Orioles minors recap 8/12: A strong outing from Alex Wells

Columbus (Indians) 10, Norfolk Tides 2

Things went poorly for the Tides from the get-go, with Stacey’s long-lost cousin Lucas Long (not actually Stacey’s cousin) having a bad night, allowing six runs, five earned, in just two innings of work. The silver lining of this is that the fortunes of the Orioles franchise aren’t much pinned on hopes for Long.

Chance Sisco was on base three times, with a double, walk, and hit by pitch. That will help the OBP. What wasn’t helped for him in this game was his caught-stealing rate, as all three Clippers runners who attempted to steal on Sisco were successful. Defense is what got him sent back to the minors and it seems that defense may be keeping him there. It is an unsatisfactory state of affairs after all the hype the O’s tried to have about him.

The rest of the team combined for six hits. That’s a hard way to win, even if you don’t give up ten runs.

Bowie Baysox - postponed, rain

Frederick Keys 2, Buies Creek (Astros) 1 - 10 innings

Not too much excitement here, with the two teams combining for ten hits in ten innings. IT ended up well for the Orioles affiliate, though. It’s always nice to look at these box scores and see that one of the O’s pitching prospects has done well.

In this case, the Australian lefty Alex Wells was responsible for a lot of it, striking out seven Astros batters in seven innings, allowing just one run on four hits. Wells has gone seven innings in three of his last four starts and has allowed just seven earned runs in 32 innings over the last month.

Keys reliever Tyler Erwin finished the game off by pitching the final two innings. The 23-year-old righty struck out three batters and has now struck out 71 batters in 57 innings this year. Not bad for the 23rd round pick from 2016. Give this guy a shot in Bowie and see what happens.

Rehabbing big leaguer Craig Gentry was 1-3 in the game. No rush.

Delmarva Shorebirds 7, Columbia (Mets) 1

The Shorebirds blew this one open with four runs in the eighth inning. Some good stuff in the box score here, including Kevin Gausman trade return Jean Carlos Encarnacion cranking his 11th home run of the season in Low-A (second as a Shorebird) and starting pitcher Cameron Bishop holding the Fireflies to a run in five innings.

Bishop has posted a 1.02 WHIP in South Atlantic League competition this season, walking just 19 batters in 111.2 innings. That’s pretty good! Might like more strikeouts than 89, but hey, it’s something. It’s added up to a 2.85 ERA. Give this guy a shot in Frederick and see what happens.

The top three batters in Delmarva’s lineup had multi-hit games: NASCAR scion Zach Jarrett, outfielder Trevor Craport, and second baseman Mason McCoy, the latter of whom drove in three runs. Seamus Curran was 1-3 with a pair of walks.

Aberdeen IronBirds - postponed, rain

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

Sunday’s Scheduled Games

• Norfolk: vs. Columbus, 4:05. Starter: Luis Ysla
• Bowie: at Hartford, 5:05. Doubleheader. Starters: TBD and TBD.
• Frederick: vs. Buies Creek, 2:00. Starter: Michael Baumann
• Delmarva: at Columbia, 2:05. Starter: Jhon Peluffo
• Aberdeen: at Hudson Valley, 4:00. Doubleheader. Starters: TBD and TBD.