Orioles minor league recap 4/26: Hunter Harvey, Blaine Knight shine, but bats go quiet

Columbus (Indians) 4, Norfolk Tides 0

Four hits were all the Tides were able to muster today as the Clippers jumped in front with runs in the first and second innings and then two in the third.

The bright side is that there is intrigue considering who provided the limited offense. While Jack Reinheimer had two of the hits, the others went to the just-demoted Cedric Mullins and top prospect Ryan Mountcastle. Mullins, seeking to find a batting stroke that deserted him in Baltimore, is batting .333 in Triple-A, while Mountcastle is at .278.

It was another cold day at the plate for catcher Chance Sisco, who went 0-for-3 with a walk and is batting .190 with a .495 OPS. Yefry Ramirez got the loss, allowing four runs (three earned) in four innings.

Akron (Indians) 6, Bowie Baysox 2, 10 inn.

One day after getting no-hit, the Baysox tried to rally back for a win, only to see the push denied when Akron broke a 2-all tie with four runs in the top of the 10th.

With Bowie trailing 2-0 in the eighth, Jesmuel Valentin drove in a run with a groundout and Ademar Rifaela then had an RBI single to even the score. Akron surged ahead in extras, however, on RBI singles by Logan Ice, Ka’ai Tom and Daniel Johnson and a sacrifice fly by Tyler Krieger. Taylor Grover took the loss.

Top prospect Yusniel Diaz went 1-for-3 with a walk, and is batting .225 for the season, while Ryan McKenna was 1-for-5 and is at .176. The team did get a lift, however, from Hunter Harvey, who allowed only one hit and one walk in five scoreless innings while striking out two. He’s still looking for his first win and has an ERA of 5.60.

Fayetteville (Astros) 7, Frederick Keys 1

A double by Willy Yahn and a single by J.C. Escarra were all the Keys could muster offensively in a loss to the Woodpeckers.

Keys pitchers fared no better, as Cameron Bishop (four innings, three runs), Travis Seabrooke (three innings, three runs) and Diogenes Almengo (one inning, one run) surrendered a total of four home runs.

Delmarva Shorebirds 4, Augusta (Giants) 3

Delmarva scored one in the first, two in the fourth and one in the fifth, then survived three Augusta runs in the ninth to improve to 16-2.

Adam Hall started the scoring with an RBI single, and Daniel Fajardo (single) and Will Robertson (single) drove in runs in the fourth before Robert Neustrom made it 4-0 with an RBI triple. Augusta’s Frankie Tostado hit a three-run homer in the ninth, but the Shorebirds escaped.

One day after going 0-for-6 in a 15-7 win in which seemingly everyone else in Perdue Stadium got a hit, touted prospect Cadyn Grenier snapped back to form with two hits and two runs out of the leadoff spot. Hall continued his season-long tear, going 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run, and the 19-year-old is now batting .379.

Blaine Knight got the win and was superb on the mound, fanning eight and allowing two hits in 5.2 innings of work. He’s now 2-0 with a 0.87 ERA.

Box scores from Thursday’s games can be found here.

Friday’s scheduled games

• Norfolk: at Louisville (Reds), 7 p.m. Starter: Josh Rogers (1-1, 6.00 ERA)
• Bowie: vs. Akron, 7:05 p.m. Starter: Zac Lowther (1-1, 1.93)
• Frederick: at Winston-Salem (White Sox), 7 p.m. Starter: DL Hall (0-0, 6.30)
• Delmarva: vs. Augusta, 7 p.m. Starter: TBD