Drew Rom foiled his former team with six innings of one-hit ball and Matt Koperniak hit a two-run double to cap a three-run fifth inning as the Memphis Redbirds blanked the Norfolk Tides 5-0 on Tuesday night to open a six-game series in Tennessee.
The Tides (69-45, 21-19 in second half) slipped back into an offensive funk after snapping a six-game skid with a 13-7 victory over Jacksonville on Sunday. They managed only three hits against Rom and three relievers.
Rom (9-6), whom the Baltimore Orioles traded to St. Louis along with second baseman César Prieto for pitcher Jack Flaherty, struck out eight and walked one in his second start for the Redbirds (57-58, 18-22). He’s allowed one earned run on two hits in 11 innings (0.81 ERA) since the trade.
Relievers Guillermo Zuñiga, Ryan Loutos and Jacob Barnes tossed an inning each to finish the shutout. The Tides struck out 13 times.
Chayce McDermott (3-1) suffered his first loss with Norfolk, but gave up only one run on four hits in five innings. He fanned seven and walked two.
Masyn Winn provided all the offense Memphis would need with an RBI triple off McDermott in the bottom of the third inning.
Koperniak’s two-run double came off Noah Denoyer in the sixth. Richie Palacios plated Koperniak with an RBI single to make it 4-0.
Nick Dunn worked a bases-loaded walk for the final run in the eighth.
Joey Ortiz, Kyle Stowers and Josh Lester had the Tides’ hits — all singles.
The two teams will play again at 7:45 p.m. Wednesday.
