In a battle of the two teams with the best records in the International League in May, the Durham Bulls held off a late rally to top the Tides 4-3 in the opener of a three-game set.
In a battle of the two teams with the best records in the International League in May, the Durham Bulls held off a late rally to top the Tides 4-3 in the opener of a three-game set.
Christopher Bostick and Ryan Mountcastle both homered in the setback, as Norfolk lost for just the sixth time through 16 games in May. The win moved Durham into first place in the IL South division, a half-game ahead of the Gwinnett Stripers.
Bostick got the Tides on the board in the seventh inning with an opposite field solo shot, his fifth homer of the season. Bostick also singled earlier in the contest and was the lone Norfolk hitter to register a multi-hit game.
Mountcastle pulled the Tides to within 4-3 in the eighth inning with a two-run homer off of Jake Faria (4-1). The 22-year-old, who is rated as the #1 prospect in the Orioles system by MLB.com, has now homered in consecutive contests to give him seven round trippers on the season. Mountcastle now has 31 runs batted in this season, tying him with DJ Stewart for the team lead.
Norfolk starter Tyler Herb (3-1) suffered his first setback of the season after allowing three runs on seven hits over 5.1 innings of work. He walked four and struck out two but yielded five extra-base hits - including a solo homer to Jake Cronenworth - as he saw his ERA rise to 3.76 through five appearances with the Tides this year. Christian Arroyo also had a big night against Herb, registering three hits - including two doubles, a triple and two runs batted in.
Andrew Kittredge earned the save with 1.2 innings of scoreless relief for the Bulls (26-17), who now own the best record in the International League.
The two teams will continue their three-game set on Wednesday evening at Harbor Park, with first pitch slated for 6:35 pm. Keegan Akin (2-1, 3.60) gets the start for Norfolk, while the Bulls are set to counter with right-hander Austin Pruitt (1-1, 6.23).
Notes: Earlier Tuesday, RHP Cristian Alvarado was assigned to Norfolk's roster from Double-A Bowie…The Tides have played 11 consecutive errorless games…Jesus Sucre saw his seven-game hitting streak come to an end with an 0-for-4 night…The Tides entered play leading the International League with a .326 average with runners in scoring position, but Norfolk went 0-for-7 with RISP…Sean Gilmartin worked 1.2 shutout innings, giving him six consecutive outings in which he has not allowed an earned run.
