Bruce Zimmermann tossed his first Triple-A shutout, scattering six hits and striking out nine as the Norfolk Tides blanked the Worcester Red Sox 3-0 in the opener of a six-game series Tuesday night before 4,366 fans at Harbor Park.
It was the first complete-game shutout by a Tides pitcher since Zach Clark did it on Aug. 31, 2012, at Harbor Park.
The first-place Tides (44-19) snapped a two-game slide and increased their lead over Durham (36-28) to 8.5 games in the International League East.
Worcester (31-33) saw its four-game win streak come to an end.
The Baltimore Orioles optioned Zimmermann to Norfolk on Friday after he gave up four runs in three innings against the Milwaukee Brewers and saw his ERA rise to 7.20, but he bounced back in a big way. He improved to 3-3 with the Tides, matched his season high in strikeouts and threw 67 of his 94 pitches for strikes.
Lewin Diaz scored on Red Sox starter Jake Faria’s wild pitch in the third inning to give Norfolk the lead. Terrin Vavra added an RBI single in the fifth and Joey Ortiz hit a solo homer in the seventh. It was Ortiz’s fifth home run with the Tides.
Vavra had two of the Tides’ five hits and stole a base.
The two teams will play again at 6:35 p.m. Wednesday.
