The Norfolk Tides are riding a roller coaster of ups and downs through their season.
After reaching the .500 plateau, the Tides welcomed the Mets to town and dropped four of the the six games in the series.
To make matters worse, three of the losses saw Tides pitching give up 13+ runs, with the Mets scoring less than five runs only once, Thursday’s 6-2 Tides victory.
On the positive side, the Tides offense scored over four runs in every game, as pitching seemed to be less of a premium in the series.
Rylan Bannon had a strong offensive series against the Mets, going 8-for-21 (.381 BA) across the six games, while also creating a seven-game on-base streak.
Across the series, Bannon would raise his average .018 points, collecting three homers, eight RBIs, six walks and a stolen base.
On the season, Bannon is batting .232 with an OBP of .357. He has hit eight home runs with 42 RBIs on the year and has 34 walks to go along with six stolen bases.
Gunnar Henderson continues to shine for Norfolk, as he currently has a 19-game on-base streak and went 8-for-22 (.364 BA), collecting five walks, a home run and five RBIs during the series.
Henderson is now batting .300 in Norfolk, with three doubles, two homers, eight RBIs and 13 walks across 12 games at Triple-A. Overall, he has a .310 average with 10 home runs, 43 RBIs and is slugging 1.021 on the year.
The young shortstop still, impressively, has more walks (54) than strikeouts (47) on the season.
Though pitching took a back seat this series, it’s still hard to get through a series without having to face D.L. Hall at least once. Hall once again showed why he is Orioles’ No. 5 ranked prospect.
Hall would start in the Tides’ 6-2 victory Thursday, and he would dominate the Mets’ lineup.
Though Hall would only pitch 4.1 innings, he would collect 11 strikeouts, allowing a run on four hits. He did not factor in the decision but threw 89 pitches, 61 going for strikes.
On the season, Hall dropped his ERA to 3.52 across 38.1 innings, collecting 66 strikeouts. As he seems to be harnessing his command with his work, the next goal is to start stretching his innings out to prepare him for his major league debut.
Though the series was a tough one for the Tides, there were a couple of stand-outs who made their mark.
The Tides will travel to take on the Lehigh Valley IronPigs starting Tuesday. Norfolk is four games behind the IronPigs and have a good chance to make up ground in the International East standings.
Who stood out to you the most this week for Norfolk? Let us know in the comments, and be sure to follow The Baltimore Battery on Facebook and Twitter! And make sure to use the hashtag #baltimorebattery when sharing our content to show your Birdland swag!
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