Orioles prospects 7/8: Another tough day for pitchers

Columbus (Indians) 6, Norfolk Tides 4

Another day, another Tides starting pitcher having kind of a crummy outing. It could have been worse for Tyler Wilson, who gave up four runs in 5.1 innings pitched, not particularly scattering eight hits and a walk. Following Wilson, Jimmy Yacabonis gave up two runs on three hits and two walks in just an inning of work. It’s like it was an Orioles game.

Three different Tides had three hits apiece, including occasional Oriole Francisco Pena, and Chris Johnson, the son of Tides manager Ron Johnson. Also, Sharlon Schoop, brother of Jonathan, made like his younger brother and hit a home run in the game, the second Triple-A homer of the year for the elder Schoop.

Richmond (Giants) 11, Bowie Baysox 7

Pitching hasn’t gone much better for the Baysox this year than it has for the Tides or for the Orioles... which is one reason why the Orioles pitching situation is what it is. In this game, the Flying Squirrels rained down 14 hits on the Baysox and drew five walks besides - enough to pick up 11 runs. Starting pitcher Matthew Grimes took most of that damage, giving up six runs on seven hits in just 2.1 innings.

Bowie didn’t have a bad night offensively, with 11 hits of their own. It just wasn’t enough to make up for the pitching struggle. Leadoff man Adrian Marin led the way with a 4-5 night. Marin is now batting over .300 in 72 games for Bowie this season. Is he finally turning into a future utility infielder?

Recently-named top 100 prospect in MLB (according to Baseball America) Austin Hays was 1-3 in the game, also drawing a walk and driving in a run.

Myrtle Beach (Cubs) 9, Frederick Keys 5

Don’t get discouraged by the final score, because this game actually featured good pitching from a good Orioles pitching prospect. Lefty Keegan Akin took the loss, but he held the Pelicans to two runs on just two hits and a walk in six innings pitched. A pair of solo home runs were what did him in.

Akin struck out nine batters in the contest and now sports a 3.47 ERA on the season. He’s shaved more than a run and a half off of that ERA in the last month.

Shortstop Ryan Mountcastle was 1-3 in the game and drew two walks. That gives the 20-year-old a .307/.337/.539 batting line in 81 games for the Keys.

Delmarva Shorebirds 5, Hickory (Rangers) 3

All five Delmarva runs scored in the sixth inning, proving to be enough to get them the win. The most interesting position player on their roster remains Preston Palmeiro, mostly because he’s the son of Rafael. The younger Palmeiro was 1-3 with a walk on the night, both scoring and driving in one of the Shorebirds runs.

Starting pitcher Matthias Dietz held the Crawdads to three runs in five innings. In the process, he picked up his first win of the season. He was able to limit the damage despite giving up five hits and four walks, and his offense picked him up in the top of the sixth, after his last inning but while he was still the pitcher of record.

Aberdeen IronBirds 9, Tri-City (Astros) 8

This was a bit of a wild one, with the two teams each scoring six runs in the second inning of the game. Neither team’s starter finished that inning. Aberdeen had a whopping 22 chances with RISP in the game and picked up seven hits in those chances. That’s how you get nine runs.

Recently-drafted Ben Breazeale went 2-4 and drew a walk in the game and his batting average actually fell to .524. Another 2017 draftee, shortstop Mason McCoy, was 3-3, walked twice, and drove in a pair of runs for Aberdeen.

Complete box scores from Saturday’s games, including the adventures of the GCL and DSL Orioles teams, can be found here.

Sunday’s Scheduled Games

• Norfolk: at Columbus, 2:05. Starter: Jason Wheeler
• Bowie: vs. Richmond, 2:05. Starter: Jesus Liranzo
• Frederick: vs. Myrtle Beach, 6:00. Starter: Cristian Alvarado
• Delmarva: at Hickory, 5:00. Starter: Jhon Peluffo
• Aberdeen: vs. Tri-City, 5:35. Starter: TBD