Henderson, Westburg make big debuts, power Tides past Sounds
Gunnar Henderson and Jordan Westburg proved they were worthy of promotions from Double-A Bowie to Triple-A Norfolk this week.
Henderson launched a solo homer in his first Triple-A at-bat and finished 2 for 4 with two runs and Westburg went 2 for 5 with two RBIs as the Norfolk Tides defeated the Nashville Sounds 8-3 Wednesday night before 7,246 fans at First Horizon Park in Nashville, Tennessee.
It was the opener of a six-game series since Tuesday night’s game was rained out. The Tides (27-28) have won two straight and four of five. The Sounds (34-20), who have the best record in the International League, have dropped three straight.
Henderson, the Orioles’ No. 3 prospect, hit the second pitch he saw to deep right-center to give the Tides a 1-0 lead in the first. He was hitting in the No. 2 spot, while Westburg batted third. Henderson
had family at the game. They made the four-hour trip from his hometown of Selma, Alabama.
After Nashville tied it at 1 on David Dahl’s RBI single in the second, Norfolk blew it open with six runs in the third. Henderson
walked with the bases loaded to make it 2-1 and put the Tides ahead to stay. Westburg followed with his first Triple-A hit, an RBI single. Kyle Stowers added an RBI double, Jacob Nottingham hit a sacrifice fly and Rylan Bannon and
Anthony Bemboom each had RBI singles in the inning to make it 7-1.
Norfolk starter Zac Lowther went only three innings, giving up three runs on five hits. But Marcos Diplán (1-0) and three other relievers combined to pitch six scoreless innings, allowing only two hits. Diplán and Rico Garcia each tossed two scoreless innings. Morgan McSweeney worked a hitless ninth, striking out a batter in his Triple-A debut.
Nashville starter Ethan Small (3-2) gave up seven runs — three earned — in 2 ⅔ innings.
The teams were set to play a doubleheader Thursday night and
a single game at 8:05 p.m. today.