Orioles minors 5/23: Means and Lee dominant, offenses combine for 4 runs

The Norfolk Tides game was rained out last night, so the Orioles' affiliates played four games on the day. They scored a total of four runs in those games. That isn't great. On the bright side, they did get a pair of excellent pitching performances, and one of those was enough to avoid an 0-4 sweep.

Hartford (Rockies) 2, Bowie 1 (12 innings)

Chris Lee got the start for Bowie and was great, allowing just one run over eight innings - his ERA is now sitting at 2.98 on the season after seven starts. Unfortunately for him, Bowie couldn't do much of anything at the plate. The only run was unearned, with Drew Dosch singling in Joey Terdoslavich in the second after Terdoslavich had previously reached on an error. The Baysox had only one extra-base hit: a double by Julio Borbon. Genison Reyes took the loss in the bottom of the 12th by allowing a leadoff double to Ryan McMahon, who scored on another double a few batters later.

Frederick 1, Potomac (Nationals) 0

The Keys and Nationals played a pair of 7-inning games to make up for the rainouts over the weekend, and in the first game they got a tremendous performance from starter John Means, who went the full 7 innings and struck out 8 batters while allowing just 3 hits and a walk. Means now has a 1.80 ERA with 54 strikeouts and 10 walks in 50 innings pitched.

Frederick got the only run they'd need in the bottom of the 7th, when catcher Jonah Heim singled in first baseman Aderlin Rodriguez for the walk-off win. Rodriguez was the only Key with multiple hits, going 2-3 on the day.

Potomac 2, Frederick 0

The Keys went with a bullpen game for this one - Max Schuh got a spot start and allowed two runs in just three innings. Ivan Hernandez and Tanner Scott pitched two shutout innings apiece in relief. Meanwhile, Frederick couldn't get anything going at the plate, scattering just five hits. Jay Gonzalez, Aderlin Rodriguez, and Erick Salcedo had a double each.

Greensboro (Miami) 9, Delmarva 2

The Grasshoppers wasted no time in jumping all over Delmarva starter Francisco Jimenez, who served up a grand slam in the first inning on his way to a 7-run, 5-inning outing. The Shorebirds were down 9-0 heading into the eighth, when Drew Turbin and Yermin Mercedes each hit solo shots for the only Delmarva runs of the day. Mercedes, a 23-year-old catcher / first baseman who was the DH last night, is now hitting .345/.380/.547 on the year in 148 plate appearances.

Today's matchups (probable starter in parentheses)

Gwinnett @ Norfolk, 5:05 PM DOUBLEHEADER (David Hale, Andy Oliver)

Bowie @ Hartford, 4:05 PM DOUBLEHEADER (Jason Garcia, TBA)

Frederick @ Winston-Salem, 7:00 PM (Matthew Grimes)

Delmarva @ Greensboro, 7:00 PM (TBA)