Orioles minor league recap 6/24: A lackluster day for the starters, but Bowie batters had a good day

Buffalo (Toronto) 8, Norfolk Tides 1

Well, it wasn’t exaaaactly the start Tyler Herb would have drawn up for himself. The righty, whom the O’s picked up this season from San Francisco in exchange for outfielder Mike Yastrzemski, went just three innings and gave up eight runs. The Bisons hit up Herb (4-6, 6.51 ERA in 10 starts) in every conceivable fashion: a triple, two home runs, and a smattering of singles en route to eleven hits. Um… chalk it up to a bad day? On a better note, David Hess and Chris Lee pitched 5 innings of shutout relief, each going two innings-plus and allowing just one hit.

The sole Tides run came on a Jesús Sucre double in the fifth. Otherwise, Jace Peterson was 2-for-3 with a double and batters 4-7 (Ryan Mountcastle, Mason Williams, Austin Wynns, and Ademar Rifaela) had a hit apiece, including a double by Rifaela. Cedric Mullins, 0-for-4 today, still isn’t hitting.

Harrisburg (Nationals) 9, Bowie Baysox 7

Mustachioed lefty Bruce Zimmermann (2-2, 2.72 ERA, 75 SO in 72.2 IP) took the loss today, although considering that he allowed only three earned in what turned into a slugfest, this result seems a little arbitrary. Steven Klimek, freshly promoted from Frederick, relieved Zimmermann in the fifth, and it was rocky, to say the least: Klimek gave up five runs in 2.0 innings to leave his ERA at Double-A at 13.50. Tyler Erwin, who’s been solid in relief (3-3, 2.57 ERA in 25 games), shut the Senators down in the last two innings.

It was a nice day at the plate for several Orioles prospects. Freshly back from paternity leave, Yusniel Díaz hit un jonrón muy grande in the fifth to bring the Baysox within two.

Ryan McKenna went 2-for-5 with a double and a pair of RBIs and 3B Willy Yahn, recently up from Frederick, went 2-for-4. Mason McCoy continues to demand attention, with a 2-for-5 day that puts him at .324 in 42 games at Bowie. Catcher Stuart Levy, in his first game up from Frederick, went 1-for-3 with a two-run homer and a walk (his OPS right now: 1.833).

Wilmington (Kansas City) 5, Frederick Keys 0

Frederick righty David Lebron (2-2, 3.94 ERA) pitched two decent innings, then went to pieces in the third: he walked the first two batters, then gave up an RBI single, a sac fly, and a two-run homer before getting pulled for Matthias Dietz. Dietz was wild today, and not in a good way: he allowed a double, a single, and a walk before closing out the third, he gave up a run on a wild pitch in the fourth, and he walked 6 batters in 3.1 innings. Scott Burke (1-1, 3.12 ERA, 26 IP, 23 SO, 6 BB), a Round 20 pick in 2017, was a different story. He faced the minimum seven batters in 2.1 innings and struck out five of them.

The walks made the difference against the Blue Rocks’ Jonathan Bowlan, a 6-6, 275 lb righty selected in Round 2 of the 2018 draft. The Keys matched Wilmington in total hits, but couldn’t drive one in as they left nine men aboard. Ryan Ripken had a double, Robbie Thorburn was 1-for-3, Zach Jarrett 1-for-4, and Yeltsin Gudino was 2-for-4 with a double.

Delmarva Shorebirds 5, Greensboro (Pittsburgh) 0

Everything was working today for Delmarva: starter Nick Vespi (4-4, 3.72 ERA) went seven innings and gave up no runs (on 3 H, 1 BB, and 4 SO). The lefty Zach Matson pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth with six strikeouts.

Delmarva got their runs on a two-run single by Cadyn Grenier, a two-run double courtesy of Robert Neustrom, and a wild pitch in the seventh that scored Seamus Curran. Ben Breazeale had two hits, and Nick Horvath and Alexis Torres a hit apiece.

Hudson Valley Renegades (Tampa Bay) 5, Aberdeen Ironbirds 1

Leonardo Rodriguez, a 21 year old righty out of the DR, pitched five innings and gave up two runs on four hits, with one walk and seven strikeouts. He took his first loss on the season to put him at 0-1, 2.70 ERA so far. Juan Echevarria gave up three runs in two innings, and Andrew Ciolli pitched a perfect eighth.

The Birds got their only run on a home run by first baseman Alex Murphy, who went 2-for-4. Centerfielder Johnny Rizer was also 2-for-4, rightfielder Tristan Graham had a double, and Jaylen Ferguson singled.

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

Friday’s Scheduled Games

• Norfolk: vs Gwinett (Atlanta) 7:05 p.m. Starter: Tom Eshelman (2-1, 2.68 ERA)
• Bowie: vs Hartford (Colorado), 7:05 p.m. Starter: Marcos Molina (4-5, 3.76 ERA)
• Frederick: at Lynchburg (Cleveland), 6:30 p.m. Starter: DL Hall (2-3, 4.03 ERA)
• Delmarva: at Lakewood (Philadelphia), 7:05 p.m. Starter: Gray Fenter (5-1, 1.97 ERA)