Orioles prospects 5/3: The Tucker Nathans show

Norfolk Tides 5, Charlotte Knights 4

This one didn’t go well for Tides starter Chris Lee, who allowed ten hits in just 3.1 innings and surrendered all four of Charlotte’s runs. He was bailed out by the Norfolk bullpen, who collectively shut down the Knights the rest of the way.

Stefan Crichton picked up the win with 2.1 innings of work, while Vidal Nuno and Jimmy Yacabonis each recorded five scoreless outs.

David Washington got the scoring going for the Tides in the second inning with a solo shot off of former Nats top prospect and current White Sox prospect Lucas Giolito. Paul Janish added a two-run bomb in the third, and a pair of RBI singles by Washington and Pedro Alvarez gave Norfolk the lead for good.

Washington’s big day brought the slugger’s batting line up to .286/.333/.532. Meanwhile, Norfolk’s more established slugger, Pedro Alvarez, is hitting .176/.287/.297 on the year.

Drew Dosch had two hits on the day and is hitting .338/.411/.438 across two levels. That matters, because Dosch is a third baseman. If J.J. Hardy keeps playing the way he has and the Manny Machado moves to shortstop, the O’s might need one of those.

Erie Seawolves 11, Bowie Baysox 9

Bowie starter Matthew Grimes wasn’t awful, allowing four runs (three earned) over five innings, but the bullpen got destroyed in a six-run seventh inning to spoil a good offensive day by the Baysox.

Instead of “the Baysox”, maybe I should just say “Adrian Marin and Tucker Nathans.” The duo combined for eight of Bowie’s 14 hits. Marin was 4-5 with a triple, which looks good until you get to Nathans.

Nathans was 4-5 with three home runs. Three! His three-run shot gave Bowie an early 4-1 lead in the first innings, and he added a pair of solo homers later on. This would be much more exciting if he wasn’t 28 years old.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans 4, Frederick Keys 3

Ofelky Peralta was cruising through four innings, but gave up two runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth before being lifted with two outs in that innings. Mitch Horacek came in and dominated the rest of the way, retiring ten of the eleven batters he faced.

It was a rough day at the plate for the Keys. The only player with multiple hits was Josh Hart, who’s been on fire since returning from the DL. He’s hitting .353 in eleven games this year.

The former 37th overall pick has been a disappointment so far (his career minor league OPS is an even .600). That said, he’s still only 22, which was amazing to me because personally it felt like he’s been in the organization for about 12 years. There’s still time for Hart to turn it around.

Delmarva Shorebirds 10, Columbia Fireflies 3

This was a laugher thanks to a six-run first inning from the Shorebirds and a quality start (6 IP, 2 ER) from last year’s 9th round pick, Lucas Humpal. Columbia threatened to get back in the game quickly with two runs in the bottom of the first, but Humpal was able to escape a jam and avoid what could’ve been a bigger inning.

The offensive explosion in the first inning started with a solo shot from Jake Ring, and ended with a grand slam from Gerrion Grim. Ring added a double later on and is hitting .360/.421/.686 so far this year. Not bad for a 31st-round pick.

Also, in case you’re wondering how Tim Tebow did in this game for Columbia, I’m not going to tell you. You really shouldn’t care. Here’s the box score.

Tomorrow’s matchups and probable starters

Norfolk @ Charlotte, 7:05 PM (Mike Wright)

Bowie @ Richmond, 6:35 PM (Brandon Barker)

Frederick @ Carolina, 7:00 PM (Keegan Akin)

Delmarva @ Columbia, 7:05 PM (TBD)