Justin Armbruester pitched one-hit ball over five innings and two relievers who could land in the Baltimore Orioles’ bullpen closed it out as the Norfolk Tides defeated the Durham Bulls 3-1 before 5,376 fans Wednesday night at Harbor Park.
The Tides (74-47, 25-21 in International League’s second half) took a 2-0 series lead with their fifth straight victory since going 1-8 in their previous nine games. Durham (68-54, 28-19) is only a half game out of first place in the second-half standings despite the loss.
Armbruester allowed a leadoff single to Durham’s Raimel Tapia in the first inning, but gave up only two walks after that. He struck out six, walked two and lowered his ERA to 3.67.
Tides outfielder Colton Cowser made a highlight-reel catch in the second inning, robbing Robby Simon of a home run.
Reliever Ryan Watson gave up the Bulls’ lone run in the top of the seventh on Tristan Gray’s solo homer.
But Tyler Wells, an Orioles starting pitcher who is on a rehab assignment and is being looked at as a reliever when he returns to Baltimore, tossed a scoreless eighth inning. He gave up a leadoff single to Niko Hulsizer, but then retired the side on two flyouts and a groundout.
DL Hall, another pitcher who could land in the Orioles’ bullpen, gave up two walks in the ninth, but struck out the side to earn his first save of the season.
Norfolk scored all three of its runs in the fifth. Connor Norby walked to lead off, advanced to second on an error, moved to third on a walk and scored on a wild pitch by Jalen Beeks. Coby Mayo followed with a two-run double.
The two teams will play a 12:05 p.m. matinee Thursday.
