Orioles Minor League Rundown: 4-18-15

Durham (Rays) 5 Norfolk 3

The Bulls put up a 4-spot in the 4th and that was enough to stand up to the Tides' 3 run response in the bottom of the inning. Eddie Gamboa's knuckler must have been floating like a butterfly as he issued 4 walks, 2 HBPs, and threw more balls (43) than strikes (41) over his 5 innings of work. The offense dinked & dunked their way to 3 runs in the 4th with an assist by some poor fielding on the Bulls' part. But the Tides were otherwise unable to muster much in the way of a threat. Christian Walker went 2 for 4 with a run scored. Michael Almanzar went 1 for 3 with a walk and an RBI.

Erie (Tigers) 5 Bowie 2

Dylan Bundy made his 2nd start of the season and showed some encouraging stuff in spite of getting touched up for 2 ERs in the 3rd. Once again, Baseball Prospectus' C.J. Wittmann was in attendance and tweeted out his observations:

1st Inning:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Orioles?src=hash">#Orioles</a> Dylan Bundy 93-95; extreme plane. CH 85-86; armside fade, consistent arm speed. Potential +. CB 79; 11/5 shape. Looks comfortable.</p>&mdash; CJ Wittmann (@CJWittJr) <a href="https://twitter.com/CJWittJr/status/589560143760781312">April 18, 2015</a></blockquote>

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2nd Inning:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/orioles?src=hash">#orioles</a> Bundy 91-95; CB 79-81; 11/5 shape w/ bite. CT 83; slider-like. Easy velocity. Commanding the zone well.</p>&mdash; CJ Wittmann (@CJWittJr) <a href="https://twitter.com/CJWittJr/status/589564916731904000">April 18, 2015</a></blockquote>

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3rd Inning:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Orioles?src=hash">#Orioles</a> Bundy 93-94; big plane. Potential plus CH/CB. CT 80-83; slider-like, late break. Threw strikes to all 4 quadrants. Found barrels.</p>&mdash; CJ Wittmann (@CJWittJr) <a href="https://twitter.com/CJWittJr/status/589570189034917888">April 18, 2015</a></blockquote>

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A lot to be encouraged about there, in my view. The velocity is working it's way back, and his curve, cutter, and change are each showing signs of returning to their pre-surgery form. Final line for Dylan: 3 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 Ks, 56 pitchs, 36 strikes.

As for the offense, Glynn Davis did his part from the lead off spot, going 3 for 4 with a walk and a stolen base. Though he also erased himself from the bases two of those times, once by getting caught stealing and the other time by getting picked off 1B.

Frederick 3 Wilmington (Royals) 4

I really wanted to go this game but lingering flu symptoms has wrecked me the past few days. ugh. Anyways, 24 year old lefty Matt Taylor made his '15 debut, and allowed 2 ER over 4 innings of work. Austin Urban allowed 2 ERs in the 6th, giving the Blue Rocks a lead they would hold onto. Happy days for Mr. Celery.

Following his 4 for 4 performance yesterday, Drew Dosch went 2 for 3 with a walk, a double, and all 3 Keys' runs driven in. The rest of the offense combined for 3 hits, 2 walks, and 9 Ks. 'Nuff said.

Delmarva 2 Greensboro (Marlins) 3

Obviously inspired by the recent Star Wars trailer, Sebastian Vader had a good outing, holding the Grasshoppers to 1 ER via 5 hits and 1 walk over 6 innings. Derrick Bleeker came on in the 7th and eventually struck out the side while allowing a couple of singles in the process. In the 8th however he would get tagged with a 2-run dinger after allowing a lead off single, giving Greensboro a late lead.

On offense, catching tandem Alex Murphy and Jonah Heim each had 2 for 4 nights. Though the latter would get thrown out at Home after a Ronarsy Ledesma single to LF. Jomar Reyes moved up to 5th in the lineup and went 1 for 4 with a K.

The probables for this fine Sunday are as such:

Norfolk: (RHP) Tyler Wilson

Bowie: (LHP) Tim Berry

Frederick: TBD

Delmarva: (LHP) Bennett Parry