O’s prospects 8/29: Another scoreless outing for Harvey

Norfolk and Aberdeen were both rained out last night, so it was an abbreviated slate for the O’s affiliates. On to the recaps:

Bowie Baysox 8, Trenton Thunder 3

Lucas Long has handled his transition to the rotation well, but something was off for him tonight in his thirteenth start of the season. Long allowed just two runs over five innings, but he walked six batters, which is uncharacteristic for him considering he came into the game with 25 walks in 117+ innings.

The score was knotted up at two when Long left thanks to a two-run bomb from Ryan Mountcastle. After a brutal start to his double-A career, Mountcastle is picking up the pace of late - he’s got a six-game hitting streak and is hitting .316 over the past ten games.

The Baysox blew the game open in the sixth. D.J. Stewart led off with a double, Garabez Rosa followed him with a double, and Aderlin Rodriguez walked, bringing Mountcastle to the plate. He doubled, driving in two, and Steve Wilkerson knocked in two more with a single.

In the seventh, Rosa drove in his Eastern League-leading 87th run with his league-leading 157th hit. The teams traded runs after that and Tim Berry was able to close out the easy 8-3 win.

Frederick Keys 6, Salem Red Sox 5

Reid Love had a nice start going in this one until he served up a two-run homer in the fifth; his final line was three runs allowed on seven hits over five innings, with seven K’s and one walk.

The game was tied 3-3 when Love exited. Shane Hoelscher got the Keys on the board with an RBI double in the second, and Glynn Davis smacked a two-run double in the fifth.

The score stayed that way until the bottom of the seventh, when Ademar Rifaela hit a two-run, go-ahead homer. The lead didn’t last long, as Jefri Hernandez gave up two runs in the eighth, but the Keys took it right back for good in the bottom of the inning without recording a hit, on two walks and two wild pitches.

Brallan Perez was 3-4 with two runs scored, and Jomar Reyes was 2-4 with two runs scored. Reyes is now hitting .297, although his weird power outage this year continued last night with both hits being singles.

Delmarva Shorebirds 6, Hagerstown Suns 1

Hunter Harvey made his second abbreviated start since being promoted to Delmarva, and stop me if you’ve heard this one before: he didn’t give up any runs. Harvey went 2.2 innings this time, striking out five while allowing just one hit and one walk.

Harvey has now made seven “starts” and pitched 15.2 innings between Aberdeen and Delmarva. He’s given up eight hits and five walks, and he’s struck out 25 hitters. He’s still yet to allow a run.

Cody Dube pitched 3+ innings of scoreless relief after Harvey, and neither team was able to get on the board until the seventh. Gerrion Grim hit a solo homer in the top of that inning, but Hagerstown was able to tie it in the bottom half of the frame.

In the top of the ninth, the Shorebirds blew the game open. They sent ten batters to the plate in a five-run inning, highlighted by a two-run double from Alejandro Juvier and a two-run single from Ryan McKenna.

The Shorebirds managed only six hits, but they made them count. Grim was the only Shorebird with multiple hits, going 2-3 with a walk.

Today’s matchups and probable starters

Gwinnett @ Norfolk, doubleheader @ 5:05 PM (Alec Asher, Gabriel Ynoa)

Trenton @ Bowie, 7:05 PM (David Hess)

Salem @ Frederick, 7:00 PM (Cristian Alvarado)

Delmarva @ Hagerstown, 7:05 PM (Lucas Humpal)

Connecticut @ Aberdeen, doubleheader @ 5:35 PM (TBD x2)