Orioles minor league recap 8/29: Alex Wells, Ofelky Peralta and Drew Rom have big nights on the mound

Gwinnett (Braves) 14, Norfolk Tides 8

It’s unwise to scout the box score, but it’s probably justified in this case. Ty Blach started on the mound and got well and truly lit up. Over three innings, the southpaw served up eight runs on 13 hits, no walks and just one strikeout. His ERA with the Tides is now up to 16.88. Evan Phillips, Sean Gilmartin and Branden Kline combined to allow six runs in five innings of work. All around, it was a bad night for the Norfolk staff.

Things went better for the Tides bats. Mark Trumbo homered and doubled. Ryan Mountcastle had a pair of two-baggers. Dwight Smith Jr. reached base with two walks and scored twice. Austin Hays and Rylan Bannon were each 1-for-5.

Reading (Phillies) 2, Bowie Baysox 1

The Bowie offense did not have its best night. A single apiece from Cedric Mullins, Brett Cumberland and Ryan Ripken were the only hits that they could muster. Mullins, Cumberland and Anderson Feliz added a walk each as well. Ryan McKenna, Mason McCoy and Yusniel Diaz combined to go 0-for-12.

For his part, Alex Wells was effective once again on the mound. The Australian allowed just one earned run on four hits, one walk and four strikeouts over six innings to lower his ERA to 2.75. Jay Flaa finished things up with a pair of shutout innings in relief.

Frederick Keys 4, Down East (Rangers) 0

Ofelky Peralta shut down the opposing offense to earn his third Keys win of the season. The 22-year-old threw six shutout innings, striking out six batters in the process. Tyler Joyner put together a scoreless seventh and eighth inning, and then Tim Naughton closed out the win with a two-strikeout inning of work.

J.C. Escarra led Frederick’s offensive charge with a 3-for-3 performance, including his 13th home run of the season plus a trio of RBI. Chris Clare and Daniel Fajardo each doubled once. Brad Miller had two hits while Robert Neustrom went 1-for-3.

Lakewood (Phillies) 1, Delmarva Shorebirds 0

Drew Rom has quietly put together a solid season for the the best team in minor league baseball. The lefty impressed yet again on Wednesday by tossing five no-hit innings, striking out six and walking one in the process. Matt De La Rosa followed with three shutout frames of his own. But Ruben Garcia could not keep the zeros going. The former 16th round pick was unable to record an out and allowed three hits and a walkoff win for Lakewood.

Delmarva’s lineup only managed a handful of base-runners all night long. Toby Welk was 1-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts. Shayne Fontana went 1-for-3 as well. Adam Hall and Nick Horvath added a walk apiece. Adley Rutschman went 0-for-4.

Brooklyn (Mets) 9, Aberdeen IronBirds 8

Jaylen Ferguson was the star of the night. The outfielder homered, doubled and drove in four runs during a three-hit performance. Kyle Stowers had three hits as well, including his 12th double. Joey Ortiz went 2-for-4. Mason Janvrin added two RBI, a run and a single. Jean Carmona was 1-for-3 with a walk, RBI and a stolen base.

But the offensive outburst wasn’t enough to get the win as the Aberdeen pitching struggled. Jake Lyons was only able to record eight outs as the starter, allowing six runs on seven hits, a walk and five strikeouts in the process. James Ryan was the first out of the ‘pen, and he struggled as well, giving up two runs (one earned) on four hits and a walk in just one inning of work. Marlon Constante had the best night on the mound, tossing 3.1 scoreless innings, but only managed one strikeout. Finally, Connor Gillispie served up a run on two hits, a walk and a strikeout in his two innings.

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

Thursday’s Scheduled Games

Norfolk: at Gwinnett, 7:05 p.m. Starter: Keegan Akin (5-7, 4.91 ERA)

Bowie: at Reading, 7:10 p.m. Starter: Michael Baumann (5-2, 2.24 ERA)

Frederick: at Down East, 7 p.m. Starter: Brenan Hanifee (9-9, 4.39 ERA)

Delmarva: at Lakewood, 7:05 p.m. Starter: Grayson Rodriguez (9-4, 2.86 ERA)

Aberdeen: vs Brooklyn, 7:05 p.m. Starter: TBD