The Baysox also rallied for a victory over the Harrisburg Senators, while Aberdeen lost to Wilmington and Norfolk got rained out.
Triple-A: Norfolk Tides at St. Paul Saints (Twins)—PPD. (Rain)
The Tides and Saints were rained out on Tuesday in Minnesota. They’ll make up the game as part of a doubleheader tomorrow, May 22nd.
Double-A: Chesapeake Baysox 3, Harrisburg Senators (Nationals) 2
The Baysox rallied for the winning run in the top of the 9th and shut down the Nationals in the bottom half to secure a win in the series opener.
With the game tied at 2-2, Douglas Hodo III walked to the lead off the 9th. The Baysox LF stole second to immediately give Chesapeake a runner in scoring position. Adam Retzbach then grounded a ball to shortstop, but Harrisburg SS Kevin Made threw the ball away, allowing Hodo to score. Chesapeake would get runners at second and third with two outs, but couldn’t add an insurance run.
Baysox closer Keagan Gillies came in and quickly got two outs on a flyout and a strikeout. Maxwell Romero Jr. singled with two outs to put the tying run on base, but Gillies got Jared McKenzie to line out to right to seal the Baysox win.
Chesapeake had to come from behind after going down 2-0 in the 2nd inning. The Baysox got those runs back in the 4th thanks to some small ball. Frederick Bencosme started the inning by reaching on an error, advanced to second on a groundout and moved to third on a Hodo single. Retzbach then picked up an RBI on a 4-3 groundout before Hudson Haskin brought Hodo home with a single to right field.
Hodo led the Baysox offensively with two singles, two runs and two stolen bases, his ninth and 10th steals of the year. Chesapeake got 2.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER and 5 Ks from starter Juan Nuñez as the 24-year-old continues to adjust to Double-A. Even better was reliever Peter Van Loon, who tossed three scoreless innings with four Ks.
High-A: Wilmington Blue Rocks (Nationals) 4, Aberdeen IronBirds 3
The IronBirds gave up three runs in the top of the 7th as the Blue Rocks scored a come-from-behind victory in the series opener.
After Aberdeen reliever Riley Cooper got the last out in the 5th and worked a scoreless 6th, he came back out in the top of the 7th. Cooper walked the leadoff batter, and then gave up back-to-back singles to load the bases. The 23-year-old did get Elijah Nunez to ground into a force out at home for the first out, but Seaver King cut the IronBirds lead to 3-2 on sac fly.
Aberdeen then pulled Cooper for Alejandro Méndez, who gave up a double to the first batter he faced as Wilmington took a 4-3 lead. Suddenly trailing, the IronBirds would only get one base runner across the 7th, 8th and 9th and never came close to mounting a comeback.
The IronBirds had taken the lead earlier thanks to an Austin Overn two-run homer in the 4th and an Aron Estrada RBI double in the 5th. Estrada continues to pace the IronBirds offensively, and is hitting .311 with a .784 OPS after going 2-4 with a single and double Tuesday.
Low-A: Delmarva Shorebirds 11, Salem Red Sox 9 (F/11)
Both the Shorebirds and Red Sox scored three runs in the 10th inning, but Delmarva got the last laugh, scoring two in the 11th to take Tuesday’s contest.
With the game tied at 6-6 in the 10th, Alfredo Velásquez singled to drive home Delmarva’s Manfred Man and give the Shorebirds a 7-6 lead. Braylin Tavera then doubled down the right field line to drive home two more runs and expand Delmarva’s lead to 9-6.
That lead was short-lived, as Starlyn Nunez singled home Salem’s Manfred Man before Frederik Jimenez blasted a two-run homer to tie the game at nine all. In the 11th, Raylin Ramos reached on a fielder’s choice before Elis Cuevas walked to load the bases.
With two outs, Andrés Nolaya walked to force in the Shorebirds’ 10th run, before Tavera worked another walk to stretch the lead to 11-9. In the bottom of the 11th, the Red Sox moved their Manfred Man to third on a flyout before ending the game on a flyout/throw-out at the plate double play.
Tavera led the way offensively for the Shorebirds, going 3-5 with a triple, four RBIs, two walks and two runs. Designated hitter Yasmil Bucce also had a strong performance for Delmarva, going 2-5 with his fourth homer and 16th and 17th RBIs on the season.
Wednesday’s Scheduled Games
Norfolk Tides at St. Paul Saints, 7:37pm ET (Thaddeus Ward vs. Cory Lewis)
Chesapeake Baysox at Harrisburg Senators, 11:00am ET (Trace Bright vs. Bryce Conley)
Aberdeen IronBirds vs. Wilmington Blue Rocks, 7:05pm (TBD vs. Jackson Kent)
Delmarva Shorebirds at Salem Red Sox, 6:35pm ET (Sebastian Gongora vs. Ben Hansen)