Orioles minor league recap 8/8: DL Hall bounces back and Bowie blows away the competition

Triple-A: Nashville Sounds (Brewers) 9, Norfolk Tides 4

Norfolk got a good start from DL Hall but lost this one during a disastrous eighth inning. As clever as new Orioles farmhand Cade Povich made the O’s front office look for the Jorge López trade during his start on Saturday, Sunday’s outing was a bad look for all involved, especially recent acquisition Yennier Canó. In 20 games with Minnesota Triple-A affiliate St. Paul, Canó had posted a 1.90 ERA. After one outing with Norfolk on Sunday, he now has a 40.50 ERA for the Tides. Ouch. Canó came in during the eighth inning, faced six batters and retired one. The others did this: homer, walk, walk, single, homer.

More importantly, however, after a couple of off-kilter starts, Sunday’s game saw DL Hall slide right back into form: the flame-throwing lefty pitched into the sixth inning, allowing just two runs and striking out eight. He walked three, but his strike-to-ball ratio wasn’t bad (99 pitches, 64 for strikes). This footage of Hall makes his stuff look as baffling as ever. I like the guy who has a tantrum at the plate.

Blaine Knight relieved Hall in the sixth, Zac Lowther allowed a game-tying third run in one inning of work to get the blown save. Matt Vogel pitched 0.2 scoreless after Cano’s bad day and Cole Uvila allowed one run in the ninth on a wild pitch.

The Tides managed four runs on just five hits and five walks. Almost all of their runs were driven in by Rylan Bannon, who hit a two-run double and a run-scoring single. Gunnar Henderson went 0-for-3 but he walked in a run. Kyle Stowers singled in four trips to the plate, and Robert Neustrom went 2-for-4.

Box Score

Double-A: Bowie Baysox 18, Harrisburg Senators (Nationals) 1

The Baysox improved to 51-50 on a day when just about everything was working for them.

How dominant was the Baysox offense today? They recorded a home run, single, walk, double and triple before they made an out. They went up 9-0 before the first inning was over. And they were up 16-0 before the end of the fourth.

Despite hitting “just” three home runs, the Baysox put up 18 hits on the day along with eight walks. Connor Norby went 4-for-5 with a home run and a walk out of the leadoff spot, to put his OPS at .936. In the two hole, Colton Cowser also went 4-for-5 and walked. He’s OPS’ing 1.122. The No. 3 hitter, Joey Ortiz, doubled, singled and walked while driving in three. Hudson Haskin went 2-for-6 with a double. Maverick Handley hit a two-run triple. Toby Welk hit a two-run homer, also in the first inning. And Greg Cullen hit an Earl Weaver special in the fifth inning.

The lucky beneficiary of all this run support was Ryan Watson, except he didn’t actually need the assist (5.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K). Conner Loeprich allowed a solo home run over two innings of work, and that was all the offense Harrisburg would muster. In late relief, Jensen Elliott and Hector Pérez were perfect, with no hits allowed.

The Baysox have won eight in a row.

Box Score

High-A: Wilmington Blue Rocks (Nationals) 11, Aberdeen IronBirds 6

A day after Cade Povich blanked Wilmington for six innings, four Aberdeen pitchers combined to give up 11 runs to the Blue Rocks. Peter Van Loon gave up three runs in three innings, but his final line wasn’t bad (3.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K). Dan Hammer had a problem with walks (1.2 IP, 3 R, 4 BB, 1 K). Nick Roth allowed three runs in one-plus innings (1.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 1 K). Daniel Lloyd had what passed as a good day, whiffing four in three innings while allowing two runs.

Aberdeen fell into a quick 9-0 hole, but the offense rallied commendably. Seven IronBirds had hits, with one hitter standing out in particular: Coby Mayo, who drove in four runs on a triple and a home run (his 15^th of the year). Here he is, admiring his majestic blast:

Collin Burns and Davis Tavarez contributed an RBI apiece, Tavarez with a home run of his own.

Box Score

Low-A: Augusta GreenJackets (Braves) 13, Delmarva Shorebirds 2

Another sloppy game for the Shorebirds. They gave up 13 runs and managed just four hits, one apiece by Isaac De León, Elío Prado, Roberto Martínez and Luis Valdez. Of course, it being Luis Valdez he also stole his 56^th base of the year.

Four Shorebirds pitched on Sunday: Harol Arías, Hugo Beltrán, Eduardo Monroy, Alejandro Méndez. Only Beltrán escaped with his pride intact. Arías allowed four runs and eight hits in four innings, Monroy gave up four runs in 1.1 innings, and Méndez gave up five runs in 2.1 innings. Fair to say, reinforcements can’t come soon enough.

Box Score

There are no scheduled games for Monday.