Orioles minor league recap 9/11: Norfolk keeps piling on, Aberdeen/Delmarva seasons end

Triple-A: Norfolk Tides 11, Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (MIA) 2

For the second time in three days, the Tides scored 11 runs on the Jumbo Shrimp. Three came on one swing by Coby Mayo, his tenth home run in 50 games at Triple-A. It was a bomb:

Jackson Holliday doubled to lead off the game, scored, then reached three more times, with a single and two walks. Seems like he’s getting the hang of Triple-A pitching. Joseph Rosa drove in three runs himself with a double and an RBI groundout. Colton Cowser went 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs driven in. Lewin Díaz reached four times with a double, single and two walks. Heston Kjerstad and Maverick Handley went 2-for-5.

Cade Povich has had an up-and-down year, but he was great on Sunday, tossing 5.2 innings with just one run (unearned) allowed. He walked four but he struck out nine. Wandisson Charles allowed a run in two innings and Nick Vespi twirled a nice ninth, with a hit allowed but no runs.

Box Score

Double-A: New Hampshire Fisher Cats (TOR) 7, Bowie Baysox 6

A ninth-inning Bowie comeback came up just a run short. The Fisher Cats’ Juan Nunez (no, not that one—see the IronBirds’ recap, below) walked an astonishing four Baysox in a row, but New Hampshire yanked him just in time. Grayson Thurman got three consecutive outs, including on two strikeouts.

Billy Cook hit his 24^th home run of the season and also walked in a run in the sixth inning. Anthony Servideo also went deep. Donta’ Williams hit a two-run single in the bottom of the seventh. Max Wagner went hitless, but he walked three times. So did Jud Fabian. Silas Ardoin had two free passes. Come to think of it, Bowie hitters walked 12 times. That’s pretty bad if you’re a Fisher Cat.

Brandon Young (L, 0-2, 4.22 ERA) had a bad day, allowing five runs in four hits, including on three home runs. Dylan Heid and Kade Strowd allowed a run apiece. Keagan Gillies pitched a scoreless ninth.

Box Score

High A: Aberdeen IronBirds 4, Greenville Drives (BOS) 3

The IronBirds pulled off a walkoff win on the last day of their season. Tied 3-3, they would manufacture the winning run in the ninth. Elio Prado walked, advanced on a sac fly, took third on a single by Isaac de Leon, and scored the game-winner on a wild pitch. Pretty nice way to end the season.

The 19-year-old catcher Samuel Basallo has been on some kind of hot streak, and he kept it up in what was reportedly his last game at High-A. Basallo tripled and scored the IronBirds’ first run and added a single. He finishes the year with a 1.131 OPS in 27 games at High-A. Frederick Bencosme had an RBI single. Of three 2023 draft picks, Mac Horvath walked twice and scored, giving him a 1.082 OPS at this level, Enrique Bradfield singled, and Matthew Etzel had an RBI walk.

Starter Jean Pinto threw two scoreless. Jake Lyons allowed three runs in two innings. Juan Núñez, one of the prospects acquired from Minnesota for Jorge López last year, had a big four scoreless innings, and Reese Sharp vultured the win with a scoreless ninth inning.

The IronBirds finish the second half of the 2023 season in third place in the six-team South Atlantic League with a 34-31 record. They were 32-32 in the first half, giving them a 66-63 record overall.

Box Score

Low A: Fredericksburg Nationals 3, Delmarva Shorebirds 1

On their last game of the season, four Delmarva pitchers combined to allow three runs on just four hits, but the offense couldn’t do much.

Each of the F-Nats’ three runs started with a leadoff walks (those’ll hurt you). It wasn’t the fault of Teddy Sharkey, a seventh-rounder out of Coastal Carolina in 2023, who struck out three and allowed no hits and no runs in two innings. The Nats’ three runs were charged to Juan Rojas (L, 1-3, 6.39 ERA), who scattered two hits and a walk across three innings, Raúl Rangel, and Deivi Cruz, who each allowed one run over two innings.

The Shorebirds’ only run came in the sixth when Jake Cunningham singled home Stiven Acevedo. Though that hit put men on second and third for Delmarva with one out, a TT Bowens strikeout and Jalen Vasquez grounder ended the rally. On a positive note, Stiven Acevedo went 2-for-4 and Anderson De Los Santos had a double.

The Shorebirds finish fifth of six teams in the Carolina League with a 56-74 overall record and a 28-37 record in the second half.

Box Score

Tuesday’s Schedule

• Norfolk vs. Memphis, 6:35. Starter: TBD
• Bowie @ Harrisburg, 6:30. Starter: TBD

The Bowie Baysox have one more week of games and the Norfolk Tides have two more weeks before they head to the playoffs.