Orioles minors 5/9: Everybody steals on Chance Sisco

Norfolk Tides 3, Charlotte Knights 5

It seems like the Tides offense did almost everything it was supposed to do except, you know...score. I don't know what more you can ask of your leadoff guy than to reach base three out of four times up, but that's what Xavier Avery did. Avery you may recall, was drafted as raw, but toolsy project guy in 2008. He was traded out of the system and has done the minor league free agency thing only to find himself back in the system with fellow 2008 draftee L.J. Hoes.

Is Avery finally becoming a useful piece at age 26? He's slashing .282/.393/.451...I mean...that's not bad. Garabez Rosa and Dariel Alvarez doubled, Trey Mancini and Christian Walker each reached base a couple times, but the Tides seemed to not get all that many guys in scoring position or perform adequately when they did (1-6 on the night).

Starter Ariel Miranda wasn't able to put guys away. He allowed seven baserunners and four earned runs in 3.2 innings. Corban Joseph succumbed to the Melewski Curse and saw his hitting streak end at 21 games this evening.

Bowie Baysox 5, Hartford Yard Goats 9

Poor Jayson Aquino had the distinct misfortune of running into the murder wheel known as the Hartford Yard Goats. At 22-8, the Yard Goats boast the best record in the Eastern League and two top prospects in David Dahl and Raimel Tapia. Aquino allowed eleven baserunners and five earned runs in 4.1 innings of work.

Also on the pitching side of things, I'll also note that future LOOGYs Ashur Tolliver and Donnie "Please" Hart each worked scoreless innings and are sporting ERAs under 1.50 this season. So there's that. There was also an Earl Weaver Special for Mike Yastrzemski.

While not exactly revelatory, as this is Lil Yaz's third stint at Bowie, his performance this year has been solid (.287/.374/.455). Chance Sisco singled, but the Yard Goats were 7-9 in steal attempts. THIS GAME!

Delmarva Shorebirds 3, Asheville Tourists 9

The Orioles don't have a great reputation for developing international guys in recent years, but I wonder if Cristian Alvarado isn't someone who could break through. The 21 year old Venezuelan righty has struck out 40 batters in 31 innings and walked only seven. He allowed four earned runs in six innings on this night, but struck out seven. This is his first year in full season ball.

Most of the guys in the lineup you want to see perform did so. Each of Alex Murphy, Yermin Mercedes and D.J. Stewart had two hits. Stewart doubled and homered while the other two merely doubled and singled. Don't know why I hadn't noticed until now, but D.J. Stewart has accumulated some fairly extreme platoon splits this season. His slash line of .281/.453/.439 against righties isn't awesome, but provides a lot of reason for encouragement.

Full boxscores for today's games are available here.

Today's Scheduled Games

Norfolk: T.J. McFarland, Odrisamer Despaigne

Bowie: David Hess

Frederick: Lucas Long

Delmarva: Reid Love