Durham @ Norfolk, PPD/Rain

The Tides and Bulls will play a double-header today, starting at 6:15. I might listen on internet radio. Woo! I also might not. Woo! Woo woo!

Akron 5, Bowie 1 -- 3 innings/Susp./Rain

Things are not going well in Bowie! Chorye Spoone got tagged (2.1 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 5 R, 4 ER) and Nolan Reimold is 0-for-1.

Winston-Salem 3, Frederick 2

Wieters Watch! He DH'd, and went 2-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI. The guy is manhandling advanced A-ball.

Brandon Snyder (1-for-4, 2 K, .228/.274/.263) is still not. And Billy Rowell has yet to get back into the lineup. Miguel Abreu was 2-for-4 for Frederick, and Brad Bergesen took the loss as the starter despite an OK day (6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 K). Couple of Warthog homers did him in.

Delmarva 7, Lakewood 2

Lakewood managed just three hits, while the Shorebirds rapped out 11.

Delmarva got two-hit days from Tyler Henson, Anthony Martinez, Matthew Tucker and Brendan Monaghan. Henson hit a solo homer in the first inning, and had three RBI on the day. The homer was his second of the year.

On the mound, John Mariotti threw seven innings of one-hit, shutout ball, walking just one and striking out seven. Sean Gleason gave up two in two innings of relief. Should've been Jerry Don Gleaton. Or Sheriff Buford T. Justice. You sumbitch.

Pretty good fight last night. The right guy won. And it wasn't as close as some people might lead you to believe.

And hey, Danica Patrick actually won a race. The Orioles win two over the Yankees, and all of a sudden a marketing tool is winning IRL events and Welshmen are beating American legends on U.S. soil.

But let's get down to the nitty.

Durham 2, Norfolk 0

Nuke LaLoosh threw a shutout and Crash Davis had two solo homers as the Bulls won a close one at Norfolk.

Garrett Olson pitched really well for the Tides, and is anyone else checkin' their watches and wondering when the clock strikes 12 for Steve Trachsel? We're bumbling around with Adam Loewen and Brian Burres when there's a lefty at Norfolk that I'd rather see than either of them. Olson went seven innings (90 pitches, 62 strikes), allowing seven hits and two runs, one earned. He struck out seven and walked nobody. His season ERA is 1.61. He's got a 24-to-7 K-to-BB ratio in 22.1 innings. Bueller?

Tike Redman had a couple of hits and a walk to nudge his average up to a healthy .212, and Scott Moore actually got a hit, going 1-for-4. Mike Costanzo struck out thrice.

Bowie 5, Akron 3

Nolan Reimold, how'd your day go? 1-for-3 with a walk, a run scored, and no strikeouts? You're hitting .180 now?! I like the sound of this, champ!

Ryan Finan homered for the Baysox, a two-run shot in the sixth inning. On the mound, lefty Chris Waters lowered his season ERA to 0.87 with seven innings of work (four hits, one earned run). Of course, he's 27 years old, so one would hope he could smoke AA.

Winston-Salem 3, Frederick 2

Wieters Watch! He went 2-for-4. Wieters is hitting .415/.519/.732 with four homers. Less encouraging, Brandon Snyder is hitting .226/.276/.264 with no homers. And even less encouraging, Billy Rowell still isn't back in the lineup.

Jake Arrieta did his job for the Keys, going 7.2 IP, striking out eight and walking four, allowing two runs (one earned). The game was lost by Ryan Burch. Arrieta is sporting a 2.75 ERA through four starts.

Lakewood 9, Delmarva 2

Tyler Henson and Matthew Tucker had two hits apiece, and Anthony Martinez went 3-for-4, but the Shorebirds were blown out nonetheless.

My new favorite player, Cole McCurry, had a rocky start, going four innings and being smacked around for four runs on eight hits. He struck out five, though, and walked just one. 

Norfolk 10, Louisville 3

Big shots carried the Tides to a blowout win, as Luis Terrero hit a grand slam and Oscar Salazar launched a three-run shot to account for 70% of the Norfolk runs. The kicker? Terrero's salami came in the top of the ninth inning, a frame in which Norfolk dropped the seven runs that were the difference in the outcome.

