Orioles minor league recap 6/30: Norfolk overcomes 8-run deficit in 10-8 victory

Triple-A: Norfolk Tides 10, Charlotte Knights (White Sox) 8

Charlotte scored its eighth run of the game on a wild pitch in the fifth inning. The Knights went silent after that, and Norfolk mounted a comeback for the ages. Several of the usual suspects lifted the Tides to a 10-8 come-from-behind victory.

Heston Kjerstad drove in Norfolk’s first run with a double in the sixth. Joey Ortiz followed with an RBI single, and Josh Lester used a fielder’s choice to plate the third run. César Prieto officially halved the deficit by grounding into a force out that scored Ortiz.

Of course the Tides were not done. The absolutely stacked lineup proceeded to score four more runs in the same inning to even the score at eight. José Godoy scored Prieto to trim the lead to three, and Colton Cowser tied the game with an Earl Weaver special.

The Tides eventually recorded their third out in the sixth, but they wasted no time tacking on in the seventh. Ortiz provided the go-ahead run with an RBI double in the seventh, and Josh Lester drove in Ortiz for the 10th and final run.

Cowser, Kjerstad and Ortiz led the Tides with two hits apiece. There’s no denying that several big league teams would love to have any of the three on their major league roster right now.

Charlotte secured the early lead by tagging Drew Rom for all eight runs over 4.1 innings. Rom walked six batters and only struck out two.

Kyle Dowdy, Eduard Bazardo and Wandisson Charles combined for 4.2 scoreless innings. Dowdy allowed a hit over 1.2 innings, and that was it for the Knights. Bazardo struck out three in two clean innings.

A rehabbing Ryan Mountcastle finished 1-for-4 with a walk and a run scored.

Double-A: Somerset Patriots (Yankees) 11 Bowie Baysox 3

Bowie scored all three runs via solo shots. Anthony Servideo and Ramón Rodriguez went back to back in the third inning, and Donta’ Williams went deep in the fourth. Williams brought Bowie to within one, but Somerset ran away with crooked numbers in the sixth and the ninth.

Peter Van Loon took the loss after allowing four runs in four innings. Connor Gillispie replaced Van Loon and allowed five runs in 4.1 innings. Gillispie appeared to be in line to complete the game but failed to finish the ninth. Conner Loeprich entered and recorded the final two outs.

Coby Mayo and Jud Fabian both finished 1-for-4. Greg Cullen recorded the only multi-hit game for Bowie.

High-A: Aberdeen IronBirds 6, Winston-Salem Dash (White Sox) 2

Jacob Teter broke a 1-1 tie in the sixth inning with an RBI double. Aberdeen tacked on another run with an error, and Maxwell Costes extended the lead to three with a run scoring double.

Ryan Higgins led the IronBirds with a pair of hits, a homer, and three runs scored. Jacob Teter doubled and worked a pair of walks in the win.

Cooper Chandler tossed five strong innings for Aberdeen. Chandler allowed only two hits, one run, and struck out seven. Graham Firoved recorded a six-out save with three strikeouts.

Low-A: Delmarva Shorebirds 8, Lynchburg Hillcats (Guardians) 0

Delmarva jumped out to an eight run lead and actually managed to win the game (eat your heart out, Charlotte Knights). Trendon Craig struck first with an RBI double in the first, and Elio Prado immediately provided some cushion with a three-run bomb in the second inning. Craig finished 2-for-4, and Prado went an impressive 3-for-4 with two runs scored from the nine-hole.

A rehabbing Collin Burns tripled in a 2-for-5 effort, and Samuel Basallo launched his ninth home run.

Deivy Cruz moved to 5-1 on the season after five scoreless frames. Cruz allowed four hits, one walk, and struck out three. Juan De Los Santos matched Cruz in a tandem appearance. De Los Santos surrendered only two hits and struck out three over the final four innings.

Box scores can be found here

Friday’s Schedule

• Norfolk: vs Charlotte, 6:35. SP: Justin Armbruester (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
• Bowie: vs Somerset, 7:05. SP: TBD
• Aberdeen: vs Winston-Salem, 7:05, SP: Ryan Long (3-3, 2.31 ERA)
• Delmarva: at Lynchburg, 6:30. SP: Bradley Brehmer (2-2, 4.53 ERA)