Bulls Struggle Late as they Drop First of Six with Norfolk

Norfolk, VA — The Norfolk Tides scored three late runs in the eighth inning to lift them over the Durham Bulls 7-5 in their home opener in Harbor Park on Tuesday evening.

The Tides (9-4) have won five of their last six and ran away with the game after scoring six runs in the final three innings. Norfolk’s first three batters Richie Martin, Terrin Vavra, and Jahmai Jones combined for seven of the Tides’ 12 hits throughout the night.

The Bulls (4-9) got things started in this one as a line drive from Isaac Paredes got him on base. On the next at-bat, second baseman Johnathan Aranda doubled to center field, bringing in Parades for the first run of the game.

The Tides struggled until the bottom of the third as a Jones RBI brought in Martin for a score, tying things up at 1. The Bulls on the other hand heated up in the top of the fourth as left fielder Miles Mastrobuoni and first baseman Jim Haley homered on back to back at-bats, giving Durham a 5-1 lead. Tides pitcher Ryan Hartman was yanked after three innings after giving up all five runs and seven hits.

Norfolk was able to get right back on the scoreboard at the bottom of the sixth as third baseman Rylan Bannon singled to center field to bring two runners home. In the next inning, Robert Neustrom grounded to left field and brought in another runner to bring the score to 5-4. The bottom of the eighth saw RBIs from Martin and Vavra, giving the Tides a 7-5 lead.

Bulls relief pitcher Ralph Garza Jr. gave up four runs in two innings pitched, giving him his first loss of the season at 0-1. Tides relief pitcher Cody Sedlock (2-0) received his second win on the season after allowing zero runs and striking out five batters in four innings. Norfolk closer Nick Vespi received a save for closing the game out for Sedlock, not allowing any runs.

The Bulls have now lost four of their last five as they seek to bounce back tomorrow in the second game of their series with Norfolk at 6:35 PM ET.