Games 79 & 80: Tides at Jumbo Shrimp

Scott Kornberg

Published in

Shrimp & Grits

4 min readAug 5, 2021

Thursday, August 5, 2021 — Game 1: 5:05 p.m. ET, Game 2 will start approximately 30 minutes after Game 1

Norfolk Tides (30–46) at Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (44–34)

121 Financial Ballpark — Jacksonville, Fla.

LAST TIME OUT:

The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp and Norfolk Tides had their Wednesday doubleheader washed away. Thus, the clubs will make up one of the games in a Thursday twin bill beginning at 5:05 p.m., with the other contest being made up as part of a double-dip beginning at 4:05 p.m. on Sunday.

Elieser Hernández will make a rehab start for the Jumbo Shrimp in the opener of Thursday’s doubleheader. (Daniel Moll/Daniel Moll Photography)

GAME INFO:

This will be Jacksonville’s seventh doubleheader of the year, with game two being a makeup of the game on June 13 that was postponed due to rain. In the previous six doubleheaders, the Jumbo Shrimp have split three, swept two, and have been swept once for a record of 7–5. Their most recent doubleheader was a split with Charlotte Knights on July 29. This will be Norfolk’s fourth doubleheader. The Tides have swept two and split one this year for a record of 5–1.

MEET THE TIDES:

Norfolk is the Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. The Tides enter with a 30–46 record and are sixth in the Southeast Division.

Norfolk is managed by Gary Kendall, who returns for his second season with the Tides. Before joining the Tides in 2019, Kendall was the manager for the Bowie Baysox for eight seasons, setting the franchise managerial record for career wins at 570. Kendall led the Baysox to three postseason appearances, including the franchise’s lone Eastern League Championship in 2015.

Norfolk, like Jacksonville, is a very big Navy town, which is why the regular season series between these two teams has been dubbed “The Navy Town Showdown.” The winner of the series will receive a ship’s bell as a trophy. Jacksonville leads the series 12–6.

Mason McCoy hit a two-run triple in the top of the second inning on Tuesday to tie the game at two. It was his fifth triple of the season and brings him into a four-way tie for second-most triples in Triple-A East. McCoy was selected by the Orioles in the sixth round of the 2017 draft and has been working his way up the Baltimore system, rising up a level each year. This season, he has played 69 games with the Tides, which is the most of anyone on the Norfolk roster, and is slashing .233/.302/.378.

GAME 1 PITCHING MATCHUP:

RHP Bruce Zimmermann (0–0, 6.00 ERA)

Bruce Zimmermann will make a rehab start for Norfolk in the opener of Thursday’s doubleheader as he works his way back from left shoulder tendonitis. The left-hander has not pitched since June 13 because of that injury, but overall in 12 games with Baltimore, including 11 starts, Zimmermann is 4–4 with a 4.83 ERA. A native of Woodstock, Md., Zimmermann has only pitched in one Triple-A game this season, but it did come against Jacksonville on May 8, when he allowed two runs on three hits in 3.0 innings. He throws a fastball, changeup, slidier and curveball.

RHP Elieser Hernández (0–1, 4.38 ERA)

Tonight makes the second stint for Hernández, who pitched with Jacksonville in three games from May 18–28 as he returned from a biceps injury. The right-hander made one start with the Marlins on June 3, when he went five innings of one-run ball at Pittsburgh, but was placed on the 10-day injured list the next day with a right quad strain. He was transferred to the 60-day IL on June 5. Hernández started this rehab assignment with 2.1 scoreless innings with one hit and one walk allowed against three strikeouts for Double-A Pensacola on July 31 against Mississippi. He throws a fastball, slider and changeup.

LINEUP