Orioles minor league recap 4/19: A nice day on the farm

Durham (Rays) 5, Norfolk Tides 8

The pitching was a little shaky for Norfolk, but the bats bailed them out big-time, with a six-run explosion in the 8th. Stevie Wilkerson blasted a three-run homer in that inning and finished 2-for-4. Anderson Feliz contributed with a two-run double on a 1-for-4 night. Ryan Mountcastle bounced back in a big way this game, going 3-for-4 and finishing just a triple short of hitting for the cycle. D.J. Stewart and Anthony Santander both had 0-for-3 nights.

Keegan Akin had a somewhat shaky start, giving up four runs (three earned) on four hits, with 3 walks and 5 strikes. (The one unearned run came thanks to a throwing error by second baseman Chris Bostick.) His ERA now stands at a decent 3.95. Chris Lee bailed out Akin in the fifth, giving up one run on five hits. Jay Flaa got the save with one inning of no-hit ball and a strikeout. Nice!

Akron (Indians) 7, Bowie Baysox 4

Not a terrible showing for the O’s double-A affiliate, but a bullpen meltdown in the eighth cost them this one. It wasn’t a great start for Hunter Harvey. He got through four, giving up just a run on seven strikeouts, but got into trouble in the fifth and the Rubber Ducks tagged him for three more runs (two earned). Brian Gonzalez pitched three clean innings, but Tyler Erwin had a rough day, going 0.1 innings in the eighth and giving up three, one on a throwing error. Overall, the Baysox didn’t look great in the field, exactly, with three errors on the day (shortstop Sean Miller, throwing, and outfielder Yusniel Diaz, fielding).

The Baysox hitters didn’t have a bad day per se, either. Martin Cervenka went 2-for-4 on the day with an RBI, and Yusniel Diaz tied things up at 4-4 in the seventh on a two-run single before Akron broke it open off the reliever Erwin. Ryan McKenna and Rylan Bannon both went 1-for-3 with two walks. Unfortunately, Preston Palmeiro earned the dreaded golden sombrero, and Ademar Rifaela went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.

Salem (Red Sox) 1, Frederick Keys 2

Frederick won a thriller last night, walking off on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth! The Red Sox outhit them, 7-5, and the Keys struggled all game to drive guys in, going 0-5 with RISP, but it was enough, as they took advantage of a couple of Salem fielding and pitching miscues to come away with the win. First baseman J.C. Escarra and outfielder Jake Ring were the only Keys with multiple hits on the day, going 2-for-3 with a walk, and 2-for-4 with a run scored on Salem’s base-loaded wild pitch.

It was a great day to be a Cameron. Cameron Bishop turned in an impressive performance over six innings, giving up just one run, five hits, and one BB. His ERA now stands at 3.00. Cameron Ming came in in the seventh and blanked Salem over three innings, giving up just two hits and notching two strikeouts, good enough to earn him the win.

Delmarva Shorebirds 6, Greensboro (Pirates) 1

Whatever the splotchy tie-dye uniforms are doing for Delmarva, let’s keep it going. The O’s single-A affiliate now owns an 12-1 record, still the best record in all of minor league baseball. Last night, they made it ten straight wins on a home run parade. LF Robert Neustrom had a two-run dinger in the first, and CF Doran Turchin torched one in the second. 1B Seamus Curran and SS Cadyn Grenier joined the parade in the sixth with a two-run and a solo shot. Adam Hall also had a great day, going 3-for-4 with a walk.

The pitching looked solid. Grayson Rodriguez is making whoever drafted him last year look really smart: over three starts, he’s now 3-0 with a 0.54 ERA. Last night he tossed 5.2 innings, giving up one run on four hits with one walk and eight strikeouts. The lefty Zach Matson pitched a clean two innings, giving up two hits and two walks, and Nick Gruener wrapped things up with 1.1 innings of no-hit ball and one strikeout.

Complete box scores from Thursday’s set of games can be found here.

Friday’s Scheduled Games

• Norfolk: vs Charlotte (White Sox) 7:05 p.m. Starter: Yefry Ramírez (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
• Bowie: at Akron (Indians), 6:35 p.m. Starter: Dillon Tate (0-2, 10.29 ERA)
• Frederick: vs Salem (Red Sox), 7 p.m. Starter: DL Hall (0-0, 3.86 ERA)
• Delmarva: at Greensboro (Pirates), 7 p.m. Starter: Grey Fenter (1-0, 1.00 ERA)