The New Orleans Zephyrs shut out the Memphis Redbirds 7-0 Thursday afternoon in Memphis, on the back of seven strong innings from pitcher Duane Below.
The Zephyrs offense scored four runs in the first inning and two in the second to jump out to an early 6-0 lead.
Below, who improved to 3-2, limited Memphis hitters to just three hits in his seven innings. He walked two and struck out three. The seven innings is his longest outing of the season.
This was the fifth shutout by New Orleans so far this season. James Leverton and Chris Hatcher each pitched a scoreless inning in relief of Below to close the game out.
Memphis starter Mitchell Boggs, who was recently sent down to the Triple-A team from the St. Louis Cardinals, allowed six runs on five hits in his two innings, and walked two.
Gorkys Hernandez led the Zephyrs's offense with three hits. Jordan Brown and Matt Downs each had a hit and two runs batted in.
The Zephyrs won the first and last games in the series to Memphis but dropped the series 3-2.
The Zephyrs improved to 25-9 when scoring the first run. They travel to Nashville next for the start of a four-game series.