STAFF REPORTS
Tides’ left fielder DJ Stewart scored twice and drove in two others to lead Norfolk to the 6-1 victory over the Bisons on Sunday afternoon at Harbor Park. The defeat drops the Herd to 4-4 on the season, as the club continues to alternate wins and losses to begin the year.
Stewart had the clutch hit in the game, breaking open a 1-0 contest in the fifth inning with his bases-loaded, two-run single off Matt Dermody. With the Herd southpaw struggling in relief of starter Deck McGuire, Stewart pulled an 0-1 offering through the right side of the infield and into right field to give the Tides a 3-0 lead.
Stewart then scored on Austin Wynns‘ single one batter later to make it 4-0 Norfolk. In the eighth inning, Stewart started another Tides rally with a leadoff single off Bisons newcomer, Jake Petricka. Following a Herd fielding error, he scored the first of two more insurance runs that gave Norfolk the 6-1 victory.
The Bisons, meanwhile, struggled to get the clutch hit on Sunday, finishing the game just 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position as a team. The club left 10 men on base, including seven in the first five innings. Dalton Pompey and Dwight Smith Jr. led off the game with a double and a walk respectively, but they were stranded on base. Both batters were aboard again in the fifth with only one out but neither was advanced as far as third.
The Bisons’ only hit with a runner in scoring position came off the bat of Danny Jansen, who doubled home Rowdy Tellez for the Herd’s lone run in the eighth inning.
On the hill, McGuire worked the first four innings of the contest and surrendered just two hits. One of them, however, was Garabez Rosa‘s second inning home run, forcing the first loss of the season on the veteran righty.
The Bisons will continue their IL South division swing in Durham with the first game of a three-game set against the Bulls on Monday night (7:05 p.m.)
BISONS NOTES:
The Bisons made a roster move prior to the game, activating shortstop Richard Urena off the disabled list so that he could be transferred to Single-A Dunedin and begin his return to play program…Dwight Smith walked three times in the contest. He now has a .475 on-base percentage in the first eight games of the season…Dalton Pompey picked up a late ninth-inning stolen base to give him four steals in his first three games back.
The Bisons made a roster move prior to the game, activating shortstop Richard Urena off the disabled list so that he could be transferred to Single-A Dunedin and begin his return to play program…Dwight Smith walked three times in the contest. He now has a .475 on-base percentage in the first eight games of the season…Dalton Pompey picked up a late ninth-inning stolen base to give him four steals in his first three games back.
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