By Tiffany Williams –
Friday night Norfolk Tides beat the Worcester Red Sox 9-5 Friday night, earning their third consecutive win against Worcester in game four of their six-game series at Polar Park.
Starting at the bump Friday night for the Tides was Tucker Davidson who went four innings, throwing 57 pitches and 42 were strikes. Davidson allowed six hits, two runs, and struck out three. Also stepping up to the bump was Nolan Hoffman who went two innings throwing 40 pitches and 25 were strikes. Hoffman allowed just one hit, walked two and struck five.
Top of the third Norfolk grabbed their first two runs with Connor Norby and Daniel Johnson to get out ahead 2-0. But bottom of the third, Worcester tied the game 2-2 with both Mark Kolozsvary and Nick Sogard scoring.
Top of the fourth, fifth and sixth the Tides scored with Maverick Handley, Billy Cook, Connor Norby and Daniel Johnson to put Norfolk out front 9-2.
Worcester had one run in the bottom of the eighth with Jamie Westbrook to make it a 9-3 game, and then grabbed two more runs in the bottom of the ninth with Chase Meidroth and Nick Sogard.
Pregame Friday, Baltimore Sports Journal talked with Tides Manager Buck Britton about the series and he said, “Yeah, no, it’s, you know, I thought we’ve done a pretty nice job. I think, you know, after the big offensive explosion that they had, Worcester had the first night, I think our pitchers have done a nice job keeping us in the game. We’ve come up with just enough offense, it seems like, to win. So, you know, I’m kind of hoping we, you know, runners in scoring position, we still haven’t been great, but we’ve come away with two wins. So, it’s nice that we’re winning those games, but there’s still work to be done on that side of the ball.
When asked about the defensive side of the ball, Buck said, “Yeah, you know, I thought we’ve caught the ball all right. You know, I think we had an error yesterday. You know, a lot of times, games are won and lost, you know, on a defensive miscue at this level. But I think the games have been fairly clean. Obviously, you know, you can really break it down to throw the ball to the right base and the outfield, stuff like that. But I think for the most part, we’ve made the routine play, and that’s how you stay in games and give yourself a chance.”
When asked about keeping the momentum going Bucke replied, “Yeah, you know, I think we don’t stray too far away or get caught up too much in the wins or losses. You know, we trust that our process will lead to good baseball, and good baseball will lead to success on the field. This isn’t a very hard group to motivate, you know, a bunch of young guys with a lot of energy that love to play. So I think that part of it’s easy for us. But yeah, just going out there and executing and playing good baseball and then see what happens.”
In tge 2023 Tides visit to Worcester, the Tides took the series 5-2. When Buck was asked about that he said, “I mean, I think, you know, like I said, minor league baseball is kind of crazy. Especially at this level, you know, whatever happens in the major leagues is the most important thing. And what happens down here, a big part of it is development. I am a strong believer that winning is part of development, because like I said before, if you play good baseball, you should give yourself a chance to win games. If you do that consistently, it should show up in the wins and loss column. But yeah, you know, it’s fun to win. It’s a little easier to come to the ballpark when you’re having success, for sure, especially because we play so many games. This is a good team, man, and Trace does a really nice job with this team. So you really do have to play well coming in here if you want to win games.”
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