Norfolk Tides 4, Gwinnett Braves 1
After allowing a first-inning home run, Odrisamer Despaigne settled down and pitched over three innings of shutout ball for the Tides. He was followed by Andy Oliver and Oliver Drake; both tossed a pair of scoreless innings.
Jason Stoffel, who now has a 0.71 ERA in 23 outings for Norfolk, entered in the ninth to capture his 11th save.
Corban Joseph notched three hits including two doubles, while leadoff man Ozzie Martinez went 2-3 with a run scored. Trey Mancini and Christian Walker both notched singles and accounted for a run in the matinee victory.
New Hampshire Fisher Cats 7, Bowie Baysox 4
Bowie starter David Hess couldn’t find his rhythm, following the script of his season (4-10, 5.55 ERA entering). He gave up six hits and five earned runs over five innings, throwing 88 pitches.
Both Joey Terdoslavich and Henry Urrutia had impressive nights. Terdoslavich doubled and homered, while Urrutia compiled three total hits including a double. The latter is hitting .317 in Bowie this season.
Fun fact: New Hampshire DH Richard Urena had three triples on the night. That seems nearly impossible — any baseball history folks out there want to research how often that happens?
Frederick Keys 6, Wilmington Blue Rocks 5
Wednesday must have been a day full of strange statistical anomalies, because Frederick starter Lucas Long also gave up six hits and five runs in his start, just as Hess did for Bowie. Strange, but minor league baseball is far from cookie-cutter.
Anyway, it was a good night for catcher Austin Wynns. He notched three singles and collected an RBI. Anderlin Rodriguez also continued his big year with a solo home run in his first at-bat.
Yermin Mercedes, recently moved up from Delmarva, got on base in each of his four at-bats (single, three walks).
Lakewood BlueClaws 5, Delmarva Shorebirds 0
Former East Carolina standout Reid Love only surrendered two earned runs on the night (four in total, two unearned), but he allowed 10 hits and struck out just one over six innings of work. That’s a whole lot of contact.
The Delmarva lineup threatened to have a big inning in the ninth, but they failed to overcome Lakewood’s early lead. There were just six hits on the night — DH Randolph Gassaway had the only extra-base hit with a double in the cleanup spot.
Aberdeen Ironbirds 7, Staten Island Yankees 3
Rookie first-round pick Cody Sedlock again worked just three innings, but he had plenty of success over the trio of frames. He needed 52 pitches to wrap up his outing, but he allowed no runs and just a single hit, striking out four in the process.
Zack Muckenhirn, a fellow 2016 selection (11th round) from North Dakota, also tossed three innings of shutout ball. Like Sedlock, he gave up just one hit and struck out three — he needed just 39 pitches though, so he’s Wednesday’s winner.
It wasn’t a terrible night for the Ironbirds lineup. They compiled 12 hits including two home runs, shots from Tucker Nathans (on rehab assignment) and Alejandro Juvier.
Third-round pick Austin Hays, a recent return from a pesky wrist injury, continued his impressive pro start with two singles and a pair of RBI.
Today’s games
Norfolk - OFF
Bowie - 11:05 vs. New Hampshire. Starter: Matthew Grimes
Frederick - 6:35 vs. Wilmington. Starter: David Richardson
Delmarva - 7:05 vs. West Virginia. Starter: Ofelky Peralta
Aberdeen - 7:05 vs. Staten Island. Starter: Lucas Humpal