Coby Mayo hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning and the Norfolk Tides got strong back-end relief pitching in an 8-6 victory over the Worcester Red Sox before 7,213 fans Tuesday night at Polar Park in Massachusetts.
The Tides (77-49, 29-23 in second half) took a 1-0 lead in the series, which could serve as a preview of the International League Championship Series. Norfolk won the first half of the season, while the Red Sox (70-56, 31-20) lead the second-half standings by a game over the Durham Bulls.
Worcester struck first when Yu Chang hit a three-run homer off Tides starter Cade Povich in the bottom of the second inning.
Norfolk had an immediate answer in the top of the third when Heston Kjerstad hit an RBI triple and Kyle Stowers drilled a two-run homer to tie it. It was Stowers’ 14th of the season.
.@KyleStowers ties it up with a two-run blast in the third!
He now has 36 home runs in his career as a Tide, tying him with Jordan Westburg for 2nd most in a career since the Tides became an Orioles affiliate in 2007.#RisingTide pic.twitter.com/ac1GDSSpCO
— Norfolk Tides (@NorfolkTides) August 29, 2023
The Red Sox took the lead back at 5-3 in the bottom of the third on Bradley Zimmer’s two-run single.
The Tides got one run back in the fourth on Connor Norby’s infield RBI single, but Worcester made it 6-4 on Ronaldo Hernandez’s solo homer off Morgan McSweeney in the bottom of the fifth. It was his 17th of the season.
Norfolk tied it again in the seventh on Josh Lester’s groundout and a two-run throwing error by Chang.
Meanwhile, the Tides’ bullpen shut down Worcester after the fifth inning. McSweeney settled down to pitch a scoreless sixth, and Bryan Baker, Nick Vespi (4-0) and Wandisson Charles each tossed a hitless inning. Charles earned his fourth save.
Norfolk scored the go-ahead runs with two outs in the top of the ninth. After Kjerstad and Joey Ortiz both lined out sharply to right, Daz Cameron singled to left. That set the stage for Mayo, who went deep to left off Worcester’s Cam Booser (3-3) for his seventh homer as a Tide.
.@cobymayox TO THE MOON!🚀🚀🚀
The Tides take a two-run lead in the ninth!#RisingTide pic.twitter.com/gQlyG7wzJw
— Norfolk Tides (@NorfolkTides) August 30, 2023
The teams will play again at 6:45 p.m. Wednesday. Tides right-hander Justin Armbruester (2-2, 3.67) is expected to take the mound against Red Sox lefty Shane Drohan (4-6, 6.39).
