Orioles minor league recap 8/1: Alex Wells and Blaine Knight dazzle on the mound

Gwinnett (Braves) 4, Norfolk Tides 1

The Tides suffered a loss in their first game of the post-Dan Straily era. In honor of Straily, Keegan Akin didn’t pitch too well. Over four innings, the lefty allowed three runs on three hits, three walks, one strikeout and a home run. Josh Lucas followed up with one run allowed over two innings. And Evan Phillips finished the evening with two scoreless frames.

The offense wasn’t much better. Zach Vincej’s double was Norfolk’s only extra-base hit of the night. DJ Stewart, Ryan Mountcastle and Mason Williams added a single each. Williams also had the team’s lone RBI on the night.

Reading (Phillies) 3, Bowie Baysox 1

Alex Wells continued his domination of the Eastern League. The Australian southpaw tossed seven innings and struck out seven while allowing just one run on seven hits and a walk. His season ERA is now 2.12. Zach Muckenhirn looked mighty fine out of the bullpen as well, striking out five over three shutout frames. It was Steven Klimek who took the loss. Despite not allowing a hit, Klimek permitted two unearned runs in an inning of work thanks to the minor leagues rule of starting the inning with a runner on second base in extras plus a fielding error by Jesmuel Valentin.

All six of Bowie’s hits were singles. Cedric Mullins led the way with two hits, a walk and a stolen base. T.J. Nichting also had a pair of knocks to go with a stolen base. Mason McCoy was 1-for-5. Both Yusniel Diaz and Rio Ruiz went 0-for-4. And Ryan McKenna was 0-for-1 in his late game pinch hitting appearance.

Frederick Keys 5, Myrtle Beach (Cubs) 2

Blaine Knight was on top of this game in this one. He allowed two runs on six hits, two walks and five strikeouts over a seven-inning outing to lower his ERA by nearly half of a run. Reed Hayes saw out the win with two shutout innings for his first High-A save in 2019.

The Baysox lineup combined for 10 hits on the night. Daniel Fajardo led all hitters with a trio of singles. Brett Cumberland and Robbie Thorburn both doubled. Cadyn Grenier went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts. Meanwhile, Patrick Dorrian and Zach Jarrett each reached base on two hits, including Jarrett’s 10th home run of the year.

Delmarva Shorebirds 5, Greenville (Red Sox) 0

Look, everyone! The Shorebirds won...again! Per usual, it was a well-round victory. Dallas Litscher, the ‘Birds starter, delivered six shutout innings while allowing four hits, two walks and striking out four. Adam Stauffer added a two-inning, effectively wild (one hit, no runs, three walks, four strikeouts) appearance from the bullpen. And it was finished off by Felix Bautista with a scoreless ninth inning.

Johnny Rizer put together a three-hit performance. Jean Carlos Encarnacion doubled twice in the game. Adam Hall had two hits, including his third triple of the year. Seamus Curran added two hits and two RBI. And Jaylen Ferguson went 2-for-3 with a three-bagger and a pair of RBI.

Aberdeen IronBirds 2, Mahoning Valley (Indians) 0

Adley Rutschman was back at DH, taking an 0-for-3 with a walk. Toby Welk went 2-for-4 with a double. Jean Carmona and Dalton Hoiles registered one hit each. That was it for the offense, which managed only four hits as a group, but some outstanding pitching from the IronBirds staff made it a winning effort nonetheless.

Ryan Conroy started on the mound and delivered five shutout innings, allowing just two hits and three walks while striking out two. Malachi Emond and Shelton Perkins each earned a hold with one clean inning apiece. And Kade Strowd tallied his first save with two perfect frames to close it out.

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

Thursday’s Scheduled Games

Norfolk: at Gwinett, 7:05 p.m. Starter: TBD

Bowie: OFF

Frederick: at Myrtle Beach, 7:05 p.m. Starter: DL Hall (3-4, 3.52 ERA)

Delmarva: at Greenville, 7:05 p.m. Starter: TBD

Aberdeen: at Mahoning Valley, 7:05 p.m. Starter: TBD