Tides roll Tuesday for 8th straight win

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Tides roll Tuesday for 8th straight win
05/19/2009 3:40 PM ET
Norfolk Tides

Norfolk slugged three home runs and Chris Waters turned in another solid outing as the Tides rolled past the Louisville Bats 7-2 Tuesday afternoon.
The victory was Norfolk's eighth straight and improved the Tides record to 26-12, the best mark in the International League. The win was also the Tides eighth straight at home, the second-longest winning streak in Harbor Park history after a nine-game stretch in 1993 - Norfolk's inaugural season at Harbor Park.
Tides starter Chris Waters (4-2) allowed two runs on five hits in six innings of work to pick up the victory in his third straight quality start. Waters walked one and struck out four, throwing 58 of his 93 pitches for strikes. The 28-year-old southpaw has now gone 2-0 with a 2.70 ERA (6-ER, 20.0-IP) over his last three outings.
The Tides fell behind 2-0 on a two-run homer by Drew Stubbs in the fifth inning, but Norfolk rallied with three runs in the bottom of the frame off of Bats reliever Ben Jukich (2-1) to take the lead. Steve Torrealba put the Tides on the board with a two-run homer, and Norfolk later scored courtesy of two Bats errors to go on top 3-2.
The score stayed that way until the seventh frame, when both Justin Christian and Oscar Salazar belted opposite field two-run homers off of Louisville reliever Pedro Viola to give the Tides a 7-2 advantage.
Salazar, who leads the league with 54 base hits, has now hit safely in all 16 of Norfolk's home games this year, and 21 straight dating back to last season.
The Tides will enjoy an off day Wednesday before returning to action on Thursday night at 7:15. Norfolk will welcome the Rochester Red Wings to town for a four-game set, with Jason Berken (2-0, 0.46) slated to take the hill for the Tides against Rochester right-hander Kevin Mulvey (2-2, 4.15).
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.