Orioles minor league recap 8/26: A super Sunday across the farm

Charlotte (White Sox) 1, Norfolk Tides 8

The Tides put together a nicely balanced offensive attack with 12 hits divvied up around the lineup. If the Tides were giving out Most Birdland Player awards, this one would definitely have gone to Rylan Bannon, who had a homer, two doubles, and three RBIs. Bannon is thriving so far at Triple-A, with a .333 average and an OPS of .916. Mason Williams also got aboard three times and scored twice. Martin Cervenka, a catcher who DH’d on Sunday, is crushing it in his first nine games at Norfolk, with a .406/.957 batting line. Ryan Mountcastle had a single, and Austin Hays went 0-for-5.

Bruce Zimmermann has had mixed luck so far at Triple-A, so it was great to see him right the ship. Against the 74-58 Knights, Zimmermann went 5.2 innings with just five hits and one run allowed. Evan Phillips and Sean Gilmartin sewed this one up with 3.1 scoreless.

Bowie Baysox 4, Altoona (Pirates) 3

More Baysox starts, more strong pitching. Tyler Herb, who started the year off at Norfolk, has somewhat stabilized at Bowie, with a 4-2 record and a 4.07 ERA. Herb went seven innings, allowing four hits and two runs. He was pitching a shutout into the eighth, but was pulled for Luis González after the first two batters reached (on an Anderson Feliz fielding error and single, respectively). González got two strikeouts, but then allowed a pair of singles and a walk, and both inherited runners scored, plus one more. He finally snuffed out the rally, and Cristian Alvarado (2.83 ERA) shut the door on the Curve for his 11^th save.

Centerfielder Ryan McKenna almost single-handedly drove Bowie’s offense. He scored in the first on a wild pitch. He doubled in Cedric Mullins, then scored Bowie’s fourth run himself on a Feliz single. T.J. Nichting had Bowie’s other RBI, with a second-inning double. Ryan Ripken was 1-for-4, Preston Palmeiro 2-for-4, and Mason McCoy 1-for-3 with a walk.

Frederick Keys 7, Fayetteville (Astros) 9

This was a rare lackluster day for all three Frederick pitchers. Luis Perez, 6-1, 2.97 ERA, has been good this year for the Keys, but on Sunday he allowed three runs in the first two innings, though he would gut out five innings. Zach Matson (4.66 ERA) started out looking alright in relief, but the Keys melted down in the eighth inning, allowing Fayetteville to put up an obscene six runs. Reed Hayes, in his ninth game with Frederick, tried to put out the fire but could not, and ended up with four runs to his name (three earned) in 0.2 innings, and the blown save.

It was indeed a shame because the Keys had gamely battled back from a 3-0 deficit, putting up seven runs in a monster seventh inning of their own, in which ten Keys batters reached base on a veritable parade of singles. Sean Miller (2-for-4, RBI, run scored), Robert Neustrom (2-for-5, double), and JC Escarra (1-for-4, 2 RBI) had particularly nice days.

Hagerstown (Walgreens) 9, Delmarva Shorebirds 0

I wish I had better news about the Shorebirds’ play on Sunday. Unfortunately, this is what we’re stuck with. Starter Hector Guance (8-6, 4.50 ERA) got hit hard, giving up seven runs in 2.2 innings. He allowed runs in every which way, from a run-scoring wild pitch to an RBI triple.

En route to being shut out, Shorebirds hitters recorded all of four hits, including one each from Messrs. Adley Rutschman and Toby Welk. Adam Hall walked once; Doran Turchin walked twice.

Lowell (Boston) 2, Aberdeen IronBirds 10

A good old-fashioned blowout. Nice to see this Welk- and Rutschman-less lineup putting up big numbers. The Ironbirds got 12 hits on the day, including a three-run home run from Dalton Hoiles. Mason Janvrin, a 14^th-round pick this year, was 2-for-5 with two RBIs and a stolen base. Fourth-round pick Joseph Ortiz had three singles, and outfielder Craig Lewis, a Round 33 pickup, went 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs. Kyle Stowers, DH’ing, went 2-for-4 with a walk.

Starter Leonardo Rodriguez (2.81 ERA) looked pretty good over four innings, with two runs allowed. The Ironbirds relief corps looked even better: Malachi Emond tossed two scoreless, hitless innings. So did Shelton Perkins, for the win. Coming in in the ninth, Morgan McSweeney allowed two hits but no runs, and struck out two.

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

Monday’s Scheduled Games

• Norfolk: at Charlotte, 7:05. Starter: Tom Eshelman, 2-2, 3.64 ERA
• Bowie: at Reading, 6:45. Starter: Cody Sedlock, 1-1, 3.81 ERA
• Frederick: at Down East, 7:00. Starter: Cameron Bishop, 1-9, 4.83 ERA
• Delmarva: at Lakewood, 7:05. Starter: Dallas Litscher, 2-0, 3.38 ERA
• Aberdeen: at Lowell, 5:05. Starter: TBD