Everyone in the starting lineup besides Scott Moore had a hit, and everyone got on base either via base hit or the free pass. Terrero, Eider Torres, Chris Heintz, Chris Roberson and Adam Stern had two hits each.

Hayden Penn turned in another good performance, going seven innings and striking out nine Bats batsmen, allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits and two walks. Lance Cormier got the win in relief.

Bowie 5, Akron 4 (10 innings)

More late-game heroics in the O's system came from Bowie, as Luis Montanez hit a walk-off solo shot in the bottom of the tenth inning to give the Basox the win over the Aeros.

Struggling Nolan Reimold went 1-for-4 with a strikeout after being dropped to sixth in the order. Montanez was 2-for-5, and third baseman Jeff Nettles homered in his third straight game, a solo shot in the second inning. It was his fifth long ball on the young season. Jonathan Tucker was 2-for-2 with two walks.

On the hill, Chris Tillman struggled with his command, going four and a third innings and walking five while fanning four. He gave up two runs on two hits. Julio Manon blew a save when Akron tied it at four in the top of the ninth, but picked up the win.

Winston-Salem 9, Frederick 4

Wieters Watch! 1-for-5 with an RBI.

Rowell Watch! He still hasn't returned from injury after "tweaking" his ankle a couple weeks ago.

The Keys scattered ten hits, all singles, and made three errors in the loss. Everyone in the starting lineup did get a hit, so I hope they all got a Coke and a piece of pizza for trying hard. Chris Vinyard, with two hits, maybe gets a breadstick, too.

Lakewood 5, Delmarva 4

After tying it at four in the top of the eighth inning, Jeff Moore gave up a solo homer to Michael Durant to lead off the Lakewood half of the frame, and that wound up being all she wrote.

Tony Butler's line: 5 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K. The Shorebirds committed four errors.

At the plate, Matt Angle, Joseph Nowicki and Tyler Henson had two hits each, including Nowick and Henson homers.

Norfolk 7, Louisville 6 (11 innings)

Chris Roberson hit a three-run homer and had four RBis in the game, and Alex Cintron was 2-for-4 in his Tides debut, an 11-inning win for Norfolk in a game that both teams did their best to refuse to lose.

Norfolk jumped out to a 4-1 lead with a four-run fifth inning, but the Bats battled back and tied it up with two runs in the eighth and one more in the ninth. Norfolk took a 5-4 lead in the 10th, but Louisville tied it again. Two Tides runs scored in the top half of the 11th, but they fell short a run and left two men on in the bottom of the inning (after scoring once to cut the lead to 7-6).

Eider Torres and Oscar Salazar both went 2-for-5. Scott Moore (starting at DH) was 1-for-5, as was Mike Costanzo. Tike Redman 0-for-5'd his way another game closer to being released, probably. He's too old to be hitting .184 at Triple-A.

Craig Anderson had a good start for Norfolk, going six and giving up just one run, striking out five and walking no one. The Tides used six relievers after Anderson. Ryan Bukvich got the win and Roberto Novoa the save.

Akron 5, Bowie 1

Both teams had ten hits. Guess who took better advantage of their baserunners?

This Nolan Reimold business is starting to get a little bit bothersome. Like, really. He went 0-for-4 with another strikeout, and that brings his season line down to .167/.242/.259 with one homer and 12 whiffs in 14 games. He's been exceptionally terrible. It's not time to panic because a few good games and his numbers are turned around, but he's on the schneid in a big way (9-for-54, two extra-base hits, six walks).

Jeff Nettles was 3-for-4, and Ben Davis and Sebastien Boucher had a couple of hits each in the loss.

On the hill, Jason Berken had another good start (6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K) but took the loss. Reliever Ryan Keefer gave up a run in two innings, and his ERA is still over 15. Berken's is 2.81.

Awesomely named Aeros outfielder Nathan Panther was 3-for-4.

Frederick 7, Winston-Salem 2

Yes, the Carolina League has a Salem and a Winston-Salem, and the Keys have played them back-to-back.

Wieters Watch! Sweet Wiet ended his horrible 0-for-3 slump with a 2-for-5 day, including his fourth home run and ninth and tenth runs batted in. He's now hitting .438/.558/.844. He is massacring the Carolina League. Miguel Abreu and Chris Amador had two hits each, and leadoff man Daniel Figueroa rapped out three singles and also reached on a walk.

