There were some very solid perfomances today down on the farm, I thought deserving of a mention.

Louisville Bats: 0  Norfolk Tides: 1

In a good ol' pitchers' duel, David Hernandez, Bob McCrory, Kam Mickolio, and Alberto Castillo combined for a four-hit shutout.  Hernandez improved to 3-1 as he allowed two hits and four walks while striking out six through five and a-third innings of work.

The only run of the game came in the bottom of the first.  With two outs, Matt Wieters tripled to center before coming into score on an Oscar Salazar RBI single.  Salazar's 30 RBIs are good for second in the league.

Erie SeaWolves: 0  Bowie Baysox: 4

Jake Arrieta was stellar once again in Bowie's rain-shortened win over the SeaWolves.  He allowed just one hit and four walks and struck out 10 through seven innings.  Righties are hitting just .182 against him and has struck out 42 through 33 innings.  His walk rate could come down though; it's at 4.5/9ip right now.

Brandon Snyder hit a two-run homerun in the bottom of the first, his sixth of the season.  He's now leading the Eastern League in AVG, SLG, and OPS (.375/.625/1.042).  The Baysox tacked on two more runs in the fifth on an error.

Frederick Keys: 4  Kinston Indians: 3

Zach Britton lowered his ERA to 2.27 as he allowed no runs, four hits, two walks, and struck out six through six innings.  A 2006 first-round pick, Britton is starting to dominate the lower levels, this year and last.  His strikeout rates have improved all four years he's been a pro and is up to 9.8/9ip from 7/9ip last year.

All of the Keys' runs came through the long ball.  Brandon Waring from the Ramon Hernandez trade hit his third homer in two games and Pedro Florimon Jr. hit a two-run shot of his own in the top of the second.  If Waring can stop striking out (one K per game so far) he has a chance to become a real prospect; the power stroke's there. 

In sum, through 18 1/3 innings, Orioles' minor league starters let up NO runs today.  That makes me happy.  Oh, and they also struck out 22 batters.