Triple-A: Norfolk 3, Toledo (DET) 2
Steve Johnson started the game, the latest step in his journey back from a shoulder injury. He was on a light pitch count and only went two innings, giving up a run on one hit and three walks. Sounds like he might have a little bit farther to go. Then again, with that many walks, he'd fit right in on the Orioles staff. Nick Additon pitched five scoreless innings for the win.
Christian Walker hit an RBI double for the Tides. Cord Phelps had a pair of hits.
Double-A: Bowie 6, Harrisburg (Walgreens) 4
The recently-promoted Mike Yastrzemski, batting leadoff, went 2-5 with a double and a run scored for the Baysox. He's batting .333/.375/.567 in his seven-game tenure in the Eastern League. It's too much of a small sample size to get excited, but if he keeps it up, that will be cool. Niuman Romero, David Adams, and Garabez Rosa all had multi-hit nights as well.
Former shortstop/converted reliever Mychal Givens managed to walk three batters and hit another one in only a third of an inning.
High-A: Frederick 10, Myrtle Beach (TEX) 2
Jason Esposito, the Orioles 2nd round pick in 2011, was the star of the show for the Keys, smashing a pair of home runs as he drove in four runs. They were his fourth and fifth home runs of the season in 89 games. Esposito headed into Wednesday's game with a .642 OPS on the season, which is probably why he's still in Frederick for the second full season.
The Keys starter was Brady Wager, a 9th round pick from 2012, who went six innings and only allowed one run on two hits and a walk. That'll do well indeed, although the outing only lowered his season ERA to 5.58. That's not going to get you to Bowie.
Low-A: Rome (ATL) 8, Delmarva 0
The Shorebirds got shut out while only recording three hits for the whole game. The alliteratively-named Matt Marksberry held them to only one hit and two walks across seven innings. Delmarva's Matt Cunningham, making his fourth start for the team, was rocked for seven runs on eleven hits in only 3.2 innings and now sports an 8.68 ERA.
Short-Season: Aberdeen 5, Brooklyn (Mets) 2
2014 4th-rounder Pat Connaughton was robbed of the opportunity to go beyond an inning in the game thanks to a rain delay of about 2:30. He allowed a run on two hits and a walk in his lone inning. Nik Nowottnick did the most work in relief for the Ironbirds, giving up two hits over four scoreless innings.
The Ironbirds got three runs in the first inning, helped by Brooklyn committing two errors. Oswill Lartiguez and Austin Anderson each had a pair of hits for Aberdeen. Both of Lartiguez's hits were triples Justin Viele drove in two runs.
Thursday's probable pitchers:
Norfolk: Josh Stinson
Bowie: Zach Davies
Frederick: Parker Bridwell
Delmarva: Luis Gonzalez
Aberdeen: Tanner Chleborad