Late rally not enough as Bisons charge past Norfolk
Norfolk, VA - Buffalo collected 14 hits and held off a late Tides rally in a 7-4 victory over Norfolk Monday night at Harbor Park.
Five different Bisons batters had multiple hits in the game to help lift Buffalo to its second straight win over the Tides. Four members of the Herd's starting lineup drove in a run, with Adron Chambers leading the way with three hits - including a ninth inning solo home run.
Norfolk trailed the contest 7-1 entering the ninth inning before mounting a furious rally against the Bisons bullpen. The Tides collected six hits and plated three runs in the final frame to pull within 7-4, as Henry Urrutia, Ivan De Jesus and Julio Borbon each drove in a run. Norfolk loaded the bases with one out against Bobby Korecky, but he escaped the threat by striking out Jimmy Paredes and Steve Clevenger to wrap up the win and earn his 19th save of the season.
Quintin Berry had four singles to lead the Tides' 12-hit attack as he continued his torrid pace at the plate. Berry has now hit safely in seven straight games, over which he's batted .517 (15-29) with five multi-hit contests - including four in a row.
Mike Wright (3-10) took the loss after allowing five runs (two earned) on nine hits in 5.2 innings of work. He entered the sixth inning trailing the contest 2-1 before yielding three unearned runs in the frame that extended Buffalo's advantage to 5-1.
Wright walked one and struck out one as he threw 56 of his 90 pitches for strikes. The loss snapped a two-game winning streak for the 24-year-old, who had gone 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA (2 ER, 12.0 IP) over his last two outings.
P.J. Walters (4-2) earned the win for Buffalo after allowing four hits - all singles - over six innings. The only run the Tides could muster against him came in the third inning, when Cord Phelps led off the frame with a walk before coming around to score on a sacrifice fly by Paredes.
With the loss, the Tides dropped consecutive games for the first time since a three-game losing skid from July 5-7.
The Tides will look to salvage a split of the four-game series Tuesday afternoon at Harbor Park, with first pitch slated for 12:05. UVA product Tyler Wilson (2-0, 3.25) will make the start for Norfolk against Bisons left-hander Raul Valdes (4-3, 3.60).
Notes: Former Tide Brett Wallace, who was traded to Toronto over the All-Star break, went 2-for-3 with two walks for the Bisons…Ivan De Jesus went 0-for-4 with an RBI to snap a 12-game hitting streak…The Tides have not homered since July 20, a span of five games…Norfolk committed an error in its sixth straight game, a season-high…With the loss, Norfolk remained 7.0 games back of Durham in the IL South division…Cord Phelps, who entered play ranked second in the IL with a .459 on-base percentage since July 1, had two singles and drew and a walk in four plate appearances.