Orioles minor league recap 6/29: Bruce Zimmermann keeps rolling for Bowie

Charlotte Knights 10, Norfolk Tides 3

The Knights bested the Tides in the completion of a game that was suspended all the way back on May 5. Norfolk starter Luis Ortiz gave up five runs — although only one run was earned — in five innings and took the loss, lowering his record to 1-3. Tyler Herb followed him to the mound and proceeded to allow five runs in four innings on seven hits, three walks and four strikeouts.

On the offensive side of the ball, Ryan Mountcastle went 2-for-4 with a run scored and a walk. Cedric Mullins went 1-for-4 with an RBI and shortstop Jack Reinheimer went 1-for-2 with a walk and his fourth stolen base of the year. Zach Vincej also had a pair of hits in four trips to the plate.

Charlotte Knights 4, Norfolk Tides 3

Norfolk lost to the Knights in Friday’s regularly scheduled game, albeit by a closer margin than in the resumed game. Ryan Mountcastle went yard for the Tides, giving him 14 home runs on the year. He’s hitting .312 with an .844 OPS. Jace Peterson and Zach Vincej both had doubles, while Vincej was responsible for the only other RBI of the game for the Tides. Jesus Sucre was 1-for-3 at the dish with a run scored and he’s hitting .307 with Norfolk this year.

Chandler Shepherd went five innings on the mound and gave up two runs while allowing six hits, striking out five batters and walking none. Evan Phillips, frequent rider of the Norfolk shuttle, took the loss by allowing two runs over 0.1 innings. He was actually removed after allowing a double, a walk and a wild pitch. But his replacement Matt Wotherspoon let both inherited runners score, and the Tides lost in seven innings by a single run.

Bowie Baysox 3, Akron Rubberducks 2

In a very close matchup on Friday night, Rylan Bannon hit his fifth home run of the year for Bowie, a solo shot in the sixth inning that served as the go-ahead run. He’s now hitting .270 with a .754 OPS. Unfortunately, the Baysox had a rough night on the bases, getting caught stealing twice. The culprits were Ryan McKenna and Chris Clare. But on the plus side, McKenna was 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Local kid Bruce Zimmermann got his third win of the season, allowing two runs over six innings. The rest of his pitching line included five hits, two walks and six strikeouts. His ERA stands at a tidy 2.75. Zach Muckenhirn pitched 1.2 scoreless innings to get the hold and Cristian Alvarado threw 1.1 scoreless innings to earn his first save of the year.

Wilmington Blue Rocks 6, Frederick Keys 1

Despite collecting nine hits, the Keys were unable to muster much offense in this one, with their lone run coming on a two-out RBI ground out by Kirvin Moesquit in the bottom of the second. Moesquit, Zach Jarrett and Yeltsin Gudino each had two hits on the night. But unfortunately play in the field was a bit sloppy, with Frederick committing three errors (two throwing and one fielding).

David Lebron didn’t pitch terribly, allowing three runs (two earned) in 5.1 innings on three hits, two walks and five strikeouts. But he still took the loss, giving him a 2-3 record. Facing the Keys’ bullpen, Wilmington added some insurance runs in the later innings — one in the eighth and two in the ninth — to end the game with a healthy lead.

Delmarva Shorebirds 5, Hagerstown Suns 3

The Shorebirds edged out the Suns by a couple runs, in part because of Seamus Curran’s big night. The Delmarva first baseman went 3-for-4 with his 12th home run of the year and three RBI in total while batting out of the number eight spot in the lineup. JC Encarnacion was 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI and shortstop Adam Hall, batting leadoff, went 2-for-5. Hall’s triple slash line for the year is now .323/.393/.424.

Hector Guance got the win, improving his record to 5-3, while allowing three runs in five innings. Relief pitchers Matt De La Rosa and Felix Bautista combined to shut down the Suns over the final four innings of the game.

Aberdeen Ironbirds 3, Tri-City ValleyCats 0

Three Aberdeen pitchers combined to shutout the ValleyCats last night, although the middle pitcher Tucker Baca did not record a single out. Starter Adam Stauffer threw seven scoreless innings, striking out six while only allowing two hits and one walk, while Malachi Emond threw two scoreless innings with four strikeouts to earn the save.

At the plate, Andrew Fregia had an RBI double in the second and an RBI single in the fourth. Toby Welk contributed an RBI double in the fourth as well. Aberdeen had seven hits in all on Friday night and went 4-for-9 with runners in scoring position.

Complete box scores from Friday night’s minor league games can be found here.

Saturday’s Scheduled Games

• Norfolk vs. Charlotte, 7:05 PM ET. Starter: TBD
• Bowie vs Akron, 6:35 PM ET. Starter: Marcos Molina (4-6, 3.81 ERA)
• Frederick vs. Wilmington, 6:00 PM ET. Starter: Blaine Knight (0-4, 6.29 ERA)
• Delmarva at Hagerstown, 6:05 PM ET. Starter: Nick Vespi (4-4, 3.72 ERA)
• Aberdeen at Tri-City, 7:00 PM ET. Starter: TBD