Orioles minor league recap 7/20: Mayo, Kjerstad, Prieto have big day in Norfolk loss

Triple-A: Gwinnett Stripers (Braves) 11, Norfolk Tides 10

It was a good day to be a hitter at Coolray Field in Gwinnett. Norfolk’s bats alone had 13 hits and five walks. Coby Mayo and Heston Kjerstad had three hits each. Mayo and César Prieto drove in three runs apiece. Ryan McKenna launched his second homer at Triple-A this season to go along with two walks. Connor Norby had two hits, a walk, and a stolen base. Joey Ortiz reached base thrice on a single and two walks.

Unfortunately, that means things were ugly on the pitching side of things. Justin Armbruester started, but got knocked out after allowing three runs and walking five in 1.2 innings. Noah Denoyer served up five runs in his 3.1 innings of work. Morgan McSweeney was the only Tides pitcher to get out unscathed, tossing two scoreless innings. Easton Lucas allowed two runs in his final action as a member of the Orioles organization. And Wandisson Charles took the loss by allowing the winning run to score after two hits and two walks in his one-third of an inning.

Double-A: Bowie Baysox 4, Harrisburg Senators (Nationals) 3 - F/10

Carlos Tavera was brilliant as the starting pitcher. Over five innings he kept Harrisburg off the scoreboard while allowing just one hit, two walks, and striking out eight. He gave way to Keagan Gillies, who coughed up the lead in his lone inning. But the final two arms out of the Bowie bullpen were great. Ignacio Feliz struck out three over two clean innings, and Tyler Burch got just one punchout in his pair of shutdown frames.

The Baysox bats did just enough to eke out the extra-inning win. Jackson Holliday had a rather pedestrian game, going 1-for-4 with a single, a strikeout, and a run scored. That run came in the fourth inning on a Ramon Rodriguez sacrifice fly. Bowie scored on another sac fly in the fifth, when Jacob Teter drove in Joseph Rosa. Rodriguez did more damage in the seventh with his third dong of the season, a solo shot. A Jud Fabian assist from center field in the top of the 10th kept the scored tied, and then Teter scored the walk-off winner on a Billy Cook single in bottom of the frame.

High-A: Aberdeen IronBirds 7, Bowling Green Hot Rods (Rays) 1

Just a nice, all-round team win here. Every member of the lineup contributed, and each pitcher that stepped on the mound had a good day.

Maxwell Costes brought the power with a double, a home run, three RBI, and two runs scored. Dylan Beavers loaded up the stat sheet with three hits, two RBI, and a stolen base. Collin Burns and Isaac Bellony had two hits a piece. Isaac De León worked three walks and scored a run.

Juan Nuñez started on the mound and delivered four innings, allowing just one run on a solo homer, three walks, and four strikeouts. Jared Beck followed with three scoreless innings, walking three and striking out two to snag the win. And Ryan Hennen earned the save with two perfect innings.

Low-A: Delmarva Shorebirds 2, Charleston RiverDogs 0

More nice pitching came from Delmarva, who needed just two pitchers to get through all nine innings. Luis De León made his debut at the level, threw the first four innings and struck out three. Moisés Chace tossed the final five frames, racking up eight strikeouts in the process.

Stiven Acevedo led the way on the offense with two hits and two runs. Carter Young and Samuel Basallo each drove in one run. Basallo’s lone hit was a triple. Trendon Craig worked a pair of walks and stole his 14th base.

Box Scores

Thursday’s Schedule

• Norfolk: at Gwinnett, 7:05. SP: Garrett Stallings (1-2, 5.59 ERA)
• Bowie: vs Harrisburg, 6:35. SP: TBD
• Aberdeen: vs Bowling Green, 7:05, SP: Cameron Weston (1-1, 1.47 ERA)
• Delmarva: vs Charleston, 7:05, SP: Juan De Los Santos (1-6, 4.67 ERA)
• DSL Orange, DSL Black, and FCL teams also play today