Orioles minor league recap 7/23: Brnovich delivers, Henderson shines, Aberdeen drops a wild one

Triple-A: Gwinnett Stripers (Braves) 8, Norfolk Tides 1

Kevin Smith struggled from the jump and allowed a home run to the first batter he faced. The former Mets prospect allowed three more in the second and another run in the third. He never saw the fourth inning.

Evan Phillips allowed a run over two innings, Shawn Armstrong tossed a scoreless sixth, but Eric Hanhold allowed two more in the eighth.

Mason McCoy drove in Norfolk’s only run with a single in the seventh. McCoy finished 2-3 and was the only member of the Tides to record a multi-hit night. Jahmai Jones, Stevie Wilkerson, Robert Neustrom and Ryan Ripken all added a hit. Doubles by McCoy and Neustrom marked the only extra-base hits of the evening for Norfolk.

Double-A: Bowie Baysox 4, Hartford Yard Goats (Rockies) 0

Neither team scored until Bowie broke things open with three runs in the sixth. Zach Watson broke a scoreless tie with an RBI groundout, and Chris Hudgins drove in a pair with a two-out double. Patrick Dorrian drove in Adley Rutschman with a double in the eighth. Dorrian finished 1-3 with a walk, while Rutschman went 0-3 with a base on balls. Hudgins and Kyle Stowers finished 2-4.

Kyle Brnovich delivered five scoreless innings for the Baysox. Stowers allowed just three hits, struckout 10, and did not walk a batter. Now that’s an evening to get excited about...

Diogenes Almengo, Nick Vespi and Felix Bautista combined for four scoreless innings to close things out. Hartford tallied only six hits all game.

High-A: Hudson Valley Renegades (Yankees) 10, Aberdeen IronBirds 9

Aberdeen starter Conner Loeprich allowed three runs in the top of the first, but Aberdeen answered quickly with a pair of their own. The two traded blows before Hudson Valley scored four times in the 11th inning. Aberdeen trimmed the lead to one and brought the tying run to third base but could not even the score.

Gunnar Henderson led the way with a 3-5 effort. The youngster scored twice and also stole a base in extra innings. Jordan Westburg finished 1-5 but did score twice, and Shayne Fontana also turned in a 3-5 effort. Fontana’s triple marked the only extra-base hit for Aberdeen.

Low-A: Lynchburg Hillcats (Cleveland) 3, Delmarva Shorebirds 2

Delmarva took a brief lead in the bottom of the eighth, but Jonathan Pendergast allowed a pair of runs in the top of the ninth. Noah Denoyer limited Lynchburg to one run over six innings, but the righty did not receive a decision. Thomas Girard delivered two scoreless innings of relief.

Lamar Sparks and Darell Hernaiz each finished 2-4. Craig Lewis and TT Bowens both tallied a hit as well. All six of Delmarva’s hits came from the top four batters in the lineup. Bowens and Hernaiz both doubled.

Friday’s scheduled games

• Norfolk: at Gwinnett, 7:05. Starter: Mickey Jannis (0-3, 3.89 ERA)
• Bowie: vs Hartford, 7:05. Starter: Mike Baumann (2-2, 5.79 ERA)
• Aberdeen: vs Hudson Valley, 7:05. Starter: Garrett Stallings (6-3. 4.43 ERA)
• Delmarva: vs Lynchburg, 7:05. Starter: Houston Roth (4-1, 3.80 ERA)