The Norfolk relief corps turned in clutch work Saturday night as the Tides edged Durham 4-3 at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
Norfolk relievers gave up just two hits and a run in six innings as the Tides took a 3-2 lead in a six-game series in North Carolina. The set will conclude with Sunday’s 5:05 p.m. game before the teams head to the All-Star break. The Tides’ Grayson Rodriguez (4-0, 2.11 ERA), the reigning International League Pitcher of the Week, is scheduled to start against left-hander Jacob Lopez (3-2, 1.19).
Kyle Dowdy (7-2) gained the triumph with 2 2/3 hitless innings out of the bullpen. Darwinzon Hernandez, Wandisson Charles and Logan Gillaspie mostly shut down Durham in the final 3 1/3 innings.
The Bulls drew 10 walks but had just four hits, stranding 13 runners.
The Tides (55-29, 7-3 in the International League’s second half) continued to cope well after the recent call-ups to Baltimore of Colton Cowser and Jordan Westburg, two of the men so important in their winning the first-half championship, and the visit of Keston Hjerstad to Saturday’s All-Star Futures Game in Seattle. Kjerstad was 1 for 2 with a single in the American League team’s 5-0 loss to the National League.
In the top of the second inning, the Tides’ Joey Ortiz scored as Daz Cameron was credited with a single on a short fly ball.Durham (45-41, 5-6) went ahead 2-1 in the bottom of the second on Greg Jones’ two-run homer to left-center off starter Ryan Watson, who lasted three innings.
Connor Norby’s single to center drove home Ryan McKenna for a 2-2 tie in the third, and the Tides moved ahead to stay in the sixth inning on unusual fashion.
With runners on second and third and two out, Lewin Diaz swung for strike three against reliever Jalen Beeks. But the ball got away from catcher Blake Hunt for a wild pitch, allowing Ortiz to score and Diaz to reach first base. Ramón Rodriguez then singled to center, bringing home Cameron for a 4-2 lead.
In the eighth, the Bulls’ Vidal Brujan singled home Ruben Cardenas with two out, but Charles caught Curtis Mead looking at a third strike to halt the threat.
In the ninth, Gillaspie walked two batters with two out but gained a save by retiring Cardenas on a fielder’s-choice grounder to third.
