Orioles prospects 8/20: Déjà vu in Bowie with another Hays home run

Toledo (Tigers) 2, Norfolk Tides 1

The final score may look like it was a boring game at Harbor Park, but the Mud Hens and Tides combined for 17 hits and another four walks to keep the base paths active all game long. Unfortunately, they also stranded 15 runners, hence the score.

With Alec Asher getting the call to Baltimore, the Tides pitched surprisingly well for a team without a starter. Jason Wheeler started the game and went three scoreless innings before Stefan Crichton took over in the fourth and surrendered the Mud Hens’ two runs in the fifth. Following Crichton’s two inning stint, Nuno, Verrett, Hart, and Matt Witherspoon all had scoreless outings in relief to keep the Tides in the game.

On offense, the Tides got a large part of their production from former Orioles. Joey Rickard led off and went 2-for-4 while Francisco Pena went 3-for-4. The other multi-hit performance went to third baseman Drew Dosch who went 2-for-4 to quietly bring his average up to .270 in his first season in AAA.

Bowie Baysox 6, Erie (Tigers) 5

I swear every Sunday that the Bowie recaps never seem to change. Once again, the Baysox got the win behind some solid, yet not spectacular pitching, a great day from on-base machine DJ Stewart, and a home run off the bat of Austin Hays. It all sounds familiar for the first-place Baysox.

David Hess took the bump for the Orioles’ Eastern League affiliate and surrendered two earned runs over six innings. He surrendered seven hits, but the SeaWolves were only able to get to him via two solo home runs.

The Baysox batters jumped on SeaWolves starter AJ Ladwig and tagged him with five earned runs through the game’s first four innings. Two of those went to DJ Stewart who got on base in all four of his plate appearances and finished the game 3-for-3 with a double, walk, and his 18th stolen base.

As part of his year-long quest to keep attention off of Stewart, Austin Hays led off the fourth inning with yet another home run. That makes 30 on the year for the Orioles’ second-ranked prospect between his 16 dingers in Frederick and now 14 in Bowie.

Carolina (Brewers) 3, Frederick Keys 1

Frederick’s bats couldn’t get much of anything going against Mudcats starter Cody Ponce who went seven strong innings allowing only three hits. Ponce got timely outs as he helped the Mudcats hold the Keys to 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

Keys starter Franderlin Romero surrendered all three of Carolina’s runs and took the loss, but only one of the runs was earned thanks to two throwing errors in the fourth inning. It was actually a pretty solid start for the 24-year-old who only allowed two hits and struck out four through four innings.

Lakewood (Phillies) 8, Delmarva Shorebirds 4 (F/7)

The Keys weren’t the only Orioles affiliate doomed by errors on Sunday. The Shorebirds committed two of their own to help score three unearned runs off of starter Matthias Dietz in Game 1 of their doubleheader.

Unlike Franderlin Romero, who had a solid start outside of the unearned runs, Dietz probably wants this one back. The young righty walked four through four and a third innings and surrendered five earned runs in addition to the aforementioned unearned runs.

The Shorebirds only had four hits, but made them all count with three doubles and a triple. Cole Billingsley, Preston Palmeiro, and Jake Ring had the doubles, while shortstop Alexis Torres added his first triple of the year.

Delmarva Shorebirds 6, Lakewood (Phillies) 5 (F/7)

After watching their lead slip away in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Shorebirds got a timely homer from Jake Ring in the top of the seventh to salvage the doubleheader split.

Shorebirds starter Max MacNabb made it through four innings of one run ball on only 59 pitches in his first start this season above the Gulf Coast League. If you’ve never heard of MacNabb, you’re not alone. After being drafted by the Padres in 2014, the Orioles actually signed MacNabb earlier this year out of a league in the Czech Republic. Because why spend your allotted funds on young, Caribbean talent when you can scout the hotbeds in central Europe?

After accounting for the only hits in Game 1 of the doubleheader, the group of Billingsley, Palmeiro, Ring, and Torres once again provided the spark for the offense in Game 2. They combined to go 7-for-15 with a double, two homers, and all six Delmarva RBI’s.

Hudson Valley (Rays) 7, Aberdeen IronBirds 0

Don’t let the beautiful town name fool you, it wasn’t pretty for the short-season squad up in Fishkill, NY. The IronBirds were outhit 10-to-3 and their closest thing to a victory may have been getting three more errors than the Renegades.

19-year-old Brenan Hanifee had maybe his roughest outing on the year despite striking out four and walking none. Last year’s fourth-round pick finished six innings, but surrendered five runs, four earned, on eight hits. Just another step in the process for the Orioles’ fifteenth-ranked prospect whose ERA still sits at an impressive 2.86.

Complete box scores from Sunday’s games can be found here.

Monday’s Scheduled Games

• Norfolk: vs. Charlotte, 7:05. Starter: Jayson Aquino
• Bowie: vs. Reading, 7:05. Starter: John Means
• Frederick: OFF
• Delmarva: at Lakewood, 7:05. Starter: Alex Wells
• Aberdeen: at Hudson Valley, 7:05. Starter: TBD