Orioles minor league recap 6/14: Zac Lowther continues to dominate

Gwinnett Stripers (Braves) 10, Norfolk Tides 2

This was not the best outing for Asher Wojciechowski. The starter coughed up six runs on eight hits, a walk and four strikeouts over 5.2 innings. One of the newest Orioles farm hands, D.J. Snelton, did not fare much better out of the ‘pen. Over an inning of work, he allowed four runs, but only one was allowed on account of a Renato Nunez error and a wild pitch. On the positive side, Matt Wotherspoon didn’t allow any runs over 2.1 innings.

Norfolk’s lineup was just 4-for-29 with 11 strikeouts. Cedric Mullins went 1-for-4 with a double. Garabez Rosa, Mike Yastrzemski and Adrian Marin had a hit each. Everyone else took the collar.

Game 1: Trenton Thunder 4, Bowie Baysox 3

Corban Joseph had a heck of an afternoon at the plate. The second baseman went 3-for-3 with a two-run homer, an RBI single and a walk. Other than that, the hits were spread evenly up and down the Bowie lineup. Anthony Santander and Ryan Mountcastle both had a hit apiece.

Lefty Brian Gonzalez started for the Baysox, tossed 4.1 innings and gave up three runs on six hits, two walks and four strikeouts. Branden Kline allowed one run over the final 2.2 innings.

Game 2: Baysox 10, Thunder 1

An offensive outburst allowed the Baysox to earn a double-header split. The bat barrage was lead by Martin Cervenka, who went 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBI. Santander and Mountcastle both had two hits as well, and Aderlin Rodriguez scooped up 4 RBI with a bases loaded double and a sac fly.

It was a group effort on the pitching side of things. Matthew Grimes started and threw 3.2 scoreless innings to open things up. Reid Love followed with 1.2 innings of one-run work. Tanner Chleborad closed out the win with 1.2 perfect frames.

Game 1: Frederick Keys 3, Lynchburg Hillcats (Indians) 0

Guys, I don’t know how to say this, so I’ll just come out with it. Ryan McKenna had a bad game. The .375 hitter went 0-for-2 with a strikeout. He was not the only Key to have a tough day at the plate. As a group, Frederick had just two hits in 19 at-bats, walked once and struck out seven times. Despite that, they scored three runs and won anyway.

Colby Rasmus scored Frederick’s first run on a wild pitch in the fourth inning. In the fifth, T.J. Nichting drove in Collin Woody with a double for their second run, and Rasmus capped off the scoring with a sac fly to bring Nichting home later on.

Zac Lowther delivered yet another supreme performance. The southpaw had 5.1 scoreless innings, no walks, seven hits and five strikeouts. Zach Muckenhirn recorded his fourth save of the year with 1.2 clean innings to wrap up the win.

Game 2: Keys 3, Hillcats 0

McKenna’s bad day continued into game two. He took an 0-for-3 in this one, but he did walk once and scored a run. Nichting and Preston Palmeiro had an RBI each and Jomar Reyes led the offense with two hits.

Southpaws Travis Seabrooke and Matt Towbridge combined for a four-hit shutout. Seabrooke tossed four innings, walked one and struck out four. Trowbridge hurled three frames and also struck out four.

Delmarva Shorebirds --, Kannapolis Intimdators (White Sox) —

POSTPONED/Inclement weather

Box scores for all of the O’s minor league teams

Thursday’s games

• Tides vs Charlotte (White Sox), 7:05 p.m. Starter: RHP Jimmy Yacabonis (3-1, 2.68 ERA)
• Baysox vs Trenton, 6:35 p.m. Starter RHP Christian Binford (1-1, 3.52 ERA)
• Keys vs Down East, 7 p.m. Starter: RHP Cristian Alvarado (5-5, 4.15 ERA)
• (1)Shorebirds at Kannapolis, 4:35 p.m. LHP Cameron Bishop (5-3, 3.60 ERA)
• (2)Shorebirds at Kannapolis, following game 1, RHP Matthias Dietz (5-1, 3.02 ERA)