Punctuated by their 8-3 road victory Wednesday night over Nashville, the Norfolk Tides are headed to the International League playoffs for the first time since 2015.
Capitalizing on a new format that rewards the season’s first-half champion, the Tides (46-23) took the title with five games to go in the first half. The last team that could mathematically catch them, the St. Paul Saints, lost 5-4 earlier Wednesday night at Toledo, opening the door for Norfolk’s opportunity.
The Tides celebrated with champagne in their clubhouse as plastic covered the lockers in Nashville, Tennessee, the home of the Milwaukee Brewers’ top farm club.
The two guys at the top of Norfolk’s lineup were beginning major league rehabilitation assignments. Neither had a hit until the ninth inning, when Cedric Mullins slugged a two-run homer for the Tides’ final runs. Bouncing back from an injury to his right groin, Mullins was 1 for 5, while Ryan Mountcastle (vertigo) was 0 for 5 with three strikeouts. Mountcastle hadn’t played a minor league game since 2019, when Baltimore promoted him from the Tides.
Norfolk took the lead in the 20-team league early in the season and never relinquished it.
In September, the Tides will play a best-of-three series — all at Harbor Park — against the team with the best second-half record for the IL Governors’ Cup. If the Tides also have the best second-half mark, they’ll face the team with the next-best second-half record.
The Tides will seek their first title since 1985, when their players included IL All-Star outfielder Billy Beane, the Oakland Athletics executive portrayed by Brad Pitt in the movie “Moneyball.” Some of the New York Mets’ 1986 World Series-winning team was part of that Tidewater Tides squad.
Colton Cowser socked a home run in the first inning for Norfolk, but the Sounds took a 2-1 edge in the third on Brice Turang’s two-run single.
The Tides went ahead to stay with a three-run fourth. Connor Norby brought home Cowser and Jordan Westburg with a two-run triple to center field, then scored on newcomer Cesar Prieto’s sacrifice fly to right.
Alex Jackson’s RBI double in the sixth but Nashville’s deficit to 4-3, though the Tides threw him out at third on relay from center fielder Mullins to shortstop Westburg to Prieto.
Norfolk gained breathing room in the ninth. Heston Kjerstad slugged a triple off the wall and scored on Norby’s sacrifice fly. Maverick Handley lined a single to bring home Prieto before Mullins’ blast to right-center.
The Tides ended the game with a flourish. With the bases loaded and Nick Vespi pitching, Nashville’s Eddy Alvarez lined to Mountcastle at first base. He threw to Prieto to double off Josh VanMeter for the final out.
The series, scheduled for six games, will continue with a doubleheader at 6:35 Thursday.
