Buffalo (Blue Jays) 8, Norfolk Tides 6 - 11 innings
This was the 13th game of the year for the Tides and just the 7th game for the Bison. The flood of weather postponements has been visiting the minor leagues unequally too.
Norfolk trailed 4-2 entering the bottom of the ninth inning until Joey Rickard delivered a two-run double to tie things up, sending the game into extras. The teams traded runs in the tenth before Buffalo broke the game open to win it in the eleventh. The game had been scoreless until the top of the eighth, when Donnie Hart gave up three runs. That’s not the path back to the big leagues, Donnie.
Surprising to me is that the Jimmy Yacabonis starting pitching experiment had a successful day, with Yacabonis pitching five scoreless innings in which he scattered two hits and a walk while striking out three batters. A few more outings like that and I may stop looking on this endeavor with such skepticism.
Bowie Baysox 4, Akron (Indians) 3 - 12 innings
How did it take 12 innings under the new minor league rules? Crazy. Bowie dang sure better have won, since they out-hit the Rubber Ducks, 14-5. It was catcher Martin Cervenka who delivered the walkoff in the bottom of the 12th, driving in the automatic runner with a single to finally end the game.
Right fielder Ademar Rifaela was 3-4 for Bowie, and Austin Hays had a 2-6 game. Reliever Jay Flaa turned in two scoreless innings even with a man starting on second base to get the win. Flaa struck out six of the seven batters he faced. Good work!
Things probably took so long because the Baysox were just 3-20 with RISP and they left 17 men on base. Yikes. Well, at least they had all those men on base to strand them? That’s better than we can say about the Orioles from Saturday.
Awesome name alert: Sicnarf Loopstok pinch ran for Akron.
Wilmington (Royals) 12, Frederick Keys 10
You can probably guess that a game that featured 26 total hits and 22 runs was a wild one, and sure enough, this was. The Keys were unable to hold an 8-3 lead, in part because their pitchers combined to walk nine batters.
Although Frederick out-hit the Blue Rocks 17-9, and hit three home runs, they still lost. On the plus side, leadoff man Ryan McKenna was 3-4 with a pair of doubles and a home run, and he also drew a walk. This gives McKenna a .353/.405/.485 batting line through his first 13 games with the Keys. He’s just 21, so if he keeps playing well, it’s worth keeping an eye on the center fielder.
Jomar Reyes had a 3-5 day, with Preston Palmeiro, son of Rafael, delivering a 2-5 effort that included his second home run of the season.
Delmarva Shorebirds 5, Lakewood (Phillies) 4 - 10 innings
Both teams scored their man from second base in the 10th inning, but the Shorebirds went on to have a rally beyond that, with first baseman Seamus Curran delivering the walkoff. Curran, 20, had a 3-5 game and is batting .320 through his first 12 games. Not bad.
Starting pitcher Brenan Hanifee continued the early dominance by the Shorebirds starting rotation, with a seven inning start that saw him give up three runs on four hits and two walks while striking out eight. That’s a nice outing for the 19-year-old righty. The Shorebirds are now 12-4 to start their season.
Complete box scores from Saturday’s action can be found here.
Sunday’s Scheduled Games
- Norfolk: vs. Buffalo, 1:05. Starter: David Hess
- Bowie: vs. Akron, 1:35. Starter: John “The Ends Justify The” Means
- Frederick: vs. Wilmington, 2:00. Starter: Ofelky Peralta
- Delmarva: vs. Lakewood, 2:05. Starter: Zac Lowther