Orioles minors recap 6/17: Ryan McKenna remains awesome

Norfolk Tides 4, Charlotte (White Sox) 3

The Tides led 2-1 before the eighth inning, trailed 3-2 after the top of the eighth inning, and led 4-3 after the eighth inning. DJ Stewart tied the game with a double and Renato Nunez singled to drive in the go-ahead run. Nunez also homered earlier in the game, as did third baseman Steve Wilkerson, who was 2-3 with a walk and two runs scored.

Wilkerson has only played in 15 games since returning from his 50-game PED suspension. They have gone well so far, though, with a .281/.359/.509 batting line. Not that anybody asked me, but I would rather see what he can do than Jace Peterson.

The Tides called on Matt Wotherspoon to start the game who limited the Knights to a run on two hits and two walks in five innings, striking out five batters.

Portland (Red Sox) 4, Bowie Baysox 0

Although the Baysox picked up seven hits, none went for extra bases and they were just 0-6 with RISP in the game. Rehabbing big leaguer Tim Beckham was 1-4, as was prospect Ryan Mountcastle.

After Jayson Aquino gave up four runs, three earned in five innings, reliever Reid Love pitched three scoreless innings and Maryland’s own Branden Kline added a scoreless inning as well. Love has worked eight games in relief and has a 1.17 ERA. Kline lowered his ERA to 2.12.

Frederick Keys 9, Down East (Rangers) 5

The Keys scored three runs in the first inning, but they needed a six run sixth inning to ultimately come back and win. Rehabbing big leaguer Colby Rasmus led the way with three hits and two runs driven in, with Ryan McKenna and Preston Palmeiro, son of Rafael, also being among the Keys with multi-hit games.

McKenna is now sporting this batting line across 67 games: .377/.467/.556. I wonder if he has a promotion in his future once the minor league All-Star games have been played.

Starting pitcher Alex Wells was lifted after four innings and 68 pitches thrown. He gave up just two hits but allowed seven hits and two walks. Wells has a respectable 3.57 ERA, but it’s fair to say he’s found High-A more challenging than Low-A. Hopefully he can improve on his performance before the season draws to a close.

West Virginia (Pirates) 10, Delmarva Shorebirds 8

It was an explosion of offense in the Appalachian Mountains as the two teams combined for 18 runs and 27 hits. Unfortunately, the Shorebirds were on the wrong end of it. They committed three errors, but none of these led to unearned runs.

NASCAR scion Zach Jarrett fueled a good bit of the Delmarva offense, going 4-5 in the game with two runs scored and a run batted in. Jarrett, 23, is batting .314/.378/.510 in 63 games with the Shorebirds. Maybe when McKenna gets a bump to Bowie, that will open a place in Frederick’s outfield for Jarrett.

Hudson Valley (Rays) 3, Aberdeen IronBirds 1

I have done this for several years now and it seems like nobody ever scores much at Aberdeen to start of the season. This was just the second game of the New York-Penn League schedule for the IronBirds

Two of Aberdeen’s five hits were collected by 2018 fifth round pick Robert Neustrom, the outfielder from the University of Iowa. That’s good for him and less good for the rest of the team that was held to just three hits. Starting pitcher Hector Guance gave up two runs, one earned, in four innings of work, with four hits and two walks allowed.

Complete box scores from Saturday’s games, including the adventures of the DSL Orioles, can be found here.

Sunday’s Scheduled Games

• Norfolk: vs. Charlotte, 1:05. Starter: John “The Ends Justify The” Means
• Bowie: vs. Portland, 1:35. Starter: TBD
• Frederick: vs. Down East, 2:00. Starter: Michael Baumann
• Delmarva: at West Virginia, 2:05. Starter: Brenan Hanifee
• Aberdeen: vs. Hudson Valley, 4:05. Starter: A different TBD