will wrap up their regular season home schedule on Monday night at Harbor Park, with first pitch slated for 7:05. Luis Ortiz (2-1, 3.43) is set to make the start for Norfolk and will be opposed by right-hander José Mujica (5-1, 2.70). There will be a postgame fireworks celebration on Monday, courtesy of Norfolk International Airport.
Notes: Chance Sisco singled in the sixth inning, giving him hits in eight of his last nine games…Joey Rickard doubled in the first inning and has now reached base safely in 37 of the 39 games in which he's had a plate appearance with Norfolk… Mike Yastrzemski has hit safely in 10 of his last 12 games, registering four home runs, 13 RBI and 11 runs scored over that stretch.
August 26 Video Highlights
