Orioles minor league recap 5/21: Jackson Holliday continues to rake

Two big winners, two losers, and a fair number of home runs

Triple-A: Norfolk Tides 12, Syracuse Mets 7

The Tides won yet another game thanks to their prolific offense, and it’s good that they have one because the starting pitching and defense were not there tonight.

Bruce Zimmermann made the start and lasted just three innings. He gave up all seven runs, but just four were allowed. The Tides made three errors in this game. An error by Robbie Glendinning allowed the second inning to continue, after which Zimmermann gave up three runs on three hits, a walk, and a wild pitch. His final line was 3 IP, 7 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K.

The bullpen pitched the final six innings scoreless which gave the Tides offense the chance to make up the runs. They did just that and then some, including putting up six runs in the bottom of the third.

It was a big night for Josh Lester, who had two doubles and a home run. Lewin Díaz also homered in the game, and the team hit a whopping eight doubles. Connor Norby got on base four times out of the leadoff spot with two doubles and two walks. Jordan Westburg continued his onslaught with a single, a double, and a walk. Kyle Stowers was 1-for-4.

Box Score

Double-A: Altoona Curve (PIT) 6, Bowie Baysox 4 – F/6

This game was called in the sixth inning due to rain, otherwise I’m sure the Baysox would have staged a comeback.

Starting pitcher Houston Roth struck out six batters in four innings but that’s where the good news ends. He gave up four runs on five hits and his walks.

The Baysox offense had nine hits on the day including four doubles, one each from Coby Mayo, John Rhodes, Anthony Servideo, and Billy Cook. Cook and Rhodes were the only Baysox with a two-hit game. Heston Kjerstad went 1-for-3 as the DH.

Box Score

High-A: Aberdeen IronBirds 12, Winston-Salem Dash (CWS) 5

It’s Jackson Holliday’s world, we’re all just living in it. After being given the day off on Friday, Holliday came back with two more hits, a double and his fourth High-A home run. He is now OPS’ing 1.240 since his promotion.

But Holliday didn’t have the biggest offensive night for the IronBirds. Frederick Bencosme and Jacob Teter both had three-hit games and Adam Retzbach tripled, homered, and picked up five RBI. Teter was playing for the Baysox last week so that’s a bummer for him.

Starter Jean Pinto gave up four runs in three innings and allowed a whopping nine hits. He walked one batter.

Box Score

Low-A: Charleston RiverDogs 3 (TBR), Delmarva Shorebirds 2

The Shorebirds fell behind early when starting pitcher Moises Chace gave up three runs in the second inning on an unfortunate sequence of events. Three straight singles followed by a walk, a run-scoring groundout, and a balk. Chace did pick a batter off of second in the inning, which is pretty cool.

The 19-year-old came out after that inning and the relief pitchers were strong, but the offense couldn’t muster enough runs to make it matter.

The Birds had just five hits in the game, just one for extra bases. 6th round pick in 2022, Douglas Hodo, singled and doubled in the game. The team’s two runs scored on a bases-loaded double play and a single from Stiven Acevedo. Samuel Basallo did not start but went 0-for-1 as a pinch hitter.

Box Score

Today’s Schedule

• Norfolk vs Syracuse, 1:05 pm. Starter: Keegan Akin
• Bowie vs Altoona, 1:05 pm. Starter: Jacob Armbruester
• Aberdeen @ Winston-Salem, 4 pm. Starter: TBD
• Delmarva @ Charleston, 5:05 pm. Starter: Jared Beck