Pedro Beato went seven innings, allowing two runs on six hits, with two walks and two Ks.

Delmarva 6, Hagerstown 4

The Shorebirds overcame a rough start by Luis Noel (4.1 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 1 K) to score a come-from-behind win in this one, getting two runs in the eighth and one in the ninth.

Tyler Henson went 2-for-5, and Joseph Nowicki had a couple of steaks for Delmarva. Nowicki, Matt Angle and Joseph "Balls" Mahoney all walked two times.

RECORDS

Louisville 6, Norfolk 4

Scott Moore started at second base and went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts, leaving him hitting .133 with seven whiffs in 15 at-bats since being sent down to Norfolk. He's always going to be a high-strikeout hitter who is prone to bouts of streakiness. He's picking a bad time to slump, I'd suppose, although I'd take the Norfolk version of Moore over Brandon Fahey anyway.

Veteran catcher Chris Heintz was 4-for-4 on the day, but didn't score a run. Radhames Liz got beaten up a little, going five innings with eight hits allowed, giving up six runs (five earned) and two homers. He walked one and struck out five. Lance Cormier and Bob McCrory both had scoreless relief appearances.

Erie 11, Bowie 10

Well, the Bowie bats have come around. But they lost this slugfest on a Max St. Pierre single in the bottom of the ninth with one out, which scored Dusty Ryan from second base. The hit was to left field.

First, the pitching. Starter David Hernandez went four innings, allowing eight runs (four earned) on six hits and three walks. Hernandez struck out eight. Gerardo Casadiego gave up just one run in three innings, but Jim Miller blew the game and took the loss for the Baysox, giving up two in one and a third.

At the plate, Jeff Nettles was 3-for-5 with four runs scored, and hit two solo homers, including one in the top of the ninth that tied the game at 10. Luis Montanez was 2-for-5 with a two-run homer, and had three RBIs on the day. Kennard Jones also had a three-steak day.

And even though the Baysox rapped out 11 hits and scored ten runs, Nolan Reimold continues to flounder. He was 1-for-5 with an RBI triple. He's hitting .180/.259/.280 so far.

Mike Rodriguez and Ben Davis both had two hits.

Salem 13, Frederick 6

The Keys winning streak ended at four, and Brandon Erbe got wailed on out there. But first...

Wieters Watch! He was 0-for-3 with a strikeout. Start the panic!

Erbe went five and a third, and Salem got nine hits and seven runs (six earned) off of him. He allowed three home runs, walked one, and struck out five. Erbe started his day much like Adam Loewen, giving up a double, a single, and then a three run homer. Three batters, three Salem runs. Mark Ori hit two homers off of Erbe.

Frederick had a 4-3 lead after two, but it disappeared pretty fast. Leading 7-4, Salem piled on six runs in the top of the seventh, just murdering Kyle Schmidt. None of the runs were earned, apparently. Hey, whatever.

Brandon Tripp hit a homer for the Keys.

Delmarva 10, Hagerstown 1

Matt Angle was 3-for-6 and David Cash was 4-for-6, making the Shorebirds' 1-2 hitters a pretty deadly punch on the day. Cash had a three-run homer and four RBIs total.

Tyler Henson and Joseph Nowicki had two hits apiece, and Ryan Adams was 4-for-5.

Zach Britton and Cliff Flagello teamed up to dominate Hagerstown. Britton went five and a third and gave up a run on six hits with two strikeouts and a walk. Flagello pitched the other three and two-thirds, striking out seven and walking two, allowing only two hits.

RECORDS

Norfolk 5-9

Bowie 5-8

Frederick 8-4

Delmarva 7-6

Indianapolis 4, Norfolk 3 

Craig Anderson started for the Tides, going 4 1/3 with five strikeouts, one walk, and one run allowed, but a three-run fifth inning for Indianapolis was enough to win the game, as there was no more scoring from that point on. Norfolk had led 3-1.

Chris Heintz and Chris Roberson had two hits apiece for Norfolk, with Heintz managing to leg out a triple. It was a three-bag kind of day for 30-something Oriole catchers. Roberson had two RBIs and also stole a base. Mike Costanzo was 0-for-3 with three whiffs and a walk.

