Orioles minor league recap 8/7: The O’s can beat the Yankees in the minors, at least

Norfolk Tides 8, Indianapolis Indians (Pirates) 1

I continue to find it annoying that a minor league team has the same name as a major league club that it’s not affiliated with. Stop being confusing, Indianapolis! In any case, this game was all Tides, led by Austin Wynns, who reached base five times with four hits and a walk. He also scored three runs. Christopher Bostick drove in three runs from the leadoff spot. Austin Hays, the Orioles’ No. 6 prospect on MLB Pipeline, was 0-for-3 with a walk. His batting average dipped to .220 and his OPS to .690.

No. 4 prospect Ryan Mountcastle went 1-for-2...with two walks!! That’s practically unheard of for Mountcastle, who entered the game with just 15 free passes in 444 plate appearances this season. It’s only the second time this year he’s walked twice in one game. Also, Mountcastle was playing left field for the fifth time since he last started at first base. Perhaps he’s in the middle of another position change?

On the mound, starter Keegan Akin allowed just one run and struck out six, but he put seven runners on base in four innings and left with a pitch count of 80. Not great. Hunter Harvey was credited with the win, his first in Triple-A, for pitching a perfect fifth. Sean Gilmartin, Josh Lucas, and Tanner Scott, all of whom have been on the Norfolk-Baltimore shuttle this season, combined for four scoreless innings.

Bowie Baysox 4, Trenton Thunder (Yankees) 3

While the Orioles continue to have their hands full with the Yankees in the majors, the roles were reversed in Double-A, where Bowie beat Trenton for the third time in four meetings this year. The key to victory, as it so often is for the Baysox, was strong starting pitching, in this case by lefty Zac Lowther. The No. 10 Orioles prospect racked up a season-high 10 strikeouts in a quality six-inning, three-run performance. Lowther improved to 12-5 with a 2.72 ERA. Of some concern is that he walked three batters and threw two wild pitches, marking his third straight outing with at least three free passes and his 13th of the season.

Catcher Carlos Perez assured Lowther of the victory with a go-ahead RBI double in the seventh. Leadoff man Mason McCoy (No. 25 prospect) led the Baysox with three hits, while No. 13 and No. 24 prospects Ryan McKenna and Rylan Bannon were a combined 0-for-7, though Bannon contributed an RBI and McKenna a walk. Bowie won despite going 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position and leaving 10 runners on base. Cristian Alvarado worked past a leadoff double in the ninth to notch his fifth save.

Frederick Keys vs. Potomac Nationals — POSTPONED, rescheduled for Aug. 7

Delmarva Shorebirds 4, Charleston RiverDogs (Yankees) 1

In another contest between an Orioles team and a Yankees team, it was the O’s affiliate who came out on top again. The Shorebirds (playing this game as “Los Gallos”) rallied for a four-spot in the top of the eighth, with a Zach Watson two-run double and Edison Lantigua two-run single accounting for the damage. Delmarva had just five hits in the game, but made the most of them. JC Encarnacion and Nick Horvath stole two bases apiece, taking advantage of Charleston catcher Mickey Gasper. The RiverDogs also committed five errors.

Pitching-wise, Adam Stauffer opened the game with two scoreless innings before giving way to Dallas Litscher, who went five innings and gave up one run, which was unearned. Stauffer and Litscher have combined to throw 25 innings for Delmarva this year, with neither allowing an earned run. Ruben Garcia worked the final two innings for this third save.

Connecticut Tigers 3, Aberdeen Ironbirds 2

First things first: Adley Rutschman went 0-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts. BUST. Seriously, though, Rutschman is off to a slow start to his Ironbirds career. He’s hitting .200 with a .546 OPS in nine games for Aberdeen. The Ironbirds as a team didn’t manage any extra-base hits in this game, and went 1-for-8 with men in scoring position. Having a particularly bad day was second baseman Jean Carmona, acquired in last year’s Jonathan Schoop trade, who went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and committed two errors that led to two unearned runs. He’s batting .200 with an OPS of .496 in 15 games.

The news was better on the mound, where lefty Kevin Magee, a ninth-round pick in 2018, worked six innings without allowing an earned run, striking out eight and giving up just two hits. Magee has a 3.02 ERA in 10 starts. His potential victory was spoiled, though, when the Tigers scored two runs off reliever Kyle Martin in the seventh to take the lead.

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

Wednesday’s scheduled games:

• Norfolk vs. Indianapolis, 7:05 PM. Starter: Ty Blach (Norfolk debut)
• Bowie at Trenton, 12:00 PM. Starter: Alex Wells (8-2, 2.12)
• Frederick vs. Potomac (doubleheader), 4:00 PM. Starters: Cameron Bishop (0-8, 4.64), Blaine Knight (1-8, 5.54)
• Aberdeen at Connecticut, 7:05 PM. Starter: TBD