In a massive contrast from the previous night, the Norfolk Tides fell 3-1 to Durham in a series finale Sunday before 5,141 at Harbor Park.
Taking the field about 17 hours after completing their stunning 13-12 victory Saturday night, the Tides managed just three hits against four Durham pitchers.
Norfolk still won the series 4-2. The Tides next will head to Massachusetts to duel the Worcester Red Sox in a six-game series starting at 6:45 p.m. Tuesday.
The Red Sox (70-55 overall) lead the International League second-half standings at 31-19, and the team that finishes on top will face the first-half champion Tides (76-49, 28-23) in Norfolk in the league championship series. Durham (70-56, 30-21) is in second place, 1 1/2 games behind Worcester.
Durham starter Taj Bradley, one of the Tampa Bay Rays’ best prospects, pitched four innings, giving up just two hits and a run. Carlos Garcia (1-2) gained the win by holding Norfolk to one hit in three innings, and Emmanuel Mejia and Trevor Brigden each kept the Tides hitless and scoreless in the eighth and ninth, respectively.
Tides starter Chayce McDermott shut out Durham for the first three innings, but the Bulls struck for all of their runs in the fourth and drove him from the game.
Austin Shenton walked and scored on Diego Infante’s double to center field. Johan Lopez’s pop dropped for a single in right field, driving in Kameron Misner, and Logan Driscoll grounded a single to right to send Infante across the plate.With one out in the bottom of the fourth, Joey Ortiz laced a home run to right-center, making the score 3-1.
But despite shutout relief from Logan Gillaspie, T.J. McFarland, Mike Baumann and Joey Krehbiel, Durham held on despite collecting just five hits.
INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE SECOND-HALF STANDINGS
(through all of Sunday’s games; 1H refers to a team’s first-half record)
Team, W-L, Pct., 1H
Worcester (Red Sox), 31-19, .620, -, 39-36
Durham (Rays), 30-21, .588, 1.5, 40-35
Scranton/W-B (Yankees), 29-21, .580, 2.0, 34-40
Lehigh Valley (Phillies), 29-22, .569, 2.5, 36-37
St. Paul (Twins), 29-22, .569, 2.5, 43-31
Nashville (Brewers), 28-22, .560, 3.0, 40-34
Buffalo (Blue Jays), 27-22, .551, 3.5, 34-41
Jacksonville (Marlins), 28-23, .549, 3.5, 32-42
c-Norfolk (Orioles), 28-23, .549, 3.5, 48-26
Iowa (Cubs), 27-23, .540, 4.0, 43-30
Indianapolis (Pirates), 26-24, .520, 5.0, 33-41
Toledo (Tigers), 26-25, .510, 5.5, 33-41
Louisville (Reds), 25-26, .490, 6.5, 40-33
Gwinnett (Braves), 24-25, .490, 6.5, 33-42
Columbus (Guardians), 23-26, .469, 7.5, 33-41
Memphis (Cardinals), 23-28, .451, 8.5, 39-36
Rochester (Nationals), 22-28, .440, 9.0, 34-39
Syracuse (Mets), 19-30, .388, 11.5, 33-41
Omaha (Royals), 17-32, .347, 13.5, 38-34
Charlotte (White Sox), 11-40, .216, 20.5, 35-40
c-won first half to gain berth in IL championship series.
