Orioles prospects 8/22: A night full of highlights

All five O’s main minor league teams were at home Tuesday night, as was the big club. Across the Mid-Atlantic region, lots to take in for fans of the orange and black. And as far as trends, pitching for the home teams was a struggle most everywhere.

Charlotte Knights (White Sox) 8, Norfolk Tides 7

Tuesday was “Baseball Card Giveaway Night” in Norfolk for fans 17 and under. While fans enjoyed the cards, a more fitting name would have been “Run Giveaway Night.”

Former Oriole Steve Johnson started for Charlotte and was bombed with a final line that included four innings pitched, eight hits, five runs and two homeruns allowed. Johnson was opposed by Tyler Wilson, who also did not see things go well, and he exited with similar stats of 4.1 innings pitched, seven hits, six runs, but no home runs allowed.

After three innings, Norfolk led 5-1. After five innings, Charlotte led 7-5. At the end of the game, Charlotte won 8-7. If bad pitching gets you going, this was the game to attend. Charlotte had 11 hits and Norfolk 13. Chris Dickerson and Chance Sisco homered for the Tides.

With a couple of exceptions (and those exceptions will be up to Baltimore eventually), the Tides lineup looked like something the O’s have used in Charm City before – Joey Rickard, Chris Johnson, Chris Dickerson, Pedro Alvarez, JJ Hardy, Chance Sisco, Ruben Tejada, Luis Sardinas and Mike Yaztrzemski.

Big-time Charlotte prospect, and former Washington National, Lucas Giolito was promoted to the White Sox on Tuesday. Experts are quite impressed with what the ChiSox have done to rebuild their farm system over the last 13 months. Jeff Passan, Yahoo Sports, thinks it’s #1 in MLB. It would be a good time to catch games Knights in Charlotte, North Carolina, or when they are in Norfolk.

3,890 were at Harbor Park.

Reading Fightin Phils (Phillies) 12, Bowie Baysox 9 (10 innings)

The Fightins jumped on Bowie fast with five runs in the first three innings. Yefry Ramirez pitched two innings and gave up five runs. Jordan Kipper followed to the mound and gave up two runs, on seven hits, in four innings pitched. Down 8-2 in the eighth inning, the Baysox roared back with six runs in two innings to tie the game. Unfortunately, Bowie gave up four runs in the top of the 10^th for the 12-9 loss.

DJ Stewart was 2-5 with two homeruns. Cedric Mullins was also 2-5, with a long ball. Scott McGough (1-3) – an Oregon Duck for college – took the loss giving up five hits and four runs in 1.2 innings pitched.

Lego’s “Play Ball Tour” continues tomorrow at Prince George’s Stadium.

Wilmington Blue Rocks (Royals) 8, Frederick Keys 3

Last night was “Guaranteed Win Tuesday” for the Frederick Keys. If the Keys lost the game, fans were promised a free general admission ticket to a future game. The result of an 8-3 Blue Rocks victory was free tickets all around! For Frederick, the “guaranteed win” did not work out like it did for Joe Namath against the Baltimore Colts years ago.

The trend of bad pitching on Tuesday continued as Matthew Grimes pitched four innings, but was charged with seven hits, six runs and three home runs allowed. Grimes did strikeout six and only walk one. Wilmington had 14 hits, while Frederick was held to five. Jomar Reyes homered for Frederick. Chris Clare, shortstop, was the only member of the Keys with more than one hit.

3.059 fans entered Nymeo Field.

Hickory Crawdads (Rangers) 0, Delmarva Shorebirds 1 (14 innings)

Delmarva, in 14 innings, walked off a victory over Hickory. Daniel Fajardo (2-6 on the night) singled scoring Frank Crinella to secure the win. Preston Palmeiro was 1-6 and Ryan McKenna 0-6. The Shorebirds had nine total hits, the Crawdads five.

Hunter Harvey started, pitched three scoreless innings, and struck out four Crawdads. Cory Dube, Tyler Erwin, Zach Matson and Kory Groves also pitched as part of the shutout. Hickory left six runners on base and Delmarva 13.

Speaking of the Shorebirds, look for an interview with Lucas Humpal on Camden Chat this week. Humpal, a 9^th round pick in 2016 from Texas State, is quietly having a good year as a starter, going 7-10 with a 3.92 ERA.

Staten Island Yankees (Yankees) 3, Aberdeen IronBirds 1

The Yankees topped the IronBirds Tuesday and each team had six hits. Every IronBird was held in check, except for Garrett Copeland who was 2-3 with an RBI. Zach Muchenhirn (0-1) took the loss out of the bullpen with a line of four innings pitched, four hits and two earned runs. He also struck out five and walked only one.

Complete box scores from Tuesday’s games throughout Birdland, including the GCL and DSL match-ups (and they both were victorious), can be found here.

Today’s Scheduled Games

· Norfolk: vs. Charlotte, 7:05pm. Starter: Mike Wright

· Bowie: vs. Reading, 7:05pm. Starter: Tanner Scott

· Frederick: vs. Wilmington, 7:00pm. Starter: Cody Sedlock (Here is a link to Joe Wedra’s great Camden Chat piece from a few days ago interviewing Sedlock.)

· Delmarva: vs. Hickory, 7:05pm. Starter: TBD

· Aberdeen: vs. Staten Island, 7:05pm. Starter: TBD