Orioles minors recap 6/6: Britton, O’Day make rehab appearances

Columbus Clippers (Indians) 7, Norfolk Tides 4

All eyes were on Orioles closer Zach Britton as he made his first rehab appearance in Norfolk (after one game apiece in Frederick and Bowie). He did not disappoint. Britton threw 10 of his 14 pitches for strikes and induced a pair of grounders and a strikeout, though he also hit a batter. In his three rehab games across the minors, Britton has tossed three scoreless innings and allowed just two baserunners, getting all nine of his outs via groundout or strikeout. That’s the Zach Britton we remember.

His efforts didn’t help the Tides win this game, though. Starter Tim Melville gave up five runs (four earned) in 4.2 innings. He’s allowed at least four runs in three of his last four starts, after doing it just once in his first seven. At the plate, Renato Nunez went 3-for-5 with a double while Caleb Joseph had two hits and two RBIs. Recently promoted center fielder Cedric Mullins went 1-for-4 with a walk atop the lineup.

Bowie Baysox 7, Portland Sea Dogs (Red Sox) 1

The Baysox used a well-balanced offensive attack in this one, as eight of nine batters in the starting lineup had at least one hit. Anthony Santander powered a solo homer, while Ryan Mountcastle went 2-for-4 and scored two runs.

Starter Jayson Aquino twirled a fine outing, holding the Sea Dogs to an unearned run in six innings, and Luis Gonzalez followed with three scoreless, hitless innings of relief to lower his ERA to 2.28. Gonzalez is making a case for himself as an intriguing relief option for the Orioles in the near future.

Potomac Nationals 15, Frederick Keys 0

Uh...yikes. This game did not go Frederick’s way, to say the least. Both the offense and pitching were horrible, as the Keys were shut out for the seventh time this year while giving up 15 runs for the second time.

Rehabbing Orioles Darren O’Day and Colby Rasmus did nothing to stop the bleeding. In fact, they contributed to the misery. O’Day, working his way back from a hyperextended right elbow, walked the bases loaded (with a couple of groundouts sandwiched in between). He was replaced by Matt Trowbridge, who promptly coughed up a grand slam to charge three runs to O’Day.

Meanwhile, Rasmus (left hip flexor strain) went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. Is anyone clamoring for him to rejoin the Orioles? The Nationals used a rehabbing big leaguer of their own in this game, Adam Eaton, who swatted a home run and drove in three. Ryan McKenna, the Orioles Minor League Player of the Month for May, was 0-for-4.

Greensboro Grasshoppers (Marlins) 5, Delmarva Shorebirds 3

The Shorebirds announced before the game that three hitters — Trevor Craport, Seamus Curran, and Zach Jarrett — were all selected for the South Atlantic League All-Star Game. Congrats to those guys!

Curran celebrated in style, crushing a solo homer. Craport drew two walks, while Jarrett was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. Their team wound up on the losing end, though, as starter Jhon Peluffo gave up four runs in five innings. He’s given up nine runs in eight innings in his two starts for Delmarva. In better news, struggling 2015 seventh-rounder Gray Fenter worked a perfect inning with two strikeouts.

Complete box scores for Tuesday’s games can be found here.

Today’s scheduled games:

• Norfolk at Columbus, 7:05 PM. Starter: John Means (1-1, 5.79)
• Bowie at Portland, 7:00 PM. Starter: Lucas Long (1-5, 4.61)
• Frederick at Potomac, 7:05 PM. Starter: Alex Wells (3-3, 3.69)
• Delmarva vs. Greensboro, 7:05 PM. Starter: Cameron Bishop (4-3, 3.50)