Drew Rom’s shutout pitching started the Norfolk Tides on their way to victory Tuesday night, and a pair of late five-run innings turned a close game into a 12-1 laugher against Gwinnett before 1,956 in the opener of a six-game series in Lawrenceville, Georgia.
Coby Mayo drove in four runs, Josh Lester knocked in three, and their home runs in the eighth extended a 2-1 lead to 7-1. The drive just over the left-field wall was Mayo’s first Triple-A home run for the International League first-half champion Tides (58-31), who are 10-5 in the second half.
Rom (7-5) blanked the Stripers, Atlanta’s top affiliate, on two hits in five innings. The left-hander struck out seven and walked three.
Kyle Dowdy gave up a run in the sixth, but fellow Norfolk relievers Darwinzon Hernandez, Joey Krehbiel and Ofreidy Gomez shut out Gwinnett (39-51, 6-9) thereafter.
Stripers starter Justus Sheffield (1-4) lasted seven innings, giving up five hits, striking out six and walking two.
Norfolk went ahead in the fourth inning as Gwinnett catcher Chadwick Tromp’s overthrow of second base allowed Joey Ortiz to come home from third on a double steal. Maverick Handley’s home run to left-center in the fifth made it 2-0.
BOOM! @MaverickHandley doubles the Tides lead on a solo bomb!
Norfolk leads 2-0 in the 5th.#RisingTide pic.twitter.com/LU44CTjo38
— Norfolk Tides (@NorfolkTides) July 19, 2023
An infield single by 795-game MLB veteran Jesus Aguilar to shortstop brought in Luke Williams in the sixth with the Stripers’ only run, but Ortiz threw out Vaughn Grissom at third on the play.
Norfolk pounded reliever Joe Harvey for five runs in the eighth, including Mayo’s three-run homer and Lester’s two-run shot. It was Mayo’s 51st extra-base hit of the year, which leads all of the minor leagues. He spent most of the year with Double-A Bowie.
There it is! @cobymayox sends this one to the moon for his first career Triple-A homer!#RisingTide pic.twitter.com/iz6lVKSvJP
— Norfolk Tides (@NorfolkTides) July 19, 2023
The Tides added five RBI singles off Matt Swarmer in the ninth, thanks to Mayo, Cesar Prieto, Ryan McKenna, Lester and Handley.
The teams will play the series’ second game at 12:05 p.m. Wednesday, with Tides right-hander Justin Armbruester (1-1, 3.44 ERA) scheduled to oppose lefty Jared Shuster, who is 4-2 in nine starts for Atlanta but 2-3 with a 6.49 ERA in eight starts for Gwinnett this season.
