Henderson continues to rehab, Basallo hit a dinger, and the defense needs some practice
Triple-A: Durham Bulls (TBR) 9, Norfolk Tides 3
The Tides’ season has not gotten off to a great start. They fell to 0-2 on the year last night in a sloppy game in which they made more errors in the field (6) than they had hits at the plate (5).
Gunnar Henderson continued his rehab with a 1-for-4 from the leadoff spot. His one hit was a single and he struck out twice. He also made two errors on the field so it wasn’t a banner day for him. But the only thing that matters is that he wakes up tomorrow feeling good.
Raúl Alcantara and Justin Armbruester combined to pitch the first 5.2 innings of the game and allowed a combined total of four runs. Due to the previously mentioned errors, all four of these runs went unearned.
Alcantara gave up solo runs in the first and third innings. In the first, he walked the leadoff batter, who stole second and third. Catcher Connor Pavolony threw the ball away on the second steal, which allowed the run to score. In the third inning, Alcantara walked the first two batters, and then with two outs Henderson made an error that allowed a run to score and the inning to continue. Alcantara walked four batters total so he had his troubles.
Armbruester followed Alcantara in the fourth inning and struck out the first two batters he faced. After giving up two singles, he should have gotten the third out but Henderson made his second error on the night. The inning continued and old friend Eloy Jiménez singled in two runners.
Rodolfo Martinez and Kade Strowd pitched one inning apiece and combined to allow the other five runs scored by the Bulls. Shoutout to Carlos Tavera, the only Tides’ pitcher who did not allow a run.
On offense, Samuel Basallo hit his first home run of the season in the fourth inning, a 379-foot shot to left-center field. That’s always fun. In the same inning, Coby Mayo walked and eventually came in to score on a sac fly from Dylan Beavers. They added one more run in the ninth when Beavers walked and moved to second and then third base on two wild pitchers. That set up an RBI single from Livan Soto.
Mayo was hitless in the game for the second game in a row. Vimael Machín reached on a single and a walk. And Livan Soto was the only Tide with a multi-hit game.
Sunday’s Scheduled Game
- Norfolk vs Durham, 1:05 pm. Starter: Brandon Young
Note: The Chesapeake Baysox (Double-A), Aberdeen IronBirds (High-A), and Delmarva Shorebirds (Low-A) all begin their seasons on April 4th.