Norfolk and Aberdeen won, Bowie lost a walkoff, and the Shorebirds almost got no-hit.
Triple-A: Norfolk Tides 9, Memphis Redbirds (Cardinals) 2
We’ll start with the bad news: the Tides are going to be without the services of #1 prospect Jackson Holliday for a few weeks. The Orioles announced on Friday that the second baseman is going on the injured list with elbow inflammation. The injury isn’t considered serious, but it’s still a bummer, and will delay his progress toward a major league return.
But the show must go on, and the Norfolk offense didn’t miss a beat in Holliday’s absence, plating seven runs in the fourth inning for a blowout win. Back-to-back homers by Billy Cook and Daniel Johnson started the fun, and the rest of the runs all scored with two outs. Anthony Servideo, making his Triple-A debut, laced an RBI single, Heston Kjerstad added a two-run double, and Cook, batting for the second time in the inning, drove home two more with a single. The top four hitters in the Tides’ lineup combined for eight hits, including two doubles apiece by Kjerstad and Johnson.
The ample run support made things easy for starter Brandon Young, not that he needed the help. The right-hander tossed five shutout innings, retiring 15 of the 16 batters he faced. Trey McGough followed with three scoreless frames before Wandisson Charles allowed two meaningless runs in the ninth.
Double-A: Harrisburg Senators (Nationals) 2, Bowie Baysox 1 (10 inn.)
It took 10 innings to settle this low-scoring affair, with Harrisburg ultimately walking off with the victory on an RBI double that plated the free runner. Still, it was a pretty well pitched game for the Baysox. Starter Kyle Brnovich allowed the club’s only earned run, working four solid innings, and relievers Morgan McSweeney, Ryan Hennen, and Dylan Heid combined for five scoreless. Between them, that quartet struck out 11 and walked only one.
The Bowie bats, however, didn’t show up. A Collin Burns third-inning solo homer provided their only run and one of just five hits. Samuel Basallo, playing first base, had a nice showing, with a double and a walk. Basallo has had a hit in all 11 of his starts in June. Outfield prospects Jud Fabian and Dylan Beavers were less successful, going 0-for-8 on this night.
High-A: Aberdeen IronBirds 6, Hickory Crawdads (Rangers) 4
Coby Mayo is back in a minor league lineup and doing what he does best: mashing taters. Mayo, making his second rehab start for Aberdeen as he works his way back from his rib injury, crushed a home run in his first at-bat. I look forward to him doing the same in Norfolk again soon, and hopefully the majors not long after.
What’s more, Mayo’s presence must have rubbed off on Enrique Bradfield Jr. The 2023 first-round pick, who had never hit a home run in his first 67 professional games, now has two dingers in the last three days after going back-to-back with Mayo in the first inning. Bradfield also had a single in this game, while Mayo added a double. The IronBirds broke a late 4-4 tie when Mac Horvath drove in a run on a triple and scored on Elio Prado’s single. Those runs came against Hickory reliever Jacob Maton, the brother of O’s farmhand Nick and Rays reliever Phil.
Jackson Baumeister’s start was nothing to write home about — four innings, four runs — but Zach Fruit had a sweet outing in long relief. The right-hander limited the Crawdads to just one hit in 4.1 scoreless innings, striking out six.
Low-A: Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (White Sox) 3, Delmarva Shorebirds 1
The Shorebirds almost made the wrong kind of history tonight. Kannapolis was three outs away from tossing a combined no-hitter — with starter Tommy Vail and Manuel Veloz keeping them out of the hits column through eight innings — before Angel Tejada led off the ninth with a single off Nick Altermatt. (Perhaps in an Altermatt reality, he would have finished the no-no.) The Cannon Ballers settled for a one-hit victory.
At least the Shorebirds’ pitching was decent, as three of their four hurlers worked scoreless outings, including Nestor German’s two hitless frames with five strikeouts. But Kannapolis cashed in three runs against Blake Money, which was more than enough for the win.
Saturday’s scheduled games:
- Norfolk: vs. Memphis, 6:35 PM. Starter: Julio Teheran (1-4, 9.57)
- Bowie: at Harrisburg, 6:00 PM. Starter: Seth Johnson (0-4, 2.75)
- Aberdeen: vs. Hickory, 7:05 PM. Starter: Levi Wells (0-4, 7.36)
- Delmarva: vs. Kannapolis, 7:05 PM. Starter: Riley Cooper (3-1, 2.70)