Tides Fall Apart in Eighth
August 20, 2015 - International League (IL1)
Norfolk Tides News Release
The Columbus Clippers rallied from a late deficit to charge past the Tides 5-2 Thursday night at Harbor Park.
The Tides led the contest 2-0 entering the eighth inning before the Clippers batted around and plated five runs to take the lead. Columbus got a two-run home run from Ryan Rohlinger, a two-run double from Audy Ciriaco and an RBI double from James Ramsey in the inning to rally past the Tides - just the sixth time the Tides have lost a game when leading after seven innings of play.
Norfolk starter Chris Jones was tremendous, as he allowed two runs on seven hits over seven-plus innings of work. The 26-year-old, who is the reigning International League Pitcher of the Week, took a shutout into the eighth inning before Rohlinger chased him with a game-tying two-run homer that made the score 2-2.
Jones, who has now allowed three earned runs or less in 24 of his last 25 starts with Norfolk, struck out five without walking a batter as he turned in his eighth Quality Start in his last nine outings. He threw 70 of his 99 pitches for strikes as he lowered his ERA to 2.84 this season, 4th-best in the IL.
Pedro Beato (5-5) took the loss after allowing three runs on three hits in one-third of an inning. Joe Colon (1-0) earned the win in relief, while Tyler Sturdevant recorded the final four outs for his third save of the season.
Audry Perez had three hits to lead Norfolk's 10-hit attack, while Dariel Alvarez added two hits and a run scored to extend his hitting streak to eight games. Alvarez, who ranks third in the IL with 135 hits this season, has batted .387 (12-31) with eight runs scored over his eight-game hitting streak.
With the loss, Norfolk's lead in the IL South division dropped to 5.0 games over the Gwinnett Braves. Norfolk's magic number to clinch a playoff berth stands at 15 with 19 games to go in the regular season.
The two clubs wrap up their three-game series on Friday night at Harbor Park, with first pitch slated for 7:05. Elih Villanueva (3-2, 4.20) gets the start for Norfolk and will be opposed by right-hander Jarrett Gruve.
On Friday, the first 5,000 fans will receive a Tides baseball cap, courtesy of Pepsi and WAVY. There will also be an appearance by the traveling mascot act The Zooperstars, who will perform throughout the game.
Notes: The five runs allowed in the eighth inning matched a Tides season-high...Christian Walker had an RBI triple in the third inning, giving him 30 runs batted in since the All-Star break...Julio Borbon singled in the first frame and has now hit safely in 16 of his last 17 games with an at-bat...The Tides went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and have gone 2-for-19 with RISP over the first two games of the series...Sharlon Schoop had two hits and has now batted .625 (5-8) over the first two games of the series.
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