Tides' Miranda halts skid with stingy start

Ariel Miranda finally got back to stringing up zeros on the scoreboard. It just took a little patience.

The Orioles prospect allowed a hit and a walk while striking out nine over seven innings Saturday as Triple-A Norfolk blanked Durham, 1-0, before a Harbor Park crowd of 10,066, the second-largest of the season.

After allowing 22 runs on 30 hits in his previous four starts, Miranda avoided a fifth straight loss by facing two batters over the minimum and not allowing any Bulls past first base.

"The consistency was the big difference tonight along with his command," Tides pitching coach Mike Griffin said. "He was able to repeat his delivery, he was able to repeat the consistency of his pitches from pitch to pitch, and the command played a big part in that. That allowed him to be successful tonight."

The 27-year-old left-hander started strongly, retiring his first eight batters and fanning out four of the first six. Durham managed its lone hit when Luke Maile singled to right with two outs in the third.

"That was really big tonight," Griffin said. "He retired the first eight or nine hitters and it allowed him to settle into his game tonight. It allowed him to sort of ease into what he was trying to accomplish. The confidence factor, after the first inning, started to build and build throughout his outing and it showed very well."

Miranda walked three batters over five innings six days earlier against Gwinnett but issued just one free pass to Jake Goebbert in the fifth on Saturday. The Cuba native followed it up by retiring the final seven batters he faced, closing with his ninth strikeout to match a season high.

"He did a great job of commanding his three pitches today. That was the big key for him and his success tonight," Griffin said. "The command of the fastball, the slider and the changeup was very good."

Miranda failed to register his first win since May 3 because Durham counterpart Austin Pruitt yielded four hits and struck out five over seven scoreless frames. But the southpaw walked away from his bounce-back outing happy with his effort, a feeling shared by his pitching coach.

"He was really happy after he left tonight's ballgame. He had a big smile on his face," Griffin said. "Just the fact that he has been so patient. We keep telling him it's a process, moving forward one day at a time, one start at a time. The smile on his face, it told the whole story tonight."

Dariel Alvarez gave Norfolk the lead with two outs in the eighth by doubling in Corban Joseph off Ryan Webb (0-1). Joseph finished 2-for-3 with a double, while L.J. Hoes doubled, singled and walked for the Tides.

Zach Phillips improved to 5-2 after walking one and fanning one in a scoreless inning. Orioles No. 17 prospect Oliver Drake pitched around a hit and struck out one in the ninth -- his 14th straight scoreless outing -- en route to his 10th save.