Norfolk knocked off by Louisville Tuesday
Paul Janish continued his torrid stretch at the plate, but Louisville jumped out to an early lead and cruised to a 7-2 win over the Tides Tuesday night at Harbor Park.
Janish singled twice in the contest to up his season average to .380, 3rd-best in the International League. He's reached base safely in nine consecutive games, over which he's hit .500 (15-30) with six multi-hit games.
Tides starter Terry Doyle (0-2) took the loss after yielding five runs on eight hits over 5.1 innings of work. Doyle walked two and struck out a pair, with the big blow against him being a two-out, bases-clearing double by Jermaine Curtis in the third inning. Doyle, who led Orioles minor leaguers with 16 wins last season, now owns a 5.87 ERA through four starts this year.
Louisville starter Cody Reed (1-0) picked up his first Triple-A victory in the contest after holding the Tides to one run on five hits over five innings. Reed, the #3 pitching prospect in the Reds system according to MLB.com, struck out six and walked two while throwing 64 of his 99 pitches for strikes.
Dariel Alvarez factored in both of Norfolk's runs, as he plated a run with an RBI double in the third before walking and scoring in the sixth. Garabez Rosa also had two hits for Norfolk, while Xavier Avery singled to extend his hitting streak to six games.
Norfolk finished 0-for-8 in the contest and was 0-for-23 with runners in scoring position during the three-game series sweep.
The Tides will welcome the Indianapolis Indians to Harbor Park on Wednesday night for the start of a two-game set. Right-hander David Hale is slated to make his Tides debut against former Oriole farmhand Steven Brault (1-1, 2.63), with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 pm.
Notes: Infielder Ryan Flaherty and pitcher David Hale are expected to be activated to Norfolk's roster on Wednesday after both were optioned to the Tides from Baltimore…Oliver Drake struck out two in a scoreless inning of relief, giving him seven shutout innings in eight appearances this season…Norfolk was outscored 20-3 in the three-game sweep…Pedro Beato worked a scoreless inning of relief, lowering his ERA to 1.04 in eight appearances this season.