Orioles minors 4/17: Tillman takes another step towards returning

The minor league teams for the Orioles won two out of three last night with the Norfolk Tides having the day off. The big news of the day was a rehab start by Chris Tillman with the Bowie Baysox, but before the games began the different leagues announced their players of the week with two O’s prospect getting the honors.

Cedric Mullins of the double-A Baysox was named the Eastern League Offensive Player of the Week after going 20-for-44 with three home runs, a triple, and five doubles. And down in low-A, Delmarva’s Jake Ring took home the same honors for the South Atlantic League. Ring hit .421/.450/.842 over nine games with seven doubles, three triples, and a home run. Congrats to them both!

Bowie Baysox 3, Richmond Flying Squirrels (SFG) 2

Chris Tillman’s first rehab start went off without a hitch. In 2 ²⁄₃ innings he threw 42 pitches with his fastball starting in the high 80s and topping out at either 90 (scout) or 92 (stadium gun)

In the first inning Tillman gave up a line drive home run then followed with a 1-2-3 second. He issued a four-pitch walk and gave up a single in the third, exiting with two outs. Lucas Long followed and got the final out to strand the runners.

MASN’s Roch Kubatko was at the game and you can check out more details and get Tillman’s game quotes at his site. After the game Tillman was happy with how his shoulder felt and if that doesn’t change, his next start will be with single-A Frederick.

As for the rest of the game, Long followed Tillman with 5 ¹⁄₃ innings with one run allowed on seven hits, and Garrett Cleavinger closed it out with a a scoreless ninth.

The Baysox scored all three of their runs with one swing of the bat as catcher Austin Wynns knocked a three-run home run in the sixth inning. Cedric Mullins went 0-for-4 with a walk.

I didn’t see mention of what Tillman bought the team for dinner, which is my favorite part of big leaguers rehabbing in the minors.

Frederick Keys 1, Winston-Salem Dash (CWS) 2

Keegan Akin struggled with his control in his latest start, walking three batters in just 4 ¹⁄₃ innings. He also struck out five, which is good to see. He only gave up two hits but that combined with the walks resulted in two runs (one unearned)

The Keys offense was very quiet, managing just five hits and one run, which came via a home from from Yermin Mercedes. Austin Hays and Ryan Mountcastle each went 1-for-4 while Jomar Reyes went hitless.

Delmarva Shorebirds 9, Greensboro Grasshoppers (MIA) 5

The Shorebirds offense exploded for nine runs on 14 hits last night with every starter other than shortstop Irving Ortega having at least one hit. Just named player of the week Jake Ring got to work defending his title with a single, home run, and two walks, while third baseman Chris Clare had a four-hit night. Both Ring and Clare were late round draft picks last year so aren’t really players to watch, but still nice to see them do well.

Starting pitcher Zack Muckenhirn pitched five innings last night with three runs allowed (just two earned). Muckenhirn walked two and struck out two. Not a great start for the #27 prospect, but hardly a disaster.

For more details on last night’s games including the box scores, check out MiLB.com.

Today’s Games

• Norfolk @ Buffalo, 6:05. Starter: Gabriel Ynoa
• Bowie vs. Richmond, 6:35. Starter: Brandon Barker
• Frederick @ Winston-Salem, 7:00. Starter: Cory Sedlock
• Delmarva vs. Greensboro, 7:05. Starter: Matthias Dietz