As Enrique Bradfield Jr. showcased why he’s one of Baltimore’s hottest prospects, the Norfolk Tides evened their series against Nashville on Friday night, beating the Sounds 3-1 before 6,074 at Harbor Park.
Bradfield, a speedy 2023 first-round pick from Vanderbilt, was called up from Double-A to begin the week. He stole two bases, scored twice and got his first Triple-A hit in three at-bats for the Tides.
Cameron Weston (4-8) struck out six in seven innings for the victory, holding Nashville to three hits and a run despite four walks. Houston Roth and Jose Espada, who gained his third Tides save of the year, pitched a scoreless inning apiece to complete the victory.
Jeferson Quero’s sacrifice fly in the first inning brought home Brandon Lockridge with Nashville’s only run. The Tides quickly pulled even when Bradfield walked, got to second on an error, stole third base and scored on TT Bowens’ sacrifice fly.
In the fourth, Bowens singled and moved to second on Silas Ardoin’s one-out single, and both runners moved up on reliever Easton McGee’s wild pitch. Bowens then beat the throw home from third baseman Raynel Delgado on José Barrero’s fielder’s-choice grounder.
In the eighth, Bradfield reached on an inside hit, stole second and scored when Vimael Machín doubled to right field.
The teams will continue the series at 6:35 p.m. Saturday. Each squad has won twice so far.
Saturday’s game will feature a rare matchup of two starting pitchers from Hampton Roads. Grafton High graduate Trey Gibson is scheduled to throw for the Tides against former Grassfield High and Norfolk pitcher Garrett Stallings.
Orioles promote pitcher
The Orioles have promoted right-handed pitching prospect Nestor German to the Tides.
German, the Orioles’ No. 17 overall prospect according to Baseball America, had a 4.02 earned-run average, 1.14 WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched) and 9.6 strikeouts per nine innings in 17 games (16 starts) for the Double-A Chesapeake Baysox of Bowie, Maryland.
This will be the second promotion this season for German, 23, a Seattle native who played in college for the Seattle Pilots. The Orioles took him in the 11th round of the 2023 draft.
