Orioles prospects 5/14: A winless day throughout the organization

Indianapolis (Pittsburgh) 5, Norfolk Tides 4

Chance Sisco played hero for a moment on Sunday, launching this pinch-hit, two-run homer in the top of the 9th inning to give the Tides the lead. Not a bad time for the Orioles’ top prospect’s first long ball of the year.

Unfortunately, the lead was short-lived as Jimmy Jacabonis allowed his first earned run of the season in the bottom half of the inning. The Indians eventually walked it off against Richard Rodriguez in the bottom of the 11th to take the victory. Even with Jacabonis’s first blown save of the year, his ERA sits at a sparkling 0.48 through 14 appearances.

MLB veteran Edwin Jackson pitched a scoreless 8th inning for the Tides, striking out a pair of Indianapolis batters. We may be seeing Dan Duquette’s latest reclamation project in an Orioles uniform sooner rather than later if he continues to impress in AAA. Jackson has a looming opt-out on June 1st, and the Orioles may be hard-pressed not to give him a shot if their current bullpen struggles continue.

Richmond (Giants) 4, Bowie Baysox 1

While the Baysox struggled to get much of anything going on offense, the Flying Squirrels put up 16 hits. It could have been much worse with a few clutch hits from Richmond, who finished the game going only 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position, stranding 11.

Baysox starter Brandon Barker did well to scatter hits and work his way out of jams through 5 innings of work. Acquired from the Braves organization in exchange for Matusz’s salary dump last May, Barker only surrendered 1 ER on the afternoon despite allowing 7 hits.

The Baysox tied the game up at 1-1 in the 7th inning on a solo home run from former first-round pick D.J. Stewart before Richmond tacked on two more runs in the bottom half of the frame against former Oriole Jason Garcia.

Welington Castillo started at catcher for the first time on his rehab assignment and went 1-for-3 with a strikeout. The Orioles’ starting catcher looks to return to the big-league squad early this week if all goes as planned.

Wilmington (Royals) 10, Frederick Keys 2 (Game 1)

The Blue Rocks plated 3 runs in the bottom of the first inning and never looked back, taking the first of the two 7-inning games of Sunday’s double header with ease.

Keys starter Cristian Alvarado continued his Jeckll & Hyde start to the season, but this time Mr. Hyde was on display. The young righty allowed 7 ER and recorded 7 outs. In every appearance this season, Alvarado has now either allowed less than 2 ER, or more than 7 ER. Nothing in between.

4th-ranked prospect Ryan Mountcastle continued his strong season at the plate going 3-4 with a double. Still just 20 years old, the 2015 first-round pick may see his name start to appear on some national prospect lists if can continue this pace over a full season.

Wilmington (Royals) 3, Frederick Keys 1 (Game 2)

Despite out-hitting the Blue Rocks 7-to-4, the Keys failed to get a hit with runners in scoring position as the Blue Rocks completed their weekend sweep.

Brian Gonzalez pitched a 6-inning complete game for the Keys but picked up the loss. Tough break for the Orioles’ 20th-ranked prospect who allowed only 4 hits. Gonzalez has done well limiting the damage overall this season, but continues to be victimized with walks. He gave up three free passes on Sunday and has now walked multiple batters in every one of his starts this year.

The Keys got their lone run off the bat of who else, but Ryan Mountcastle. The young shortstop hit a sac fly in the first inning and later added his league leading 14th double.

Greenville (Red Sox) 12, Delmarva Shorebirds 2

Both ends of the Travis Seabrooke - Jhon Peluffo combination struggled to record outs on Sunday and the results weren’t good. Seabrooke surrendered 6 ER in 4 innings and then Peluffo, who has been piggy-backing Seabrooke all season, continued where Travis left off by allowing 4 runs in 3.2 IP although only one was earned.

If there was a bright spot to be taken from the pitching performances, Peluffo struck out six batters and walked zero for the second time in his last two appearances. The 19-year-old now has 23 strikeouts and only 4 walks through just over 21 innings. Those are numbers that will draw some attention.

The Shorebirds tallied up 10 hits on the day, but that was nothing compared to the Drive who had 14 hits and went 9-for-18 with runners in scoring position. Outfielders Jake Ring and Ryan McKenna both had multi-hit games for the Shorebirds while first baseman Collin Woody hit his first home run of the season.

Complete box scores for all of Sunday’s games can be found here.

Today’s Scheduled Games

• Norfolk: vs. Gwinnett, 6:35. Starter: Tyler Wilson
• Bowie: OFF
• Frederick: at Salem, 7:05. Starter: Ofelky Peralta
• Delmarva: vs. Greenville, 7:05. Starter: Alex Wells