Triple-A: Nashville Sounds (Brewers) 4, Norfolk Tides 3 (F/10)
Enrique Bradfield Jr.’s Triple-A debut left a little to be desired, as the speedster went 0-for-5 and the Tides lost in extra innings.
EBJ didn’t register a stat for Norfolk until the bottom of the 10th inning, when he started on second as the Manfred Man, stole third and scored on a Vimael Machín RBI groundout. That productive out from Machín cut the Nashville advantage to one, but Norfolk couldn’t bring the tying run home. With Terrin Vavra on second as the tying run, José Barrero flew out to center
before Jud Fabian struck out looking to end the game.
Machín was the only real offensive catalyst for the Tides on Tuesday. With Norfolk trailing 2-0 in the 3rd, the former Oakland A came up with two on and two outs. He proceeded to launch a double deep into the right center gap, bringing home both runners and tying the game at 2-2. Machín finished the game 1-for-4 with all three Tides’ RBIs.
The game would remain tied until the top of the 10th, when Nashville’s Manfred Man stole second and the scored on a sac fly two batters later. The Sounds tacked on the eventual winning run when infielder Freddy Zamora stole third and scored on a throwing error by reliever Anthony Nunez.
Double-A: Chesapeake Baysox 5, Harrisburg Senators (Nationals) 1
Thomas Sosa got the Baysox off to a hot start with a 1st inning blast, and Chesapeake never looked back in a wire-to-wire victory over the Senators.
With two outs in the bottom of the 1st, Creed Willems worked a walk to extend the inning and bring up Sosa. The 20-year-old OF then jumped on a 2-2 pitch on the outer third, pulling the ball over the right field fence for a two-run bomb. Not bad for his first career Double-A AB.
That gave Chesapeake a 2-0 lead that Willems would help extend in the 3rd. With one out, Austin Overn singled to left and promptly stole second. Aron Estrada moved Overn over on a ground ball single through the left side, which allowed Willems to lay down a squeeze bunt to score Overn from third and give the Baysox a 3-0 lead.
We’d see a little more small ball in the 4th, as back-to-back singles to start the inning landed Griff O’Ferrall on third. Brandon Butterworth collected an RBI on a productive out, grounding into a 3-6 fielder’s choice that scored O’Ferrall. Sosa would add the fifth and final run in the 7th with a two-out RBI single, and the newly promoted prospect finished the evening 2-for-4 with three RBIs and five total bases.
The run support backed up a strong outing from towering right-hander Blake Money. The LSU product posted a line of 5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 4 BB and 2 K to continue his run of good form. Money now has a 3.00 ERA over his last 15 innings and looks like he’s starting to figure out life at Double-A. Tuesday saw an uncharacteristically low strikeout number from Money, as it was the first time all season he’s registered less than three Ks in a start.
High-A: Aberdeen IronBirds 4, Wilmington Blue Rocks (Nationals) 2
Wellington Aracena continued his string of strong performances, leading the IronBirds to a series-opening win over the Blue Rocks.
After posting a line of 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R (1 ER), 1 BB and 4 Ks on Tuesday, the 20-year-old has a 2.35 ERA since coming to the Orioles from the Mets in the Gregory Soto trade. Command concerns have always been the biggest question facing Aracne as a prospect. In line with that, his most impressive stat from Tuesday was not that he lasted through six innings, but that he did so while only walking one opposing batter.
Offensively, the IronBirds couldn’t crack Wilmington starter Peyton Glavine (son of Hall of Famer Tom Glavine), but they did get to the Blue Rocks bullpen. Trailing 2-0, Colin Tuft led off the top of the 4th with a single before Anderson De Los Santos and Victor Figueroa walked to load the bases. Elis Cuevas then singled to right to score two and tie the game, before Maikol Hernández hit a sac fly to give Aberdeen a 3-2 lead.
Cuevas would help the IronBirds tack on an insurance run in the 6th. The speedy outfielder led off the inning with a walk and then stole second. He moved to third on a Hernández groundout and then came home to score on a Ryan Stafford RBI single.
Low-A: Lynchburg Hillcats (Guardians) 14, Delmarva Shorebirds 2
The Shorebirds trialed 8-0 before they ever got a run on the board, as they were thoroughly dominated in their series-opening loss to the Hillcats.
It was an especially disappointing evening for starter Twin Palmer. The lone player the Orioles got back in their Ramón Urías trade with Houston, Palmer posted an ugly line of 4 IP, 10 H, 8 R (7 ER), 0 BB and 2 K. It was death by a thousand singles for Palmer, as eight of the 10 hits he allowed were singles. The only silver lining from his bad outing came from the fact that he didn’t allow a walk or a homer.
The only two Shorebird runs came in the 3rd. Wehiwa Aloy led off the inning with a triple to center field, but was then cut down at the plate when RJ Austin grounded into a fielder’s choice. Austin would atone for the missed opportunity by stealing second and third and then scored when Ike Irish reached on an error. Back-to-back singles scored Irish to make the score 8-2, but Brayden Smith killed any thoughts of a rally by grounding into an inning-ending double play.
Aloy was the only bright spot for Delmarva on Tuesday. The Golden Spikes winner finished a home run shy of the cycle, doubling to lead off the 1st, tripling to lead off the 3rd and singling with two outs in the 4th. The 34th overall pick in the 2025 draft is hitting .303 with a .903 OPS in 16 games for Delmarva, and likely isn’t destined to stay at Low-A for long.
Wednesday’s Scheduled Games
Norfolk Tides vs. Nashville Sounds, 6:35pm ET (Bruce Zimmermann vs. Scott Blewett)
Chesapeake Baysox vs. Harrisburg Senators, 6:35pm ET (Zach Fruit vs. Alex Clemmey)
Aberdeen IronBirds at Wilmington Blue Rocks, 6:35pm ET (TBD vs. Travis Sthele)
Delmarva Shorebirds vs. Lynchburg Hillcats, 7:05pm ET (Kiefer Lord vs. Joey Oakie)
