Norfolk Tides 1, Durham (Rays) 0 (12 innings)
A 1-0 game that went 12 innings doesn’t seem like a very interesting one at all. The Tides, at least, picked up 11 hits over the course of the game, but it took them twelve innings to win it because they went 1-9 with runners in scoring position. The Bulls, on the other hand, never got a runner in scoring position at all.
Trey Mancini, who at this point may be the only interesting player on the entire Tides roster - or at least the most interesting one - was 3-5 in the contest and is now batting .305 in 65 games since joining Norfolk. Erstwhile first baseman Christian Walker was 3-5 as well.
It was a good outing for Tides starter Mike Wright, the once and probably future Orioles starting pitcher, who allowed just four men to reach base over 6.2 innings. He has pitched since his demotion like a guy who doesn’t want to stay in Norfolk for long.
Wright shouldn’t hold his breath though because Buck Showalter said before Saturday’s game, “His results have been a little better than he’s pitched.” Showalter hinted Wright will be down there for a while. You can read the full quotes in this article.
Altoona (Pirates) 2, Bowie Baysox 1
When you only get four at-bats with RISP and get no hits in any of them, you probably aren’t going to win, and sure enough, the Baysox did not. Chance Sisco was 0-3 in the game and drew a walk while serving as the designated hitter.
The Baysox starter was Brandon Barker, one of the two pitchers the Orioles acquired from the Braves in the Brian Matusz salary dump. Although he took the loss, he had himself a decent enough night, pitching seven innings and giving up only two runs. It helped that he scattered nine hits and two walks.
Salem (Red Sox) 5, Frederick Keys 2
The Keys committed four errors in this game, yet somehow none of these errors led to any unearned runs crossing the plate. That’s about as impressive as it is terrible. They were 0-7 with runners in scoring position in the game, with their only two runs crossing on solo home runs.
As far as the actual prospects on the team, Jonah Heim was 1-4 in the game and threw out one of the two would-be base-stealers who challenged him. Jomar Reyes was 0-4. D.J. Stewart got the night off.
Delmarva Shorebirds 8, Hagerstown (Walgreens) 3
Hey, someone scored some runs! This was a good one, because not only did the affiliate get the win, but a couple of Orioles prospects had good nights for themselves as well. One of these was Ryan Mountcastle, last year’s compensation pick, who turned in a 3-5 night with two doubles and two runs scored.
There was good news for pitching prospect Ofelky Peralta as well, who blanked the Walgreens Western Maryland district team over six innings of work. Peralta gave up only a hit and a walk while striking out seven batters. Peralta’s season ERA is now 3.69. Both Peralta and Mountcastle are just 19 years old.
Lowell (Red Sox) 4, Aberdeen IronBirds 1
With apologies to these gentlemen, not much to say about this one as nobody interesting did much of anything interesting. The IronBirds only had five hits all game, although 2015 fourth rounder Ryan McKenna did walk twice and steal his fourth base in 13 games.
For complete box scores from all of the Orioles affiliates, including the further adventures of Gui Yuan “Itchy” Xu and the rest of the GCL O’s team, plus two Dominican teams, check out here.
Today’s Scheduled Games
- Norfolk: vs. Durham, 6:05. Starter: Ariel Miranda
- Bowie: at Altoona, 7:00. Starter: David Hess
- Frederick: vs. Salem, 6:00. Starter: TBD
- Delmarva: at Hagerstown, 7:05. Starter: A different TBD
- Aberdeen: at Lowell, 5:05. Starter: Still another TBD