Bruce Zimmermann’s major league debut – pitching for his hometown team as the visitors at an empty ballpark not far from his Ellicott City home — came on a night so quirky that the future generations of Orioles fans in his baseball-loving family might never believe it.
The 25-year-old left-hander became the 12th Maryland native to start a game for the Orioles in Thursday night’s 10-6 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays at Camden Yards, allowing a pair of home runs in the second defeat of a doubleheader.
In debuting Thursday, Zimmermann joined fellow rookies Keegan Akin and Dean Kremer as Orioles rookie pitchers at the vanguard of the team’s push to develop their its own starting pitching.