Orioles minor league recap 9/6: Jackson Holliday collects his first Triple-A hit in Tides loss

Triple-A: Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (Marlins) 9, Norfolk Tides 4

The good news out of Norfolk on Tuesday was that Jackson Holliday reached base twice in his Triple-A debut. The bad news was it wasn’t nearly enough to get the Tides a win against the Jumbo Shrimp.

Batting leadoff, Holliday grounded out to short in the bottom of the first and then flew out to center in his next AB. His second and third plate appearances went much better: the No.1 prospect in baseball worked a one out walk in the bottom of the 5th and then collected his first Triple-A hit in the 7th, dumping a hit into RF and then hustling into second for a double. However, leading off the bottom of the 9th, Holliday couldn’t spark the rally Norfolk needed, striking out in his final AB of the game.

The focus on Holliday’s debut takes some heat off of starter Justin Armbruester, who struggled through seven innings of work on Tuesday. Armbruester gave up a solo HR to the second batter he faced and things didn’t get much better after that. The same hitter—Jumbo Shrimp SS Jacob Amaya—took him deep again to lead off the top of the 4th and then two singles later Jacksonville took a 3-0 lead. The Tides got one of those runs backs on a Heston Kjerstad solo HR, but Armbruester was roughed up for another four runs in the top of the 5th. After three consecutive Jumbo Shrimp singles pushed their lead to 4-1, Armbruester gave up his third HR, a three run blast that put Jacksonville up 7-1. The 24-year-old righty finished with a final line of seven innings, eight hits allowed, seven runs (six earned) and seven Ks.

The Tides got as close as 7-4 after two runs in the bottom of 5th and another run in the bottom of the 7th. However, a rough outing for Tyler Wells in the top of the 9th put things out of reach for a Norfolk comeback attempt. Wells walked two batters and then gave up a two out triple to bring home Jacksonville’s final two runs of the game. After giving up two runs while only getting two outs, Wells’s ERA at Norfolk is now 6.75 in three appearances.

Box Score

Double-A: Bowie Baysox 8, New Hampshire Fisher Cats 5 (F/11)

After Bowie tied the game in the bottom of the 8th inning, Billy Cook hit a three-run walk-off HR in the bottom of 11th to steal the game from New Hampshire. The Fisher Cats took an early lead in the top of the 3rd when DH Riley Tirotta hit a solo HR to right field. Bowie quickly erased that lead with two runs of its own in the bottom of the 3rd. Cook worked a one-out walk and immediately came around to score on an RBI triple from Dylan Beavers. The 2022 first round pick then scored when his draft classmate Jud Fabian lifted a sac fly to left field.

Bowie added another run in the 4th thanks to its first long ball of the game. With one out, 3B Greg Cullen launched a solo homer to right, giving the Baysox a 3-1 lead. Bowie then turned to small ball in the 5th to increase that lead even more. Cook worked another one-out walk to set the table. Fabian singled to move Cook to second. John Rhodes almost ended the scoring threat but reached on wild pitch third strike. Donta’ Williams then worked a bases loaded walk to expand the Norfolk lead to 4-1.

That lead was quickly erased with a three-run inning for New Hampshire in the 6th. Bowie reliever Kade Strowd replaced starter Brandon Young and everything fell apart for the Baysox. Strowd gave up singles to the first two batters he faced and then walked his third batter to load the bases. Strowd almost recovered, striking out the next two Fisher Cats, but he couldn’t fully Houdini his way out of the jam. New Hampshire 1B Rainer Nunez doubled to deep center field, clearing the bases and tying the game at four.

The Fisher Cats then took the lead with some luck in the 7th. Reliever Ryan Hennen walked the leadoff hitter, but that base runner was immediately caught stealing. However, Hennen then gave up back to back singles, and on a throwing error by Gilbert Lara the lead runner came around to score.

That set things up for the dramatic conclusion. Down 5-4 in the 8th, Williams led off the inning with a walk and Cullen and catcher Silas Ardoin both singled to load the bases. Second baseman Anthony Servideo then launched a sac fly to center to bring home Williams and tie the game. However, the Baysox couldn’t add any more runs as Lara grounded into an inning ending double play. Dylan Heid replaced Hennen in the top of the 9th and proceeded to work three straight scoreless innings. In the bottom of the 11th, with the Manfred Man on second, New Hampshire intentionally walked Servideo. That perfectly set the stage for Cook, who rocketed the game-winning blast to left field to deliver a win for the Baysox.

