Chayce McDermott pitched one-hit ball through 6 1/3 scoreless innings and Daniel Johnson hit a three-run homer to cap a seven-run ninth inning as the Norfolk Tides routed the Memphis Redbirds 11-1 before 2,531 fans Friday night at AutoZone Park in Tennessee.
The Tides (7-8 in International League’s second half, 43-47 overall) took a 3-1 lead in the series.
McDermott bounced back from his worst outing of the season with one of his best. He struck out seven and walked four to improve to 3-5 and lower his ERA to 3.70. It was his fifth quality start of the season and he continues to lead all of the minor leagues in strikeouts — he’s up to 128.
In McDermott’s last start on July 6 at Durham, he gave up four runs in a third of an inning.
Garrett Cooper gave the Tides an early 1-0 lead with an RBI single in the first inning. The score stayed that way until Norfolk added three more runs in the top of the eighth. Kyle Stowers drew a bases-loaded walk and Cooper added a two-run single to make it 4-0.
Cooper finished with two hits along with Connor Norby and Niko Goodrum. Norby also scored three runs. Since joining the Tides on June 27, Cooper is batting .365 with four homers and 18 RBIs.
Johnson’s 14th homer of the season capped a ninth inning in which the Tides sent 11 batters to the plate.
The teams will play again at 7:35 p.m. Saturday.
