Orioles minors recap 6/24: Brenan Hanifee and the eight shutout innings

Louisville (Reds) 13, Norfolk Tides 12 - 10 innings

This was a wild one, and not a good one for the two starting pitchers. Norfolk’s Tim Melville gave up nine runs, eight earned, in just four innings, while Louisville’s Homer Bailey surrendered seven runs in six innings. The teams combined for 31 hits, with six of the nine Tides batters picking up multi-hit games.

That included the fourth homer of the year for Drew Dosch, who also doubled in a 2-4 night where he drove in four of the Tides runs. Chance Sisco was 2-5 at the plate, though both of the runners who tried to steal on him were successful. Checking in on the outfielders who could eventually get summoned to Baltimore, Cedric Mullins was 1-6 while DJ Stewart was 1-4 with a walk and a run batted in.

Alas, in the end, the Tides couldn’t bring home their extra innings bonus runner in the top of the tenth while Louisville did, and so the game was over. In the middle innings, Maryland’s own Ryan Meisinger made an appearance, striking out four of the six batters he faced over 1.2 scoreless innings. Since getting promoted to Norfolk, Meisinger has struck out 26 batters in 20 innings.

I would like to bring attention to the fact that the Louisville Bats played this game in these uniforms:

Bowie Baysox 9, Richmond (Braves) 4 - Game 1, 7 innings

You have to like it when the O’s affiliate racks up 16 hits and you have to like it even more when Ryan Mountcastle was 4-4 with a triple and two runs driven in. Freshly-promoted Ryan McKenna collected his first Double-A hits with a 2-4 game, scoring two of the nine Baysox runs.

Oh yeah, and they played two!

Richmond (Braves) 5, Bowie Baysox 1 - Game 2, 7 innings

Quite a day for Mountcastle, who added a 2-3 in this second game, including a double, coming a home run short of the doubleheader cycle as he went a combined 6-7. Not bad at all. The rest of the team combined for just four hits - and two of those were picked up by exiled ex-Rule 5 outfielder Anthony Santander, so really seven batters combined to get two hits. Very Oriole-like.

The knuckler Eddie Gamboa is back with the O’s organization, which I just became aware of when I saw his name in this box score. He wasn’t the problem for the Baysox, mostly scattering seven hits and allowing just one run while striking out five batters. Things didn’t go quite so well after he was out of the game. Well, you can’t win them all.

Salem (Red Sox) 7, Frederick Keys 6

The two teams carried a 2-2 tie into the eighth inning and then things got crazy. The Keys scored two runs in the top of the eighth and ninth but gave up three runs in the eighth and two in the ninth to lose in a walkoff. Oops.

Michael Baumann, the Keys starter, was good when he was in the game, holding Salem to two runs on six hits and three walks with five strikeouts in six innings pitched. Things did not go so well after him.

Every Keys starting position player collected a hit in the contest. That included a multi-hit game by designated hitter Randolph Gassaway, who’s now batting .292/.406/.401 on the season.

Delmarva Shorebirds 4, Kannapolis (White Sox) 0

The Shorebirds shut out an opponent for the eighth time so far this season, led by eight shutout innings pitched by Brenan Hanifee. When the starting pitcher scatters three hits in eight innings, doesn’t allow a walk, and strikes out four, that’s a good way to win a game. Hanifee now has a 2.61 ERA on the season.

At the plate, Delmarva made the most of their nine hits, going 4-10 in runners with scoring position situations. NASCAR scion Zach Jarrett had a multi-hit game, as did third baseman Trevor Craport, who drive in two of the four Shorebirds runs. Jarrett is now batting .307/.369/.498 on the season, and McKenna just got promoted from Frederick to Bowie, so there’s a spot to fill in center field one level higher. Maybe Jarrett will get a shot there soon.

Staten Island (Yankees) 4, Aberdeen IronBirds 2

The IronBirds committed four errors in the game, although none led to any unearned runs crossing. Short-season is far away from MLB. Always remember this.

Aberdeen’s starter was Gray Fenter, who has gone backwards from Delmarva, where he began the year. Fenter struck out eight batters in 4.1 innings, though he also walked four and allowed two hits, giving up two runs in the process.

Not too much of interest at the plate for Aberdeen, although the team did outhit the opposition, 8-6, and three players had multi-hit games. That included Chinese product Guiyuan Xu, 2-3 with a run batted in. Canadian shortstop Adam Hall, last year’s second round pick, took an 0-3.

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

Sunday’s Scheduled Games

• Norfolk: at Louisville, 6:00. Starter: TBD
• Bowie: at Richmond, 1:05. Starter: A different TBD
• Frederick: at Salem, 4:05. Starter: Alex Wells
• Delmarva: vs. Hagerstown, 5:05. Starter: Matthias Dietz
• Aberdeen: vs. Vermont, 4:05. Starter: Still another TBD