Orioles minor league recap 8/20: Adley goes 5-5, Dwight Smith Jr. comes up big in rehab assignment

Norfolk Tides 6, Gwinnett Stripers (Braves) 5

Norfolk jumped out to a four-run lead, but found themselves in a tie game late. Dwight Smith Jr. gave the Tides the lead with an RBI double in the bottom of the eighth, and the Tides held on for a 6-5 victory.

Smith Jr. is already eligible to come off the 10-day injured list, but he’s still down in Norfolk rehabbing his left calf. The Tides were glad to have him last night, as his line drive to center field scored Rylan Bannon to give Norfolk the advantage. He also plated a run in the third inning with a double, and came around to score on a Ryan Mountcastle home run.

Smith Jr. finished 3-5 with two RBIs, Bannon finished 2-4 with two runs scored, and Mountcastle went 1-4 and scored twice, despite striking out three times.

Chandler Shepherd allowed three runs in six innings and did not receive a decision. Dillon Tate picked up the win in relief despite allowing two runs in two innings, and Tayler Scott picked up the save with a scoreless ninth.

Bowie Baysox 11, Binghamton Rumble Ponies (Mets) 4

The Baysox fell behind after giving up runs in the top of the second and third innings, but Bowie quickly erased that deficit with a seven-run explosion in the bottom of the third.

Carlos Perez worked a bases-loaded walk to get the Baysox on the board, and Jesmuel Valentin and Zach Jarrett both drove in a pair of runs with doubles. Preston Palmeiro topped off the crooked number with a two run shot that drove in Jarrett.

Perez drove in a run with a single in the sixth, and added an exclamation point home run in the bottom of the eighth. Perez finished 3-4 with 4 RBIs and two runs scored. Jarrett, Palmeiro, Ryan McKenna, and Ryan Ripken all finished with two hits.

Michael Baumann wasn’t perfect in this one, but he did enough to pick up the victory. Baumann allowed four runs over five innings. He allowed six hits, struck out three and walked two batters.

Aberdeen IronBirds 6, Vermont Lake Monsters (Athletics) 2

The story of the game, and the story of the night at any level in the Orioles organization, was Adley Rutschman at the plate. The number one overall pick finished 5-5 on the night. He blasted his first home run for Aberdeen (which you can watch below), and drove in three with a triple in the eight inning.

The home run came with the IronBirds trailing by two, and the triple provided a large chunk of insurance to the Aberdeen bullpen. Rutschman tried to come all the way around on the triple after the throw to third trickled away, but he was tagged out at home plate. Even his lone mistake of the night was exciting, as he attempted to dodge the tag all the way around home plate before eventually being called out. The club will let him get away with that one...

Rutschman finished with four RBIs, and brought his average up to .325. He’s going to make these minor league recaps a little more entertaining over the next couple of years.

Dan Hammer started the game and pitched 4.2 scoreless innings for Aberdeen. Houston Roth picked up the win in relief after allowing two runs in 3.1 innings, and Kade Strowd tossed a scoreless ninth.

Clay Fisher finished 2-4 with an RBI and run scored, while Andrew Daschbach and Andrew Fregia collected the IronBirds’ other two hits.

Tuesday’s scheduled games:

Norfolk vs. Gwinnett, 7:05. Starter: Bruce Zimmermann (0-2, 6.30)

Bowie vs. Binghamton, 7:05. Starter: Tyler Herb (3-2, 4.91)

Frederick vs. Potomac, 7:00. Starter: Blaine Knight (1-9, 5.73)

Delmarva vs. Greensboro, 7:05. Starter: TBD