Tides Blown Away Saturday Night at Lehigh Valley

ALLENTOWN, Pa. --- The Norfolk Tides (34-37) were defeated by the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (39-32), 9-1, Saturday night at Coca-Cola Park. The Tides have lost nine of their last 13 games.

To start the game, the Tides were able to score in the first inning. Terrin Vavra led the game off with a hit-by-pitch, and later scored in the inning on an RBI single by Kyle Stowers. That would be the only run the Tides scored in the game.

Lehigh Valley answered right away and tied the game in the bottom-half of the first. Dalton Guthrie hit his second home run of his season on the first pitch he saw.

The biggest inning of the game for the IronPigs was in the third inning when they put up five runs. Guthrie hit the go-ahead run on an RBI double. He scored on double by Dustin Peterson, trading spots on the basepath. Rafael Marchan hit a sacrifice fly and Scott Kingery hit a two-run single to put Lehigh Valley up, 6-1.

Bailey Falter was spectacular as the starting pitcher for Lehigh Valley, retiring 16 straight batters after allowing the RBI single by Stowers. Falter (4-0) earned the win, allowing the one run on one hit and no walks with five strikeouts.

Two more runs would score for Lehigh Valley in the fifth and seventh innings. Guthrie hit an RBI single in the fifth, while Darick Hall hit an RBI single himself, giving Lehigh Valley the, 9-1, win.

The series finale is tomorrow, as Norfolk looks to split the series before returning home Tuesday night to host Gwinnett. Tides starter LHP DL Hall (1-2, 3.86) will be on the hill for the second time this series. LHP Ricardo Sanchez (1-3, 5.26) will make the start for Lehigh Valley. First pitch is scheduled for 1:35 p.m.

POSTGAME NOTES

• TRIPLE-A FIRSTS: The Tides had three different Triple-A debuts Saturday Night...Chris Vallimont was the starting pitcher for the Tides and earned the loss, going 4.0 innings and allowed six runs on nine hits (one home run), a walk and had four strikeouts...Shed Long Jr. was scratched from the lineup, giving Davis Taváres the spot start in left field for his Triple-A debut...he went 1-for-3, getting his first hit in the seventh...the plate appearance of his career tonight was Isaac Mattson, who pinched hit in the ninth after the Tides ran out of position players.
• STREAKS NO MORE: Orioles top prospects Gunnar Henderson and Jordan Westburg saw their respective streaks snapped tonight...Henderson lost his 16-game on-base streak, which started on his Triple-A debut...Westburg saw his hitting streak snap at eight-games, which is tied for the fourth-longest streak by a Tide this season...Henderson’s on-base streak was the second-longest for the Tides, two games short of Terrin Vavra’s 18.