Orioles minors recap 7/8: This close to a clean sweep

Norfolk Tides 5, Durham (Rays) 0

This space is the daily Cedric Mullins highlight reel. He did not disappoint on Saturday either, going 2-4 with a walk and a stolen base. Cedric Mullins! I hope whatever trades the Orioles make in July are able to make some room for him to get a real audition by year’s end. He is now batting .283/.353/.486 through 34 Norfolk games.

The rest of the team wasn’t too shabby either as they pitched a shutout. Starting pitcher John “The Ends Justify The” Means carried the heaviest load, scattering five hits and a walk over seven innings with nine strikeouts. In ten starts since being promoted to Norfolk, Means has a 3.23 ERA, with 57 strikeouts and just seven walks in 55.2 innings. Not a bad way for the lefty to try to work his way into the big league picture.

Bowie Baysox 3, Harrisburg (Walgreens) 2 - 10 innings

The Baysox scored two runs in the seventh inning to tie this game up and then won it in the bottom of the tenth when they scored their extra baserunner. That’s a good way to pick up a win when you only got six hits in the game. Ryan McKenna was 1-3 with a triple and was also hit by a pitch in this game.

A quartet of Baysox pitchers held the Senators to two runs in ten innings, beginning with Reid Love holding them to a run in four innings. This was Love’s first start of the year, so nice work for him when pressed into that duty.

For Harrisburg, rehabbing big leaguer and former Oriole Matt Wieters was 1-4 and was unsuccessful in throwing out one base-stealer.

Frederick Keys 4, Carolina (Brewers) 1

The bottom of the Keys lineup did the damage in this one, with Jake Ring’s third home run of the season delivering two runs. Catcher Daniel Fajardo had three hits and added an RBI as well. It’s almost like the Keys were playing against the Orioles in this regard, but no, they were playing the Brewers High-A affiliate, the Mudcats.

Starting pitcher Cristian Alvarado had one of his better games of the season, with seven strong innings in which he mostly scattered five hits, with just a run allowed. Alvarado didn’t walk a batter and struck out five. Keys closer Tyler Erwin struck out one batter in a scoreless ninth. The 2016 23rd round pick now has a 1.79 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP in 29 games for the Keys this season.

Delmarva Shorebirds 6, Hickory (Rangers) 3

The Shorebirds scored all six runs in the seventh inning. They had more walks than hits in the game. Eight walks is a lot of walks! Ryan Ripken, nephew of Billy, dealt the biggest blow to the Crawdads by blasting a three-run home run, his fourth of the year. NASCAR scion Zach Jarrett was 1-2 with a pair of walks.

Two Camerons, Bishop and Ming, combined to pitch the full game for Delmarva. Bishop, last year’s 26th round pick, gave up three runs, two earned, on seven hits and a walk in 6.2 innings. Bishop struck out eight batters and now has a 2.95 ERA on the season, with 73 strikeouts and just 17 walks in 91.2 innings pitched. Ming struck out four batters in 2.1 scoreless innings, vulturing a win with the Shorebirds seventh inning rally.

Tri-City (Astros) 5, Aberdeen IronBirds 4

The Orioles were THIS close to a clean sweep from their affiliates on Saturday, after Aberdeen rallied with three runs in the eighth inning to take a 4-3 lead. Unfortunately, things turned disastrous in the bottom of the ninth and they blew that lead and the game without recording an out.

Oh well. It’s hard to win a game when you commit three errors and only get four hits. Catcher Cody Roberts, this year’s 11th round pick, hit his first professional home run in the game.

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

Sunday’s Scheduled Games

• Norfolk: at Durham, 5:05. Starter: Jimmy Yacabonis
• Bowie: vs. Harrisburg, 1:35. Starter: Luis Ysla
• Frederick: at Carolina, 2:00. Starter: Alex Wells
• Delmarva: vs. Hickory, 5:05. Starter: Brenan Hanifee
• Aberdeen: at Tri-City, 5:00. Starter: TBD