Stevie Wilkerson's three-run homer highlighted a six-run eighth inning as Norfolk rallied for an 8-5 win over the Durham Bulls Thursday afternoon at Harbor Park.
Stevie Wilkerson's three-run homer highlighted a six-run eighth inning as Norfolk rallied for an 8-5 win over the Durham Bulls Thursday afternoon at Harbor Park.
A night after seeing Durham put together a late rally in a comeback win, the Tides returned the favor by sending 10 men to the plate in the six-run eighth inning. Norfolk entered the frame trailing 5-2, but Mason Williams walked and Jack Reinheimer singled to ignite the rally. Wilkerson then launched a three-run homer into the left field picnic area off of Colin Poche (0-2), knotting the score at 5-5. Ryan Mouncastle followed with a single and moved to second after Anthony Santander was hit by a pitch, and Anderson Feliz followed with a two-run double that gave the Tides the lead. Christopher Bostick capped the scoring with an opposite-field single to give Norfolk an 8-5 advantage.
Jay Flaa made the lead hold up, working a perfect ninth inning to register his first career Triple-A save. Flaa has now thrown 7.0 shutout innings over his first three games with Norfolk, limiting IL batters to an .048 average (1-21) with six strikeouts.
Wilkerson has now hit safely in nine of 12 games this season, batting .326 with two home runs and 10 runs batted in. He has five multi-hit contests and is tied for the team lead with 15 hits thus far.
Mountcastle, the #2 prospect in the Orioles system according to MLB.com, finished a triple short of hitting for the cycle as he picked up his second three-hit game of the homestand. The 22-year-old has homered in three of his last four games, and he leads the Tides with 12 RBI this season.
Chris Lee (1-0) earned the win with 3.1 solid innings of work, as he allowed one run on five hits while striking out three. Since being promoted from Bowie, Lee has posted a 1.23 ERA (1 ER, 7.1 IP) with eight strikeouts.
Making his third start of the season, Keegan Akin allowed four runs (three earned) on four hits over 4.2 innings. He walked three and struck out five, throwing 47 of his 86 pitches for strikes.
With the win, Norfolk picked up its first series victory of the season, and the Tides have won five of their last seven games.
The Tides will continue their homestand on Friday night at Harbor Park with the first of three games against the Charlotte Knights. Yefry Ramírez (1-0, 0.00) is set to start for Norfolk and be opposed by right-hander Dylan Cease (2-0, 0.00), with first pitch scheduled for 7:05.
Notes: DJ Stewart drew his 10th walk of the season, tying him for 5th in the International League…Norfolk has hit .310 against left-handed pitching and .319 with runners in scoring position…Anderson Feliz has hit .429 (6-14) with four RBI in four games since joining Norfolk from Double-A Bowie…Mason Williams walked twice during Norfolk's six-run eighth inning.
