Orioles Minor League Rundown: 5/12/14

Norfolk 3 Indianapolis (Pirates) 14

(RHP) Eddie Gamboa got the start for the Tides, but his knucklball lacked it preferred dance moves as he got hit around over his 5 innings of work. 8 hits and 2 walks yielded led to 7 runs allowed. Some shoddy defensive work behind led to 3 of those runs being deemed unearned. Gamboa did K 4 and managed to pick off top prospect Gregory Polanco from 2nd base. (RHP) Brock Huntzinger had a night to forget as he allowed 6 runs (5 earned) over his third of an inning of work. 4 hits allowed with two of those being home runs will tend to do that.

(1B) Brett Wallace and (RF) Cord Phelps each managed 2 hits on the night, with Wallace blasting his 3rd HR of the season in the 2nd, and Phelps cracking his 4th of the season in the 9th. Beyond that, the offense did precious little.

Potomac (Nats) 8 Frederick 4

The Keys managed to jump out to an early 2-0 lead thanks in part to (CF) Glynn Davis drawing a lead off HBP. Davis then went on to steal 2nd, his 8th successful swipe in 10 tries. He would come in to score on a (LF) Michael Burgess triple. 2nd inning doubles courtesy of ( C ) Wynston Sawyer and (DH) Tucker Nathans plated the Keys' second run of the game. But the offense pretty much dried up after that point, as Frederick batters recorded 11 Ks on the night.

(RHP) Branden Kline managed to work 1-2-3 1st and 3rd innings. He escaped the 2nd unharmed after a single and two walks loaded the bases. But in the 4th he got knocked around mercilessly, allowing 5 hits and walk which led to 4 runs. (RHP) Gene Escat came on and tallied 3 scoreless innings which saw him K 5. He now sports 22 Ks to 9 walks over his 18.1 IP this season, with a 1.96 ERA to boot. Potomac then added 4 runs over the 8th & 9th innings off (RHP) Matt Hauser.

Lakewood (Phillies) 0 Delmarva 3

Happy Hunter Harvey Day! And a happy it one it was, indeed. Harvey dominated the BlueClaws, breezing through a career high 7 innings of work that required just 83 pitches, 61 of which he threw for strikes. I was lucky to be in attendance for this game and will have a more detailed and specific write up that will post later on today. So keep an eye out for that. But, in summation: 7 IP, 1 hit, 1 walk, 0 runs, 10 Ks on the night for Harvey. His fastball was overpowering and his curveball mystified, inducing many comical swings on behalf of the Lakewood hitters. It was a near flawless performance, and a strong case for promotion to Frederick. Time will tell if that occurs.

The Lakewood starter was good as well, though certainly less flashy in the overwhelming glare of Harvey's potential stardom. Each pitcher traded hanging zeros on the scoreboard through 4 innings, before (LF) Gregory Lorenzo managed to draw a lead off walk to start the 5th. An easy swipe of 2nd base put him in scoring position with 1 out before the pitcher uncorked a wild pitch. Now, the pitch skidded away from the catcher, but not far. In fact, it didn't even reach the grass behind home plate as the catcher managed to pounce on the ball before it got more than 10 feet away. But Lorenzo read the pitch instantly and broke from what can charitably be called an 'aggressive' lead off of 2nd base. 'Obscene' would be more to the point, as he was nearly halfway to 3rd by the time the ball even hit the dirt in the first place. Lorenzo would slide into 3rd just ahead of the tag. Kid's got wheels. A (RF) Mike Yastzemski single past a drawn in infield would bring Lorenzo in for the game's first, and ultimately, only necessary run. (CF) Josh Hart added an RBI line drive single in the 7th. This was an impressive hit as Hart showed excellent pitch identification and held his hands back on a 77 mph curve ball in order to slap the ball the opposite way into shallow LF. A really impressive at bat from him. ( C ) Chance Sisco just missed clearing the fence in dead-center field to lead off the 8th, settling for a long double instead.

Your boxscores du jour can be found via this link

Today's Probables are as such:

Norfolk: (RHP) Steve Johnson

Bowie: (LHP) Tim Berry

Frederick: (RHP) Parker Bridwell

Delmarva: (LHP) Steven Brault