Orioles minor league recap 7/7: Willems and Holliday lead Aberdeen, De Los Santos blasts grand slam at Delmarva

Triple-A: Durham Bulls (Rays) 6, Norfolk Tides 4

Norfolk led the game 3-1 but managed to let the game slip away. Ryan Mountcastle drove in Norfolk’s first run with a single in the second. Mountcastle finished 1-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts.

Six different batters recorded Norfolk’s six hits. Connor Norby and Maverick Handley tallied RBI singles in the fourth. Heston Kjerstad finished 1-for-3 and also worked a walk. Joey Ortiz and Ryan McKenna notched Norfolk’s only extra-base hits with a pair of doubles.

Justin Armbruester allowed five runs and failed to complete the fifth inning. Armbruester allowed 8 hits, 3 walks, and struck out 6. Ofreidy Gómez tossed two shutout innings out of the bullpen.

Double-A: Richmond Flying Squirrels (Giants) 4, Bowie Baysox 0

Bowie managed only two hits against four different Richmond pitchers. Jud Fabian tripled in the third but obviously never reached home. Donta’ Williams never advanced after a two-out single in the second.

Carlos Tavera took the loss despite allowing only one run over five innings. Tavera walked five batters but only allowed two hits. He struck out four.

Conner Loeprich allowed three runs in two innings of relief. Keagan Gillies tossed a clean eighth inning for the Baysox.

High-A: Aberdeen IronBirds 11, Greensboro Grasshoppers (Pirates) 7

Aberdeen provided just about all of the good vibes on the farm last night. The IronBirds scored in six different innings, but their four runs in the eighth proved the most crucial. Aberdeen reliever Reese Sharp allowed four runs in the bottom of the seventh, but Jackson Holliday quickly evened the score with an RBI single in the top of the eighth.

Aberdeen kept its foot on the gas, and Creed Willems seized the lead for good with a three-run homer. Willems finished 2-for-5 with four RBIs, and Holliday went 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.

Maxwell Costes led all the IronBirds with three hits. Costes capped the game with a solo shot in the top of the ninth. Frederick Bencosme and isaac De León both recorded multi-hit games.

Low-A: Fredericksburg Nationals 8, Delmarva Shorebirds 4

Delmarva scored all four of its runs in the sixth inning. Samuel Basallo worked a leadoff walk, Trendon Craig reached on an error, and Noelberth Romero walked to load the bases. With the ShoreBirds trailing 4-0, Anderson De Los Santos gave Delmarva new life with a grand slam.

Unfortunately, the bullpen let things slip after that. Ángel Vargas and Alejandro Méndez both allowed a pair of runs in the eighth and ninth innings to let Fredericksburg steal the show.

Romero finished 2-for-2 with a double and two walks.

Box scores can be found here

Friday’s scheduled games:

• Norfolk: at Durham, 6:35 PM. Starter: Garrett Stallings (0-1, 3.18 ERA)
• Bowie: at Richmond, 6:35 PM. Starter: Jean Pinto (0-1, 3.38 ERA)
• Aberdeen: at Greensboro, 6:30 PM. Starter: TBD
• Delmarva: vs. Fredericksburg, 7:05 PM. Starter: Zack Showalter (0-0, 1.23 ERA)