Orioles prospects 8/23: Baumann stays hot while Sedlock continues to struggle

Bowie Baysox 7, Reading Fightin’ Phils 3

Tanner Scott made one of his typical three-inning starts yesterday, and it wasn’t his best. Scott allowed two runs on five hits, although he didn’t walk anyone, which is a bit of a rarity given Scott’s BB/9 north of six. He’s still having a great year, with a 2.39 ERA and 78 strikeouts in 64 innings.

Scott got plenty of help from his offense, who carried a 4-3 lead into the sixth and then blew it open with three late runs. Steve Wilkerson hit a two-run homer in the fifth, and Austin Hays hit a two-run bomb in the eighth.

Wilkerson was 3-5 on the day, while D.J. Stewart, Garabez Rosa and Adrian Marin each had two hits. Rosa’s run-scoring triple in the fifth gave him 86 RBI and 151 hits on the season, both of which lead the Eastern League.

Jesus Liranzo relieved Scott and pitched three innings, allowing one run and striking out four. The bullpen shut it down after that, and Paul Fry picked up a near-perfect two-inning save.

Frederick Keys 5, Wilmington Blue Rocks 4

Cody Sedlock’s tough season continued with a five-inning, four-run outing, and his ERA is now up to 5.90. All four runs scored on a pair of two run homers, but Sedlock was ineffective for most of the game; he allowed seven hits and two walks while striking out just three.

Frederick trailed 4-3 when Sedlock left the game, but an RBI double from Chris Clare and a run-scoring single from Jay Gonzalez put the Keys up for good in the sixth. The bullpen was almost perfect the rest of the way: Jay Flaa and Jefri Hernandez combined for four no-hit innings.

Glynn Davis was 2-4 with two doubles, and Jomar Reyes was 3-4 with a double. Catcher Armando Araiza was 2-4 with a double and two runs scored.

Hickory Crawdads 9, Delmarva Shorebirds 8

The Shorebirds jumped out to a 4-2 lead with a big four-run second inning, but Lucas Humpal gave it right back with a four-run top of the sixth. Humpal ended up going five innings, allowing six runs on nine hits.

After the Delmarva bullpen gave up a few more runs, the Shorebirds found themselves down 9-5 in the eighth. They battled back, with a solo shot by Milton Ramos in the eighth and a two-run homer by Ryan McKenna in the ninth, but came up a run short.

McKenna and Cole Billingsley had three hits apiece in the game, and McKenna drove in four of Delmarva’s runs. Collin Woody was 2-5 with two doubles, and Milton Ramos was 2-4 with an RBI double to go along with his solo homer.

Aberdeen IronBirds 4, Staten Island Yankees 3

Michael Baumann, this year’s third-round pick out of Jacksonville University, pitched a very solid five innings and picked up the win. Baumann allowed a two-run homer in the third, and gave up only one other hit in the game.

Baumann has had a terrific start to his pro career, with a 1.34 ERA and 32 strikeouts in 33.2 innings. Considering Austin Hays went there too, the O’s might want to consider drafting more guys out of Jacksonville.

As good as Baumann was, Nick Vespi was better. Vespi pitched the rest of the game and struck out eight over four innings while giving up just two hits. Vespi’s ERA so far is a pedestrian 4.46, but that’s masking some really good peripherals: 56 strikeouts and 15 walks over 40.1 innings.

Shortstop Mason McCoy, who was the DH in this game, was 2-5 with an RBI. The sixth-round pick out of Iowa is hitting .307/.405/.450 so far this year. T.J. Nichting was also 2-5 with an RBI, and Luke Ringhofer was 2-2 with two walks.

Today’s matchups and probable starters

Charlotte @ Norfolk, doubleheader at 12:05 PM (Gabriel Ynoa & Mike Wright)

Bowie @ Altoona, 6:00 PM (Lucas Long)

Wilmington @ Frederick, 7:00 PM (Reid Love)

Hickory @ Delmarva, 7:05 PM (Travis Seabrooke)

Staten Island @ Aberdeen, 7:05 PM (TBD)