Box Score

High-A: Aberdeen IronBirds 11, Greenville Drive (Red Sox) 7

The IronBirds used a six-run 6th inning to put the game out of reach and take a win in the series opener against the Drive. Greenville took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the 3rd after a two-out double followed by a single. Aberdeen quickly responded with a pair of solo HRs in the bottom of the 3rd from Elio Prado and Mac Horvath, taking a 2-1 lead into the 4th inning.

That lead would hold until the 6th inning, when Aberdeen ran into some trouble. Reliever Jake Lyons came in for starter Juan Nuñez, and after getting the first batter he faced to fly out, Lyons gave up a solo HR that tied the game. Greenville seemed intent on hitting for the cycle in reverse against Lyons, as the next batter hit a triple and then a ground-rule double brought him home to give the Drive a 3-2 lead. However, Lyons prevent them from completing the cycle and go the last two outs to escape the inning without further damage.

That’s when the fireworks really started for the IronBirds offense. Enrique Bradfield Jr. led off the bottom of the 6th by reaching on a throwing error, setting up Horvath for his second HR, a two-run blast that restored Aberdeen’s lead. After back-to-back lineouts, Frederick Bencosme started a two-out rally with a single to right. Carter Young then doubled to score Bencosme and give Aberdeen a 5-3 lead. That lead continued to grow with an RBI double from Matthew Etzel, and Prado completed Aberdeen’s 6th-inning cycle by tripling to right to make things 7-3. Isaac De Leon then capped off the rally by bringing Prado home on a bunt single to increase the lead to 8-3.

Greenville got three of those runs back in the top of the 7th, but Aberdeen got another two runs in the bottom of the frame to reestablish a four-run advantage. The two teams traded a run apiece in the 8th, before Antonio Velez worked a scoreless 9th to close things out for the IronBirds. Horvath stole the show in his High-A debut, going 2-4 with the two HRs, three RBIs and three runs scored, but fellow debutants Bradfield Jr. and Etzel each made their own sizable impacts.

Box Score

Low-A: Delmarva Shorebirds 4, Fredericksburg Nationals 0

The Shorebirds took a no-hitter into the 7th and limited the Nationals to only two singles in their shutout win on Tuesday. The effort was a banner day for a number of Delmarva pitchers, beginning with 19-year-old starter Deivy Cruz. The left-hander from the Dominican Republic collected five Ks over 3.2 innings—though he struggled a bit with his command, issuing three walks. Kelvin LaRoche relieved and kept the no hitter going, collecting four outs, two Ks and working around two walks.

Former 19th-round pick Adam Stauffer then took over and that’s where the no-hitter ended. After working a perfect top of the 6th with 2 Ks, Stauffer got the first two outs of the 7th before giving up a single to Fredericksburg No.9 hitter Phillip Glasser. Stauffer then got a one-pitch groundout to end the frame, but the no-no was no more. Teddy Sharkey worked the last two innings for Aberdeen, giving up his own two-out single in the 8th before ending things with a hitless 9th. Overall, the Shorebirds’ pitching staff in the two-hitter allowed seven walks while striking out 11—but they only allowed four runners to reach second base.

Offensively, the Shorebirds’ runs came in pairs. Right fielder Angel Tejada led off the bottom of the 3rd with a double, moved to third on a wild pitch and came home to score on a Luis Valdez single. Valdez then stole second and Jalen Vasquez doubled to right to bring Valdez home and give Delmarva a 2-0 lead. The Shorebirds doubled that lead in the 8th, starting a rally with a leadoff walk from Jake Cunningham and a TT Bowens single. Catcher Randy Florentino singled two batters later to score Cunnigham and a Tejada groundout gave the Shorebirds their second run of the inning and a 4-0 lead.

Box Score

Wednesday’s Scheduled Games

• Norfolk Tides vs. Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, 6:35pm ET. John Means vs. Chi Chi Gonzalez
• Bowie Baysox vs. New Hampshire Fisher Cats, 6:35pm ET. Peter Van Loon vs. CJ Van Eyk
• Aberdeen IronBirds vs. Greenville Drive, 7:05pm ET. TBD vs. Zach Penrod
• Delmarva Shorebirds vs. Fredericksburg Nationals, Game 1, Juan De Los Santos vs. Liam Sullivan
• Delmarva Shorebirds vs. Fredericksburg Nationals, Game 2. Moisés Chace vs. Jefrem Leon