Tides beat Durham 6-5 in extra innings

NORFOLK

The Norfolk Tides and the Durham Bulls were into their 25th inning of baseball in a 21-hour period Sunday afternoon when Blake Davis and Matt Angle decided enough was enough.

First, Davis lifted a sacrifice fly to deep left-center with one out in the bottom of the 11th inning and runners at second and third. Then Angle drilled a single up the middle that allowed Brendan Harris to jog across the plate with the winning run in a game in which the Tides came from behind twice.

So why were so many of the players tired Sunday at Harbor Park?

Because Saturday night's 6-4 Durham victory went 14 innings.

It was a long night for both player and Harbor Park personnel: The Tides were running a fireworks promotion, followed by a run-the-bases promotion for kids 12 and under.

The last kid crossed the plate at 12:20 a.m. Sunday's first pitch was thrown at 1:18 p.m.

Even without the post-game events, Saturday's was a long game for the Tides - its 4 hours and 38 minutes ranked it as the fourth-longest game played at Harbor Park. The longest game at Harbor Park was a 5-hour, 27- minute contest played on May 9, 1994.

It lasted 17 innings with the Tides losing to the Pawtucket Red Sox 7-6.

"I got out of here about 12:30 or 12:45 and was back at the ballpark at 9:45," said Angle. "And when I got home I just laid in my bed for a while before I went to sleep. Everybody's tired and you just do what you can do.

"I drank one of those Gatorades that has a little extra salt in it and I drank a lot of water today to try to stay hydrated."

Yeoman's work

Tides starting pitcher Ryan Drese knew there were only three pitchers - Mark Hendrickson, Armando Gabino and Pat Egan - available in the bullpen Sunday.

"I knew I had to go 100 pitches today," said Drese, who went six innings and left with the game tied 3-3. "I wanted to go another inning, but I threw 35 pitches in that sixth inning and it's not too smart to try to stretch yourself out this early in the season."

Controversy in 11th

Hit by pitch? Or just a foul ball?

Whatever it was, it was cause for some discussion in the top of the 11th inning when Durham's J.J. Furmaniak squared to bunt with a runner at first and no outs.

Gabino buzzed a fastball in on the hands and hit Furmaniak on the right hand. However, plate umpire Jeff Gosney ruled it a foul ball, saying that Furmaniak offered at the pitch.

Adding to the dispute was that Furmaniak had called time when Gabino tried a first pitch moments before, leading him to lob a half-hearted pitch because he already was in his throwing motion.

Furmaniak eventually got a sacrifice bunt down on the grass with two strikes on him. And the runner - pinch-runner Brandon Guyer - eventually scored on a two-out single up the middle by Ray Olmedo that gave the Bulls a 5-4 lead.

Gabino (1-0) picked up the win for the Tides (4-13).

Extra innings a sure thing today

Barring a rainout, Harbor Park is guaranteeing more than nine innings today. After the Bulls and Tides square off, the ballpark will host a high school game between Granby and Maury, scheduled to begin at4 p.m.