NORFOLK, Va. — The Norfolk Tides (9-13) fell to the Gwinnett Stripers (10-11), 9-4, on Tuesday night at Harbor Park. Norfolk hitters collected three doubles, while Maverick Handley led the way for the Tides hitters with three RBI in the loss.
Gwinnett started the scoring off Tuesday night, taking a 1-0 lead when Luke Waddell singled in J.P. Martinez in the top of the first. The Tides struck back in the bottom of the second to take the lead. After a leadoff walk from Hudson Haskin and a double by Ryan McKenna, catcher Maverick Handley drove them both in an on RBI double, his fifth of the season, to put Norfolk up 2-1.
Following two straight singles to open up the top of the fifth, Gwinnett tied the game at 2-2 when Alejo Lopez plated Forrest Wall on a sacrifice fly out. The Stripers ended up riding one more hit that inning to take a 4-2 lead over Norfolk.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Tides loaded the bases following two straight singles from Kyle Stowers and Haskin and a walk issued to McKenna. Then, Handley drew a five pitch walk to bring home Stowers and cut the deficit to 4-3.
After Luis González set down the Stripers in the top of the seventh, Coby Mayo tied the game up at 4-4 with an RBI double in the bottom half of the inning that scored Connor Norby. The double marked his 14th extra base hit of the season, tied for the most in the International League, while Norby was his 20th RBI of the year.
Gwinnett retook the lead in the top of the eighth, scoring two runs on two hits and a walk, including an RBI double from Lopez. Norfolk threatened to score in the bottom of the eighth, loading the bases with a single and two walks, but were unable to bring home a run to cut into the Stripers’ deficit.
The Stripers extended their lead in the top of the ninth, scoring two more on an RBI single from Andrew Velazquez to extend their lead to 8-4. They tacked on one more run on an RBI ground out two batters later to give them a 9-4 lead. Despite getting two runners on in the bottom of the ninth, the Tides couldn’t complete the comeback, dropping the opening game of the series against Gwinnett.