Orioles minor league recap 6/19: Despite one win, starting pitching dominates across the system

Triple-A: Durham Bulls (Rays) 4, Norfolk Tides 3

Zac Lowther took control of the Bulls with five scoreless innings, but it wasn’t enough to bring home the win. The sixth inning proved to be the difference in the game when Shawn Armstrong was charged with four unearned runs. That frame started with a throwing error by Mason McCoy that allowed Durham’s Wander Franco to reach base, and later, with the bases loaded and two outs, the Bulls hit a grand slam.

The Tides scored their runs courtesy of a Zach Jarrett double in the fourth and his solo home run in the sixth, plus an RBI single by Jahmai Jones in the ninth. Jarrett was 2-for-3 with a walk on the night to raise his season-long batting average to .290. Jones was 2-for-4 with a walk to boost his average to .345.

Double-A: Akron RubberDucks (Indians) 5, Bowie Baysox 1

After allowing three runs over 3.2 innings in his previous start, Bowie’s Gray Fenter got back on track last night with five scoreless. He allowed one hit and two walks while striking out three RubberDucks.

Bowie got on the scoreboard in the third with back-to-back doubles by Johnny Rizer and Yusniel Diaz. But Akron tied it up with an RBI single in the sixth. Neither team would score again until the 12th inning when Akron’s Josh Rolette hit a three-run homer and another run scored on a fielder’s choice.

Tyler Joyner took the loss for Bowie, and he is now 3-2 on the year. Catcher Adley Rutschman was 2-for-4 with a walk, and he’s currently hitting .293 with a .969 OPS.

High-A: Aberdeen IronBirds 3, Asheville Tourists (Astros) 2

Last night, the IronBirds prevailed in a hard-fought game by holding off a late comeback attempt by the Asheville Tourists.

A stellar pitching performance from Kyle Brnovich set the tone for Aberdeen. He threw 5.1 scoreless innings with seven strikeouts and allowed just one hit and one walk. Friday night’s outing lowered his ERA to 2.36 and improved his record to 4-1.

Zach Watson scored the first run of the game for Aberdeen on a fielder’s choice groundout in the third, and J.D. Mundy lengthened the lead to three with a two-run homer in the fifth.

With the Tourists down by two in the ninth, reliever Ryan Conroy allowed a single and a double to make it a one-run game. But with a runner on third base, Conroy was able to generate a groundout and a flyout to finish off the Tourists.

Low-A: Salem Red Sox 5, Delmarva Shorebirds 4

The Shorebirds jumped out to an early lead against Salem with a four-run second inning, and the ball didn’t even leave the park. Ramon Rodriguez had a two-run single, Gunnar Henderson earned a bases-loaded walk, and Andrew Martinez scored on a fielder’s choice groundout.

Like his starting pitching counterparts up the organizational ladder last night, Ignacio Feliz pitched well for the Shorebirds. His final pitching line was four innings, four hits, zero runs, one walk, and seven strikeouts. After that performance, he’s got a pristine 1.35 on the year. But Salem did its scoring in the latter innings — three in the seventh and two in the ninth, which was just enough to overcome Delmarva.

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

Saturday’s scheduled games:

• Norfolk vs. Durham, 7:05 PM. Starter: Kyle Bradish (1-0, 3.44 ERA)
• Bowie vs. Akron, 6:35 PM. Starter: TBD
• Aberdeen at Asheville, 6:05 PM. Starter: TBD
• Delmarva vs. Salem, 7:05 PM. Starter: Shane Davis (2-1, 4.88 ERA)