Pawtucket (Red Sox) 11, Norfolk Tides 6
Although this looks like a wild one, it was less of one than it appears. The PawSox only led 2-0 heading into the seventh inning before they torched Edgar Olmos for four runs, then added five more against Zach Phillips in the ninth.
A lack of timely hitting was a big problem for the Tides again. Though they had 13 hits on the night, and drew six walks besides, they only went 2-11 with runners in scoring position.
Mike Yastrzemski was 2-4 on the night and drew a walk as well. In 18 games since being promoted to the Triple-A level, Yastrzemski is batting .300/.383/.543. Hey, that's pretty good. So's Trey Mancini, who was 1-3, drew a walk, and was hit by pitch. Mancini's line is now .269/.346/.469 in 38 games.
Akron (Indians) 2, Bowie Baysox 1
Let's start with the good news: Jason Garcia, frequently a wild, poor performer in the Bowie rotation this year, gave up only two hits and a walk over six innings while striking out five batters. Wouldn't hurt to see a few more like that.
The bad news is that the Baysox only got six hits all game, never had a hit with runners in scoring position, and didn't get on the board at all until they scratched out a run in the ninth inning.
Catcher Chance Sisco had a 2-4 night and was 1-2 in throwing out attempted base stealers. Sisco has thrown out 21/60 runners this year - a 35% success rate.
Frederick Keys 5, Carolina (Braves) 4 (11 innings)
Hey, a winner! Keys starter Matthew Grimes can take a bow for being a big part of the reason why, as he shut out the Mudcats for the first seven innings of the game, holding them to three hits. No one else safely reached base against him. Grimes struck out eight batters and has a 1.08 ERA in 11 starts with the Keys this year.
So how did it end up taking extra innings if Grimes was so good? Well, Tanner Scott was very Tanner Scott, giving up two walks and two hits in 1.1 innings of work. This all led to four runs crossing the plate, though due to two errors, only one of the runs was earned.
Finally, in the eleventh inning, Jonah Heim led off with a single. Heim's pinch runner Anthony Caronia advanced on a sacrifice bunt, took third base on an infield single off a bunt, and ultimately scored on a Jay Gonzalez base hit.
Gonzalez, my personal favorite obscure minor leaguer, was 3-4 on the night and drew two walks. He also stole two bases and now has 30 (!) on the season. All of that's good for a .274/.378/.384 batting line for Frederick. Get this guy to Bowie and see what happens.
Greensboro (Marlins) 4, Delmarva Shorebirds 3
Close, but no cigar. A narrow Shorebirds lead was washed out by two rare runs charged to Maryland's own Ryan Meisinger - though only one, the go-ahead run, was earned. The other only reached base due to a Ryan Mountcastle error. Mountcastle had two errors in the game and was 0-3.
A mixed bag for starting pitcher Brian Gonzalez, who could only pitch five innings before being removed. He gave up six hits and two walks to Grasshoppers hitters in that time, allowing two runs.
Baltimore's own Alex Murphy hit a solo home run in the second inning of the game. That's his ninth home run of the season. It was a rare game catching for Murphy. That part didn't go as well. Greensboro stole three bases on his watch, and the lone caught stealing was actually an attempted steal of home when Murphy tried to pick a runner off of first base after a pitch. Or at least that's what it looked like in the box score.
Still, Murphy's now batting .265/.336/.466 on the season and will surely hit his way out of the South Atlantic League with those numbers, even if it won't be as a catcher.
Today's Scheduled Games
- Norfolk: vs. Pawtucket, 1:05. Starter: David Hale
- Bowie: vs. Akron, 1:05. (doubleheader) Starters: Jayson Aquino, TBD
- Frederick: vs. Carolina, 2:00. Starter: Mitch Horacek
- Delmarva: OFF
For a complete look at these various lovely and not-so-lovely totals, including the beginning of the season for both Orioles Dominican Summer League affiliates, check out the full box scores here.