Niko Goodrum broke a tie with an eighth-inning RBI single, and the Norfolk Tides held on for a 4-3 victory over Durham on Friday night before 5,504 at Harbor Park.
The Tides (54-58, 18-19 in the International League’s second half) squared the six-game series at two victories apiece heading into Saturday’s 6:35 p.m. clash against the Bulls (52-60, 16-21).
Justin Armbruester put together a solid six-inning start, striking out seven, walking one and giving up three runs (two earned) and five hits. He has 100 strikeouts for the season.
Norfolk relievers Dillon Tate, winner Matt Krook (3-2) and Nick Vespi pitched three shutout innings to finish the victory, yielding just one hit. Vespi walked a pair of batters, but got the final two outs to strand them.
Both teams scored in the second. Durham went ahead 1-0 on Logan Driscoll’s RBI double to center, but the Tides pulled even when Nick Maton slugged a home run to right field.
In the fifth, the Bulls loaded the bases before going ahead 2-1 as Rob Brantly scored on a fielder’s-choice grounder by Ronny Simon.
The Tides capitalized in the bottom of the fifth to go ahead 3-2. Durham third baseman Junior Caminero made a throwing error after fielding a J.D. Davis grounder, allowing Livan Soto and Hudson Haskin to score.
A Brantly triple drove home Bob Seymore in the sixth, leveling the game at 3. But in the eighth against Durham reliever Erasmo Ramírez (3-3), Terrin Vavra singled, went to second on a wild pitch and third on a Daniel (DJ) Johnson single, then scored when Goodrum lined a one-out single to right.
Cade Povich (6-1, 3.31) is scheduled to start Sunday for Norfolk against fellow left-hander Ian Seymour (0-1, 2.40).
