Orioles minor league recap 7/23: Top prospects shine and the Tides roll

Norfolk Tides 9, Rochester (Twins) 5

The Tides are hot and the beer is cold! Yesterday’s win finished off a five-game sweep of the Red Wings and Norfolk has now won a season-high six games in a row. They are in first place in the International League Wild Card race.

Pedro Alvarez and Jaycob Brugman each homered to pace the tides. Cedric Mullins added three hits, including a triple, to raise his batting average to .286. DJ Stewart went 0-3 to leave his average at .242. He did collect a walk and his on-base percentage is a healthy .349.

Jimmy Yacabonis started for Norfolk, but didn’t qualify for a win after allowing one earned runs in only 4.1 innings. He was the first Tides starter in this series to allow a run. Sean Gilmartin collected his first win for Norfolk in relief. Ryan Meisinger pitched a scoreless inning to lower his AAA ERA to 2.16.

Eastern League Game 1: Bowie Baysox 7, Erie (Tigers) 1 in 7 innings

Dean Kremer, acquired in the Manny Machado trade, made his Orioles organization debut and was outstanding. He allowed one earned run over six innings, giving up four hits and striking out six.

Bowie’s stars had a difficult time in game one of this doubleheader. Yusniel Diaz and Ryan Mountcastle went a combined 0-6. Ryan McKenna went 1-4 and scored a run and Rylan Bannon went 1-2 with a walk. The damage was done by Aderlin Rodriguez, Martin Cervenka, and Anderson Feliz, who each homered and combined for all of Bowie’s RBI.

Eastern League Game 2: Bowie Baysox 4, Erie (Tigers) 3 in 7 innings

A parade of Bowie bullpen arms pitched yesterday’s second game and performed well. Matthew Grimes started and went four innings allowing only one run. Tanner Chleborad picked up the win to improve to 6-0. Branden Kline secured his ninth save with a scoreless seventh. His ERA is down to 1.87 as his impressive season continues.

Ryan Mountcastle broke a 3-3 tie in the sixth inning with his eleventh home run. Rylan Bannon hit his first home run as a Baysox and Corban Joseph also took part in the home run derby. Ryan McKenna went 1-3 and Yusniel Diaz went hitless in two at bats, but did walk and score.

Wilmington (Royals) 8, Frederick Keys 1 in 7 innings

Matthias Dietz was having a nice season for Delmarva, which prompted his promotion to Frederick a month ago. He hasn’t fared well at the next level. Dietz failed to get out of the first inning, allowing three earned runs while recording two outs. Frederick’s bullpen couldn’t put out the fire and the Keys trailed 6-0 before picking up the bats.

Offensively, the only run came from a Chris Claire solo home run. Randolph Gassaway doubled and is now batting .301. The Keys collected only five hits as a club.

This game was supposed to be the first of a doubleheader, but Nymeo Field proved to wet to play the second game.

South Atlantic League Game 1: Delmarva Shorebirds 4, Greensboro (Marlins) 3 in 7 innings

The Shorebirds entered the bottom of the seventh inning trailing 3-1. With two on, Cadyn Grenier reached on an error that allowed the tying runs to score. Zach Jarrett then singled to score Grenier and win the game in walk off fashion. Grenier collected two hits and an RBI in addition to his game-winning run scored. Branden Becker also added an RBI for Delmarva.

Brenan Hanifee started for the Shorebirds and allowed three earned runs for the second consecutive outing. He struck out five but allowed four hits and two walks. Timothy Naughton pitched two scoreless innings and picked up the win.

South Atlantic League Game 2: Greensboro (Marlins) 1, Delmarva Shorebirds 0 in 9 innings

What a pitchers duel game two was. Delmarva’s Luis Perez took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning in what was a very impressive outing. He pitched seven shutout innings, allowed two hits, and struck out six. That left his ERA at an impressive 1.13. Ryan Wilson allowed the losing run in extra innings of what should have been a seven inning game.

Delmarva managed only four hits and had minimal scoring opportunities. They did leave the tying run at third base in the bottom of the ninth (thanks to the inning starting with a runner on second) but couldn’t deliver the big hit. Mason McCoy had two of the Shorebirds’ four hits.

Aberdeen IronBirds 0, Connecticut 0, suspended in the third inning

Rain in Aberdeen caused yesterday’s game to be suspended. The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader on August 29. Before the weather moved in, Gray Fenter pitched three scoreless inning and allowed only one hit. Aberdeen did not collect a hit in two frames.

All box scores from these games can be found here.

Monday’s scheduled games:

Bowie vs. Binghamton, 7:05. Starter: Luis Ysla

Frederick vs. Wilmington Game 1, 12:00. Starter: Lucas Humpal

Frederick vs. Wilmington Game 2. Starter: Zac Lowther

Delmarva at Hagerstown, 7:05. Starter: DL Hall