Orioles minor league recap 7/11: Good pitching up and down the farm

Triple-A: Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (Marlins) 3, Norfolk Tides 1

It wasn’t the greatest Orioles org debut for Kirk McCarty, claimed off waivers from the Cleveland Guardians on July 6, but it wasn’t the worst, either. The lefty threw four innings, allowing three runs on five hits (one home run) while striking out two. McCarty has a 4.02 ERA in 47 innings this season. Logan Gillaspie pitched a clean two innings of relief, striking out three, and Morgan McSweeney and Logan Allen each tossed a scoreless inning.

The bats were sleepy on Sunday against a Jacksonville bullpen collective, but with six hits and five walks there were a few nice individual performances. Jordan Westburg! (per MLB, the O’s #5 prospect) had an 0-fer out of the DH spot but drove in the Tides’ sole run. GUNNAR HENDERSON (#2) went 1-for-3 and walked two times. Kyle Stowers (#7) went 1-for-3 with a double. Yusniel Díaz (#23) walked once but struck out three times.

Box Score

Double-A: Somerset Patriots (Yankees) 3, Bowie Baysox 2

The Baysox offense was flat, too, with just the one run scored, on a second-inning double by Greg Cullen to score Joey Ortiz (#13), who’d doubled, too. César Prieto (#10) had two hits, including a double, to keep his average at a fine .281, although he’s seen his power drop in Bowie (.698 OPS). Hudson Haskin (#14) had a hit. Colton Cowser (#3) walked twice, while Connor Norby (#11) took an 0-fer.

Converted reliever Ryan Watson (5-4, 3.79 ERA) took the loss with three earned runs allowed in five innings, but he did strike out six Patriots and walked none. (Here he is flashing some nasty breaking stuff.) After Watson, the bullpen was spotless, with Easton Lucas tossing two scoreless (0 H, 2 BB, 4 SO) and Clayton McGinness throwing a scoreless eighth with no hits, no walks, and one K.

Box Score

High-A: Aberdeen IronBirds 7, Brooklyn Cyclones (Mets) 2

The 52-29 IronBirds continue to roll over the Mets’ High-A affiliate, putting up four runs in the seventh inning of this one to make it a romp. The IronBirds totaled 11 hits and five walks. Among the standouts: Billy Cook went deep, walked, and drove in four. TT Bowens had two hits, including a home run, and also reached on a walk. Darell Hernaiz (#29) was 3-for-5 with two doubles and an RBI. John Rhodes (#20) went 2-for-5 with an RBI. Shayne Fontana singled, walked twice, and stole a base.

Carlos Tavera, just off the IL, had a nice outing, with 2.1 scoreless on no hits, two walks, and five strikeouts. Thomas Girard retired both batters he faced before Connor Gillispie (3.11 ERA) provided needed long-inning relief with four one-run innings on just two hits (3 BB, 2 SO). Rickey Ramirez allowed one run in two innings and struck out three.

Box Score

Low-A: Delmarva Shorebirds 2, Salem Red Sox 1 – Game 1 (F/7)

In Game 1, a makeup of Saturday, the Shorebirds jumped out to a fast lead on a first-inning Heston Kjerstad double that scored Luis Valdez, who’d walked and stolen a base. Valdez stole a ridonkulous four bases in Game 1, reaching on a hit and two walks. He’s hitting .270 on the season and has 41 stolen bases thus far.

Valdez also helped manufacture the game winner, walking in the fifth inning, stealing second (what else), tagging on a Kjerstad flyout, and coming home on a groundout from Elio Prado.

Those two runs were enough, because Ryan Long pitched five innings, allowing one run on just two hits (one a solo homer), walking three and striking out seven. Nice! Newcomer Darlin Alcantara threw two scoreless to close out the Game 1 win.

Box Score

Low-A: Delmarva Shorebirds 1, Salem Red Sox 0 – (F/7)

In the bottom half, both teams blanked each other for six innings before Delmarva put together the game’s one and only run.

In the seventh inning, singles machine Frederick Bencosme (.366 BA, .825 OPS) went on the fritz and hit a leadoff double to bring up Noelberth Romero, one of the prospect pickups in the Andrew Cashner trade. Romero singled for the joyful walkoff. Here’s footage:

Certified big guy Juan de los Santos pitched an abbreviated but very effective 3.2 innings, allowing just one hit, no runs, one walk, and 3 K’s. Miguel Padilla and Hector Pérez, fresh out of the GCL, threw a combined 3.1 innings with no runs and just one hit between them.

A great weekend for Delmarva.

Box Score

There are no scheduled games for Monday.