The top pick in last year’s draft already looks too good for Aberdeen, and Norfolk continues to be the best minor league team in the world.
Triple-A: Norfolk Tides 3, Syracuse Mets 0
Kyle Bradish and Dylan Bundy were once involved in opposite sides of the same trade. On Wednesday night, Bradish was dazzling on the Camden Yards mound while Dylan Bundy was ejected after three innings at Harbor Park for using sticky stuff. Baseball can be oh so cruel sometimes.
Josh Lester did most of the damage for the Tides in this one. The third baseman went 3-for-4 with a double, a home run, and two RBI. Lewin Díaz added a single and two walks. Connor Norby, Jordan Westburg, and Kyle Stowers combined to go 0-for-19 with two walks and two strikeouts.
The pitching effort was stupendous for Norfolk. Chris Vallimont tossed 5.2 scoreless frames while striking out seven. His season ERA is down to 2.97. Things then turned over to the capable hands of the bullpen. On this night that was Darwinzon Hernández, Eduardo Bazardo, and Nick Vespi, who combined for 3.1 one-hit innings.
Double-A: Altoona Curve (Pirates) 11, Bowie Baysox 2
Cade Povich’s line looks rough: four innings, three runs, four hits, three walks. But most of the damage was done in the very first inning. He allowed just one hit after that and left the game after 71 pitches, two short of his season high. Bad defense later in the game didn’t help matters. A pair of throwing errors from Noelberth Romero and a dropped foul ball by Heston Kjerstad led to five unearned runs between Connor Gillispie and Conner Loeprich.
Both of Bowie’s runs scored in a Heston Kjerstad single in the sixth inning. TT Bowens was the only member of the lineup with multiple hits, two singles. As a team the Baysox went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position.
High-A: Aberdeen IronBirds 13, Winston-Salem Dash (White Sox) 3
Seems like Jackson Holliday can play a little baseball. He absolutely loaded up the box score in this game, going 5-for-6 with two triples, a double, five RBI, four runs scored, and a stolen base. He’s only been at Aberdeen for three weeks, but it doesn’t look like much a challenge considering his 1.219 OPS.
Other members of the lineup did contribute, of course. Jud Fabian had two hits, including a double, two RBI, and a run. Max Wagner scored four times and walked twice. Luis Valdez and Dylan Beavers both stole two bags apiece.
The IronBirds starter was Trace Bright. He allowed three runs in his first inning and followed with two shutout innings to wrap up his day. Dylan Heid followed and loaded the bases on three walks before Hayden Nierman escaped. And then Ryan Long took over to toss the final five shutout innings, striking out five, and snagging the win in the process.
Low-A: Delmarva Shorebirds 6, Charleston RiverDogs (Rays) 4
A bad first inning for Deivy Cruz prevented him from getting the win. Over four innings he allowed four runs (all in that first inning) on seven hits, three walks, and six strikeouts. Fortunately, Juan De Los Santos was perfect in relief and went five hitless innings, walking one and striking out six.
The entire Delmarva lineup got involved in this one. Adam Crampton had two doubles; Stiven Acevedo, Douglas Hodo, and Samuel Basallo each had one. Hodo and Anderson De Los Santos both swiped a base. Luis Gonzalez drove in a pair on two hits. And Elio Prado reached base three times: two singles and a walk.
Thursday’s Schedule
- Norfolk: vs Syracuse, 12:05. SP: Spenser Watkins (2-1, 4.15 ERA)
- Bowie: vs Altoona, 6:35. SP: TBD
- Aberdeen: at Winston-Salem, 7:00, SP: TBD
- Delmarva: at Charleston, 7:05, SP: Bradley Brehmer (2-0, 3.24 ERA)