Walker's homer not enough as Tides fall in extras
Norfolk, VA - Sean Ochinko's bases-clearing double in the top of the 11th helped power the Buffalo Bisons past the Tides 6-2 Tuesday afternoon at Harbor Park.
With the score tied 2-2 in the 11th, the Bisons broke open the game open against Suk-min Yoon (3-8), who was working his second inning of relief in his second relief appearance with the Tides. Melky Mesa and Ryan Schimpf had consecutive one-out singles against Yoon before a walk to Jared Goedert loaded the bases. After a coaching visit to the mound, Ochinko lined the first pitch he saw into the left-center field gap, clearing the bases and giving the Bisons the 5-2 lead. Two batters later, Kevin Nolan lined an RBI single to center field off of Robert Coello to extend Buffalo's advantage to 6-2.
With the loss, Norfolk dropped its first series since a two-game sweep in Durham from July 6-7. The Tides have now lost five of six after a 17-3 stretch.
Christian Walker powered Norfolk's offense with three hits and two RBI. The 23-year-old, who entered play ranked 8th in Minor League Baseball with 87 RBI this year, belted a solo home run in the fourth inning before lining an RBI single in the fifth.
Tyler Wilson turned in his fourth Quality Start in seven outings with the Tides but did not factor in the decision. Wilson allowed two runs on five hits in six innings of work as he walked one and struck out three. The 24-year-old UVA product surrendered an RBI double to Jonathan Diaz in the fifth inning before yielding a solo home run to former Tide Brett Wallace in the sixth.
Over 23 starts between Double-A Bowie and Norfolk this year, Wilson is now 12-5 with a 3.57 ERA. His 12 wins and 126 strikeouts between the two levels are the most among Orioles minor leaguers.
After an off day Wednesday, the Tides travel to Gwinnett Thursday to open up a four-game series. Steve Johnson (0-0, 6.46) is slated to make the start for Norfolk against RHP Cody Martin (6-7, 3.73), with first pitch scheduled for 6:35. Pete Michaud will call all the action on ESPN Radio 94.1, with airtime set for 6:20 pm.
Notes: Prior to Tuesday's game, LHP Joe Saunders was activated to Norfolk's roster while LHP Clay Rapada was released. The Orioles also activated RHP Eddie Gamboa from Norfolk's Restricted List and assigned him to Double-A Bowie…Henry Urrutia went 2-for-5 and is now hitting .316 (12-38) in nine games since coming off the disabled list…Tuesday was Norfolk's 14th extra-inning game of the year, second-most in the IL. Buffalo leads the league with 16 extra-inning contests…Evan Meek worked a scoreless ninth inning, giving him 21 scoreless outings over his last 23 appearances.