Orioles minor league recap 6/1: Cole Irvin pushes for big league return

Triple-A, Game 1: Norfolk Tides 8, Gwinnett Stripers (Braves) 3

Cole Irvin made the case that he should be the one to take the spot in the big league rotation vacated by Grayson Rodriguez’s recent demotion. Over six innings the lefty allowed two runs on five hits, no walks, and three strikeouts. His ERA with Norfolk is 3.21. Ofreidy Gómez added one inning out of the bullpen to close things out.

Connor Norby had a big game atop the lineup, going 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored. Jordan Westburg scored three times and drove in a run on a double and a walk. But it was Daz Cameron who provided the power. The center fielder hit two home runs and drove in six runs.

Triple-A, Game 2: Gwinnett Stripers (Braves) 7, Norfolk Tides 0

There were far fewer positives in the nightcap in Triple-A. Five walks hurt starter Drew Rom, elevating his pitch count to 85 after just three innings. He took the loss, allowing two runs on five hits, those five walks, and five strikeouts. Kyle Dowdy served up a two-run homer in his 2.2 innings of relief, and then Darwinzon Hernández coughed up two more runs on a pair of hits and three walks.

The only Tide to record a hit was Joseph Rosa. He singled twice. Westburg got on base once thanks to a Stripers error. But that was it. The rest of the lineup went back to the dugout empty.

Double-A: Harrisburg Senators (Nationals) 3, Bowie Baysox 1

Bowie had plenty of traffic on the bases, but struggled to turn that into actual runs. The lineup compiled nine hits and a walk, but had only four at-bats with runners on base and went 1-for-4 in those opportunities.

Coby Mayo was 2-for-4 with a double. Donta’ Williams added his sixth two-bagger of the season. All other hits were singles, including contributions from Heston Kjerstad, Hudson Haskin, and Cesar Prieto.

Chayce McDermott started on the mound. There was some good and some bad. One run and four strikeouts over 3.2 innings was good! But the five walks and 86 pitches was less so. The bullpen did a solid job behind him as Easton Lucas and Nolan Hoffman tossed 2.2 scoreless innings before Nick Richmond ran into some trouble (1.2 innings, three hits, two runs, one walk, three stikeouts), and then Xavier Moore got three more outs without incident.

High-A: Aberdeen IronBirds 7, Hudson Valley Renegades (Yankees) 4

Jackson Holliday’s minor league performances are a lot like pizza. Even when they’re bad, they’re still pretty good. The shortstop went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts here, but he also walked twice, stole a base, and scored a run.

Aberdeen had just five hits, but they walked 10 times as a team and benefitted from three errors by Hudson Valley. Creed Willems made his first start since being promoted and made it count, launching a three-run homer in his first at-bat at the level. Issac De Leon added a solo shot in the sixth. Dylan Beavers singled and stole a base, while Douglas Hodo III doubled and swiped his first bag at the level (he was also picked off once). Jud Fabian was 0-for-3 with a pair of walks and a stolen base.

Cooper Chandler was dynamite on the mound. Over five innings he gave up just one run (a solo homer) on four hits, one walk, and seven strikeouts). Kyle Virbitsky snagged a hold by allowing two runs over 3.1 innings, and Keagan Gillies wrapped things up with two-thirds of an inning.

Low-A: Fredericksburg Nationals 9, Delmarva Shorebirds 2

Delmarva’s pitching performance was soured by one tough outing from 20-year-old Randy Beriguete. The righty was unable to record an out in relief, but he did serve up six runs on five hits and two walks. Prior to that Juan Nunez gave them four innings as the starter, allowing three runs and striking out six. And the rest of the ‘pen was quite good. Cesar Alvarez went three scoreless and Alejandro Mendez struck out two in his perfect frame.

The Shorebirds hitters came up hacking. They struck out 15 times and went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position. Carter Young had the best day, going 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI. Erison Plancencia also doubled while Isaac Bellony and Angel Tejada had two hits apiece.

Box Scores

Thursday’s Schedule

• Norfolk: vs Gwinnett, 12:05. SP: Bruce Zimmermann (2-3, 4.05 ERA)
• Bowie: vs Harrisburg, 6:35. SP: Houston Roth (0-2, 6.07 ERA)
• Aberdeen: at Hudson Valley, 7:05, SP: Jean Pinto (1-1, 2.58 ERA)
• Delmarva: at Fredericksburg, 7:05, SP: Moises Chace (3-2, 4.82 ERA)