Jones, Tides Handle Charging Pigs
June 11, 2015 - International League (IL1)
Norfolk Tides News Release
Norfolk jumped out to an early lead behind an outstanding outing from Chris Jones, then held off a late rally in a 4-3 win over the Lehigh Valley IronPigs Thursday night at Harbor Park.
Jones (2-4) was excellent in earning the win as he allowed just one hit over seven shutout innings. The 26-year-old southpaw took a perfect game into the sixth inning - retiring the first 16 batters of the contest - before yielding a one-out single to center field by catcher Gabriel Lino.
Jones, who struck out six without walking a batter, lowered his season ERA to 2.24 - the lowest among qualifying Orioles minor leaguers and the 2nd-best in the International League behind the 2.19 ERA registered by Gwinnett's Manny Banuelos.
Norfolk led the contest 4-0 before Lehigh Valley plated three runs in the eighth inning to pull within 4-3. Tides closer Oliver Drake then struck out the side in the ninth after allowing a leadoff single to nail down the win and record his 11th save of the season.
Drake has now turned in 13 consecutive scoreless outings with the Tides, over which he's registered nine saves while holding IL batters to a .128 average (6-for-47) with 21 strikeouts in 13.2 innings pitched.
Christian Walker had three hits, an RBI and two runs scored to lead Norfolk's 11-hit attack, while Dariel Alvarez had two run-scoring infield singles. It was the third straight multi-hit game for Alvarez, who is now batting .438 (14-32) with a home run and nine RBI through nine games in June.
The win moved Norfolk (32-24) eight games over the .500 mark, matching the Tides' highwater mark of the 2015 season.
The two clubs continue their four-game series Friday night at Harbor Park, with first pitch set for 7:05. Michael Bowden (4-1, 1.55) gets the start for Norfolk against left-hander Adam Morgan (0-6, 5.07).
Notes: Earlier Thursday, Baltimore recalled RHP Mike Wright from the Tides and placed RHP Miguel Gonzalez on the disabled list with a right groin strain. LHP Cesar Cabral was activated to Norfolk's roster after he was optioned from Baltimore, and 1B/OF Sean Halton was transferred to Norfolk from Double-A Bowie...The first inning of the ballgame saw 21 foul balls between the two clubs (seven by Lehigh Valley, 14 by Norfolk)...Chris Parmelee had two hits to extend his hitting streak to seven games...Lehigh Valley's lineup featured former Tides Jayson Nix, Russ Canzler, Cord Phelps and Tyler Henson.
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