Sparked by an unusual double play, the Norfolk Tides ensured themselves of a series victory Saturday in Pennsylvania with a 4-2 win over Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in Game 1 of a doubleheader.
Drew Rom pitched the first five innings for the win. Reliever Noah Denoyer worked a shutout sixth but walked the first two batters in the RailRiders’ seventh, the final inning.
Tides manager Buck Britton summoned Reed Garrett, who yielded a fly-ball single to Franchy Cordero. But on that play, four Tides combined to retire the two men who began the sequence on base, throwing out Rodolfo Duran at home and Elijah Dunham at third. Garrett then struck out Carlos Narvaez to end the game.
The International League-leading Tides took a 43-17 record and a five-game winning streak into the doubleheader nightcap. Three of those victories have come against the RailRiders, with the series finale set for Sunday afternoon.
In Saturday’s opener, Norfolk went ahead 2-0 in the first. Terrin Vavra singled and scored on Jordan Westburg’s two-out home run to left field.
The RailRiders pulled even at 2 in the second on Estevan Florial’s home run to right-center. But the Tides went ahead to stay on the fourth as Joey Ortiz tripled and scored on a double by Hudson Haskin, who then crossed the plate for a 4-2 edge on Daz Cameron’s single.
