O’s prospects 7/26: Bombs away for the Keys

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders 5, Norfolk Tides 4

Quality starts have been a rarity for the Tides this year, but they got one yesterday from Tyler Wilson, who went seven innings with three earned runs. Wilson struck out just one over those seven innings, while allowing seven hits and three walks.

Outings like this have been the norm for Wilson, who has the 3rd lowest K/9 of all International League pitchers. He was never a strikeout machine, but he’s never had a K/9 lower than six in a minor league season, and right now he’s sitting at 5.37.

The Tides got a two-run homer in the third from Chris Dickerson, who had exactly half of Norfolk’s six hits. After an RBI double from Drew Dosch tied the game, Matt Wotherspoon allowed two runs in the tenth against the team he was on just a few weeks ago.

The Tides had a chance in the tenth, with Chris Dickerson on third base after already scoring a run in the inning, but Pedro Alvarez struck out to strand Dickerson and end the game.

Erie SeaWolves 6, Bowie Baysox 3

Lucas Long had his first truly terrible outing of the season, allowing six runs on nine hits in 2.1 innings. He’s had a great year, so even after this shellacking his ERA is still a nice 2.72, split between seven starts and seventeen relief outings.

Jason Garcia, Garrett Cleavinger, and Ryan Meisinger pitched shutout ball the rest of the game to keep the Baysox in it. Bowie cut the lead in half on a bases loaded walk by D.J. Stewart and a two-run double by Chris O’Brien, but that was as close as they’d get.

Austin Wynns was the only player with multiple hits, going 2-4 on the day. Ryan Mountcastle was 0-4 in his seventh game since being promoted to double-A. He’s had a rough time since the promotion, hitting just .148 for the Baysox after tearing up the Carolina League for Frederick.

Frederick Keys 13, Lynchburg Hillcats 5

Frederick was actually down 4-0 through two innings, but Cristian Alvarado settled down after that and finished the fifth while allowing just one more run. That was enough to pick up the win, thanks to a dong party from the Keys.

Ademar Rifaela hit a three-run bomb in the third, his 17th of the year. The 22-year old Rifaela is hitting .292/.347/.509 for the Keys this year, and might end up hitting as many homers in 2017 as he did from 2013-2016 combined.

Rifaela drove in two more runs with a single in the three-run fifth, and Alex Murphy hit a two-run shot in the sixth. Frederick plated a couple more runs that inning as a result of some defensive miscues, and suddenly a 4-0 deficit had turned into a 10-5 lead.

For good measure, backup catcher Armando Araiza hit a three-run homer in the top of the ninth to put the game firmly out of reach. Mitch Horacek pitched his second consecutive perfect inning to finish the win for the Keys.

Today’s matchups and probable starters

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre @ Norfolk, 12:05 PM (Mike Wright)

Akron @ Bowie, 7:05 PM (Tanner Scott)

Frederick @ Salem, 7:05 PM (Reid Love)

Greensboro @ Delmarva, 7:05 PM (Matthias Dietz)

Hudson Valley @ Aberdeen, 5:35 PM doubleheader (TBD)