Kester Pitches Norfolk Past Syracuse, 4-3
July 3, 2007 - International League (IL1)
Norfolk Tides News Release
July 3, 2007 - Tim Kester allowed one run on three hits in 6.0 innings of work, pitching Norfolk to a 4-3 win over the Syracuse Chiefs in front of a season-high 12,513 fans at Harbor Park Tuesday night.
Kester (5-8) allowed just four batters to reach base, needing only 78 pitches to maneuver through six innings of work. He yielded an RBI single to Mike Vento in the second inning, but faced just one batter over the minimum through the next four frames as he helped Norfolk earn a split of the four-game set.
Trailing 1-0 in the 4th, the Tides collected two runs off of two Chiefs' hurlers to take the lead. Jason Dubois started the rally with a one-out single off of Syracuse spot starter Jim Crowell (1-3) and advanced to second on a walk to Jon Knott. Justin James was brought in to relieve Crowell, and immediately loaded the bases with a walk to Terry Tiffee. Alberto Castillo then plated Dubois with a sacrifice fly to score Dubois, and Luis Montanez followed with a sharp single up the middle to plate Knott and give the Tides a 2-1 lead.
Norfolk extended their lead to 4-1 in the 7th inning, thanks to RBI singles by Eider Torres and Mike Cervenak. Cervenak's single extended his hitting streak to nine games, and the 30-year-old has now collected an RB in nine of his last 11 games.
After two shutout innings of relief by Jim Hoey, Syracuse mounted a smally rally in the 9th against Norfolk closer Cory Doyne. John-Ford Griffin lined a two-out triple off the base of the right field wall to plate Reed Johnson, and Kevin Barker followed with an RBI single to center field to pull the Chiefs within one. Doyne escaped any further damage by inducing a ground ball off the bat of Mike Vento, securing a Norfolk victory and giving him his league leading 24th save of the season.
The two runs allowed by Doyne were the first the 25-year-old right-hander has allowed since May 5, a span of 26.0 consecutive shutout innings. The total was just two outs shy of the Tides' franchise record, set by Royce Ring a year ago.
The 24th save by Doyne also moved him into second place on the Tides' franchise list, passing the 23 saves of Oscar Henriquez in 1999. Doyne now trails only Derek Wallace's 26 saves in 1996 on the franchise list.
After an off day on Wednesday, the Tides travel to Indianapolis to take on the top affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates for a four-game set before heading into the All-Star break. Jim Johnson (4-7, 3.44) takes the hill for Norfolk against right-hander Bryan Bullington (9-4, 3.66), with first pitch slated for 7:00 p.m.
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