Triple-A: Norfolk Tides vs. Nashville Sounds (Brewers) — POSTPONED
This game was canceled due to wet grounds and will be made up as part of a Saturday doubleheader.
Double-A: Richmond Flying Squirrels (Giants) 4, Chesapeake Baysox 3
A 2-1 Baysox lead disappeared after a three-run top of the eighth for Richmond, with reliever Ryan Long coughing up an Earl Weaver special to Giants prospect Lisbel Diaz. Before that, starter Patrick Reilly had his most successful outing since returning from Tommy John surgery, holding the Flying Squirrels to one run in five solid innings. He walked three and struck out six.
The Chesapeake lineup managed
only five hits in this game. Wehiwa Aloy was the only batter with multiple knocks, going 2-for-4 with a double. The red-hot Aron Estrada was held hitless but contributed a sac fly and a walk.
Box score
High-A: Wilmington Blue Rocks (Nationals) 1, Frederick Keys 0 — Game 1, F/7
The Keys and Blue Rocks played to a scoreless tie until Wilmington walked it off in the bottom of the seventh (remember, doubleheader games in the minors are only seven innings). But you certainly can’t pin the loss on starter Kyson Witherspoon, who was absolutely brilliant in his third start since joining the organization in the Adley Rutschman trade. The right-hander pitched five hitless, scoreless innings, racking up eight strikeouts and walking three. It was the first hitless outing of his career and the second scoreless.
Unfortunately, Witherspoon got no help from the Keys offense, which had only three hits, all singles. Fellow Rutschman trade acquisition Enddy Azocar had one of them. The Keys drew six walks but went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position. Reliever Bradley Brehmer continued the Keys’ no-hit bid in the sixth inning, but in the seventh, he gave up a double and a Jacob Walsh walkoff single.
Box score
High-A: Wilmington Blue Rocks 2, Frederick Keys 1 — Game 2, F/7
In a makeup of Thursday’s rainout, Wilmington completed the doubleheader sweep with another low-offense, one-run victory. This time the Keys got only two hits, and all told, they went just 5-for-43 in the doubleheader. Not great! Again they had plenty of baserunners, thanks to seven walks, but they squandered nearly every scoring opportunity. They took another 0-fer with RISP and their only run scored on a double play.
Stephen Still (not the guy from Buffalo Springfield) struck out eight batters in four innings, but he gave up two runs, and on this night that was enough for him to be saddled with the loss. Once again it was Jacob Walsh who did all the damage with a two-run single. Walsh drove in all three of the Blue Rocks’ runs in the twin bill.
Box score
Low-A: Hickory Crawdads (Rangers) 3, Delmarva Shorebirds 0
Offense continued to be nonexistent for Orioles affiliates on this night. The Shorebirds were blanked by Crawdads pitchers Moises Morales, who worked six innings for the win, and Jake “Shrimp on the” Barbee, who earned a three-inning save. The Shorebirds actually didn’t have a problem getting hits — collecting eight in all — but couldn’t push a single one of them home. It didn’t help that all eight hits were singles, giving them very few chances with runners in scoring position. They also didn’t have any walks.
But there’s good news: Esteban Mejia had another solid (abbreviated) outing. He delivered 3.1 scoreless innings, struck out five, and — most promisingly — walked only one. The Shorebirds seem to be limiting Mejia to 2-3 inning outings to help him work out his season-long control problems, and it’s worked out well three times in a row. Reliever Brandon Downer gave up three runs, but righty Andrew Herbert tossed three scoreless.
Box score
Saturday’s scheduled games:
- Norfolk: vs. Nashville: doubleheader starting at 4:35 PM. Game 1 starter: Michael Forret (1-2, 5.77); Game 2 starter: TBD
- Chesapeake: vs. Richmond, 6:35 PM. Starter: JT Quinn (0-0, 2.25)
- Frederick: at Wilmington, 6:05 PM. Starter: Twine Palmer (4-3, 3.39)
- Delmarva: at Hickory, 7:00 PM. Starter: Francisco Morao (0-0, 3.46)
