Orioles minor league recap 9/23: Irvin, Voth struggle as Norfolk is blown out

Triple-A: Buffalo (Blue Jays) 9, Norfolk Tides 2

This was a promising enough game early on for Norfolk, as two of their first three batters reached base. That was Connor Norby with a walk and Colton Cowser with a single that moved Norby to third. Cowser then stole second base and the Bisons catcher threw the ball away, letting Norby score the first run of the game. Cowser got to third on the play, but could not be driven in.

Unfortunately for the Tides, this was 50% of its total run output in the game, and Buffalo had a lot more than that waiting for them. Buffalo scored three runs in each of the third and fourth innings. In the third, the Bison jumped on erstwhile Oriole Cole Irvin as four straight batters reached base to start the inning. Mixed in there was a Cowser fielding error that brought runners farther ahead than they should have been.

Buffalo got right back to it in the fourth, with singles by the first two batters and a sacrifice fly plating another Bison run. This sent Irvin packing from the game, not that his reliever, Ryan Watson, offered much relief, walking the first batter he saw and giving up a double to the next to score two more runs.

The final line on Irvin was 3.2 innings pitched with seven hits and three walks allowed, five runs (four earned). Don’t look at Darell Hernaiz’s Triple-A numbers this year. Later in the game, no-longer-40-man pitcher Austin Voth also struggled, giving up three runs in three innings.

While all of this was going on, the Tides offense wasn’t doing much. They finished the game with just six hits and the prospects of interest didn’t do much of that. Jackson Holliday and Coby Mayo were each 0-4. Cowser was 1-4, while Norby went 0-2 with a pair of walks. That snaps the streak of consecutive games with a homer for Norby at three. Two walks does still help the ol’ OBP. For the Kyle Stowers fans out there, he was 1-4.

Box score.

Saturday’s Scheduled Game

Norfolk is at Buffalo for a 4:05 game. Cade Povich is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Tides. This is the penultimate regular season game for Norfolk, who will start a playoff series on Tuesday.