Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 14, 1990 TAG: 9007140242
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By JOHN SMALLWOOD SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The right-handed reliever arrived in Salem about 10 a.m. Friday after being assigned to the Buccaneers from Welland (Ontario) of the New York-Penn League by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
By 11 p.m., Zimmerman was on the mound at Municipal Field closing the Bucs' 3-2 victory over the Lynchburg Red Sox.
"They sent me here to be used as a stopper," said Zimmerman, a 21-year-old from Brooklyn, N.Y. "Tonight was a perfect situation for me to get my feet wet."
Salem manager Stan Cliburn had the same thought. With Salem clinging to a 3-2 lead through eight innings, he went right to his new reliever.
Zimmerman rewarded Cliburn's blind faith in him.
Willie Tatum drove his first pitch to the left-field wall for a double, but after that, Zimmerman was untouchable. He struck out John Malzone, pinch hitter Les Wallin and Chris Leach, all left-handed hitters, to save the victory for Bucs starter Paul Miller (6-4).
"We had some good reports about [Zimmerman]," Cliburn said. "If he's going to be our man, I figured I might as well put him into the fire right off the bat. I'd never seen him pitch, but I had no doubt in my mind that he would come in and get the save. That's what scouts are for - to let you know what guys can do."
"I was a little nervous," Zimmerman said, "but after that first pitch went for a double, I knew I had to get down to business. I knew I had first base open, so I wasn't going to give them anything they could hit."
Zimmerman was Pittsburgh's second selection in baseball's June draft. The former University of South Alabama pitcher was the 27th player selected overall. The Pirates took Zimmerman with a supplemental pick they received as compensation for losing pitcher Jim Gott, who signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers as a free agent.
At Welland, Zimmerman was 2-0 with a 1.59 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 11 innings.
Lynchburg (8-13) took a 2-0 lead in the third inning when Greg Blosser hit his third home run in three nights, a two-run blast off Miller that came after a rain delay of 1 hour, 20 minutes.
The Bucs got a run back in the bottom of the inning as Greg Sims scored on a two-out double by Mandy Romero.
Salem (8-13) won the game in the fifth. After loading the bases, Romero hit a sacrifice fly to center fielder Mickey Rivers, scoring Rob Bailey. On the play, Rivers tried to throw out Sims at third base, but his throw was wild and Sims came in to score the winning run.
\ BUCSHOTS: The Bucs gained Zimmerman but lost Butch Schlopy. The left-handed reliever had arthroscopic surgery on his left rotator cuff and likely will miss the rest of the season.
LYNCHBURG SALEM ab r h bi ab r h bi Byrd ss3000 Sims cf3210 Powers 2b2100 Schreiber 3b3020 Blosser dh3112 Romero dh3022 Williams c4010 Hines c4010 Tatum 1b4030 Pennye lf3000 Malzone 3b4000 Estep rf1000 Perozo lf3010 Trusky lf2000 Wallin ph1000 Shelton 1b3000 Leach rf3000 McNabb 2b2020 Rivers cf3000 Bailey ss2100 Totals30 2 6 2 Totals 26 3 8 2
Lynchburg002 000 000-2 Salem001 020 000-3
E-Rivers, McNabb. DP-Salem 1. LOB-Lynchburg 6, Salem 5. 2B-Romero, Tatum. HR-Blosser (13). SB-Tatum (10). S-Bailey, Powers. SF-Romero. IP HRERBBSO Lynchburg Ryan L, 3-10 773234 Scott 110001 Salem Miller W, 6-4 752217 Duncan 100002 Zimmerman S, 1 110003
Ryan pitched to one batter in eighth.
PB-Williams.
Umpires-Home, Langley, bases, Stone, Vestal.
T-2:29. A-2,850.
by CNB