Akron 7, Bowie 3

Jonathan Tucker was 2-for-4 with a double, raising his season average to .314, but the star of the loss was young Chris Tillman, who threw five innings of no-hit ball, walking one and striking out two. He was pulled after facing 16 batters, and Daniel Lonsberry took over.

Lonsberry pitched two-thirds of an inning, allowing six earned runs on three hits and two walks. Kam Mickolio inherited three runners from Lonsberry, and all scored. The Baysox got all three of their runs in the top of the fifth, and Akron plated all seven of their runs in the bottom of the sixth.

Nolan Reimold was 0-for-3 with a walk. He's hitting .162.

Frederick 6, Myrtle Beach 2

Wieters Watch! Wieters was 2-for-4 with his third home run and a walk. Matt Wieters is currently hitting .524/.621/1.000 with three homers, seven RBI, seven walks and two strikeouts.

Brandon Snyder was 1-for-3 with a double. Pedro Beato pitched six innings for the win, and Kyle Schmidt got a three-inning save.

Delmarva 2, Lakewood 1

Joseph Nowicki, Tyler Henson and Wally Crancer all went 2-for-4, and Luis Noel had a good start for the Shorebirds (5 IP, 6 H, 1 ER), but the win went to Joseph Esposito in relief. Pedro Florimon, Jr., scored the winning run in the bottom of the ninth on a wild pitch from Lakewood reliever Joseph Rocchio. That's how you win a ballgame!

RECORDS
Norfolk 5-5
Bowie 3-7
Frederick 5-3
Delmarva 4-4

Norfolk 7, Rochester 2

Luis Terrero was 3-for-4 and Mike Costanzo had three RBI, leading the Norfolk offense over Rochester. But the star of the game was on the mound, as Garrett Olson went six shutout innings with seven strikeouts and no walks, allowing just four hits.

Olson struggled with his command in his first outing, walking six over four innings, but breezed past the Red Wings, throwing 55 of his 86 pitches for strikes. Roberto Novoa allowed both Rochester runs, giving up a homer to Brian Buscher.

Only Terrero had a multi-hit game for the Tides (4-3), but everyone in the starting lineup had a base knock besides shortstop Travis Brown, who scored when he reached on one of Rochester's four errors. Norfolk was up 6-0 after just two innings and cruised to the win.

Bowie 3, Reading 2

After starting out with five straight losses for the '07 season, the Baysox have bounced back with two straight wins. Jeff Nettles and Carlos Rojas had two hits apiece, and Choryne Spoone picked up the win. Spoone pitched 5 1/3 innings, allowing just one run on five hits with three walks and five strikeouts. Kam Mickolio pitched two scoreless, one-hit innings, and Julio Manon got the save with an inning and two-thirds of work, walking two and striking out four.

Ryan Finan had a home run for Bowie. Nolan Reimold was 0-for-3 with a walk, lowering his average to .148 on the young season. He's just 4-for-27 overall, and they're all singles. He has struck out eight times in seven games, walking four times. It's been a tough start for Reimold, to say the least.

Frederick 9, Kinston 8

Wieters Watch! 1-for-1 with a walk, a double and a run scored. And he left in the bottom of the fourth! Oh no! Calm down. Just a little game. Wieters isn't hurt -- he was ejected, along with manager Tommy Thompson.

Jake Arrieta's second start with the Keys didn't go as well as his first, as he struggled with his command through two and two-thirds, walking four and allowing four earned. He struck out two. Kyle Schmidt got the win in relief with this impressive line: 3 1/3 IP, 6 H, 4 ER. Chad Thall and Jason Burch held it down in the late innings, with Burch notching his third save.

Todd Davison homered for the Keys, and Brandon Snyder went 3-for-5 with two RBI. Chris Vinyard had a Mickey Tettleton game, sans home run, going 0-for-3 with two walks and three whiffs. Second sacker Miguel Abreu was 3-for-4 with two RBI.

Delmarva 4, Lake County 1 (10 innings)

Anthony Martinez homered and Tyler Henson was 2-for-5 with an RBI as Delmarva rounds out a perfect 4-0 day in the O's system. The Shorebirds rallied for three runs in the top of the tenth to secure victory.

My new favorite player, Cole McCurry, went five shutout innings with three strikeouts. Zach Clark threw four innings of relief and got the win, and Mick Mattaliano picked up the save.