Orioles minor league recap 7/25: Mountcastle leads the way for homer-happy Norfolk

Norfolk Tides 9, Rochester (Twins) 7

Ryan Mountcastle had a night to remember, homering twice as the Tides, who broke a 7-7 tie with two runs in the ninth after allowing four in the eighth, held off the Red Wings.

Mountcastle, the team’s No. 2 prospect, hit his 18th and 19th homers of the season, with the last one coming as the second of back-to-back circuit clouts with DJ Stewart that led off that ninth inning. Mountcastle went 2-for-5 with four RBI and is hitting .306 for the season.

The power display didn’t stop there, however. Mason Williams went 3-for-5 with his 14th home run, while Zach Vincej hit his eighth. On the mound, Hunter Harvey whiffed three in two scoreless innings of relief.

Binghamton (Mets) 3, Bowie Baysox 2, 11 inn.

Quinn Brodey hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 11th, scoring Andres Gimenez and winning the game for the Rumble Ponies.

The loss overshadowed a strong effort from Bowie’s pitchers, led by Zac Lowther, who tossed six one-run innings while striking out six and allowing four hits and four runs. Jay Flaa (two innings, one run), Cristian Alvarado (two scoreless innings) and Zach Muckenhirn (0.1 innings, one run, loss) handled the relief work.

At the plate, Carlos Perez had two hits, including his 10th home run of the season. The top four hitters in the lineup (Mason McCoy, Cedric Mullins, Ryan McKenna and Yusniel Diaz) went 1-for-17, with Diaz picking up the only hit (as well as an RBI).

Myrtle Beach (Cubs) 4, Frederick Keys 1

Blaine Knight had an encouraging start at the High-A level, but it still went for a loss, his eighth straight at Frederick, as the Keys fell to the Pelicans.

Knight, who went 3-0 with a 0.68 ERA at Delmarva but is now 0-8 with a 5.91 mark with the Keys, went five innings while allowing two runs. He gave up only two hits and a walk while striking out two.

Big days at the plate went to Sean Miller (three hits) and Brett Cumberland (two hits, including a double), while Robert Neustrom, the team’s 28th-ranked prospect, and Cadyn Grenier (No. 16) went 1-for-4 and 0-for-3, respectively.

Greenville (Red Sox) 2, Delmarva Shorebirds 1

Zach Watson homered in just his third game since being promoted from Aberdeen, but it was the only offensive highlight as the Shorebirds were nipped at home by the Drive.

Watson’s home run made it 1-0 in the fourth, but Devlin Granberg’s two-run shot in the sixth put Greenville up to stay. Adam Hall (.310 average) had one of Delmarva’s five hits.

Gray Fenter started and struck out eight in five shutout, two-hit innings. His ERA fell to 2.03.

Lowell (Red Sox) 4, Aberdeen IronBirds 3

A three-run seventh erased a 3-1 deficit and sent the Spinners on their way to the win.

Clay Fisher doubled and drove in two runs for Aberdeen, while Kyle Stowers had a hit and drove in the other IronBird run. Ryan Conroy got the start on the mound, and went 6.2 innings while allowing three runs and striking out eight.

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

Friday’s scheduled games

• Norfolk: at Lehigh Valley (Phillies), 7:05 p.m. Starter: Keegan Akin (4-3, 4.50 ERA)
• Bowie: at Binghamton (Mets), 7:05 p.m. Starter: Alex Wells (8-1, 1.83 ERA)
• Frederick: vs. Potomac (Nationals), 7 p.m. Starter: DL Hall (3-4, 3.71 ERA)
• Delmarva: vs. Charleston (Yankees), 7 p.m. Starter: Grayson Rodriguez (7-3, 2.94 ERA)
• Aberdeen: vs. Hudson Valley (Rangers), 7:05 p.m. Starter: TBD