Orioles minor league recap 6/20: Chris Vallimont strikes out 10 in five innings for Bowie

Norfolk and Aberdeen blasted their way to wins on Sunday, with Rylan Bannon and DJ Stewart going long for the Tides and Coby Mayo hitting his 12th home run of the season.

Triple-A: Norfolk Tides 8, Syracuse Mets 6

After consecutive losses on Friday and Saturday, Norfolk finally stopped Syracuse’s assault, but Blaine Knight still had a rough day at the office, getting bombed for six runs in 2.2 innings. Only two were earned, however, with four runs scoring with two outs in the fourth after 2B Terrin Vavra failed to field a grounder and 1B Patrick Dorrian dropped a pop foul. As a pitcher, that must be annoying. But after Knight exited, Ryan Conroy, Logan Gillaspie and Rico Garcia combined for 6.1 scoreless innings, just three hits allowed between them.

The Tides supplied a balanced attack on offense. They leapt out to a 3-0 lead when Vavra, Jordan Westburg, and Gunnar Henderson got aboard and catcher Jacob Nottingham sent them home with a bases-clearing double. Rylan Bannon and DJ Stewart chipped in with solo home runs and Westburg and Stowers added an RBI apiece on a double and a groundout. Westburg went 2-for-3 with a walk. Henderson walked twice. And Bannon and Stewart each had two hits.

Box Score

Double-A: Binghamton Rumble Ponies (Mets) 8, Bowie Baysox 4

The Baysox wasted a gem from Chris Vallimont, picked up off waivers from Minnesota on May 25. Back with Minnesota, Vallimont got off to a horrible start to the season but he seems to have taken to Bowie: in three starts since arriving, he has an 0.69 ERA with 18 K’s in 13 innings. Today Vallimont struck out 10 batters in just five innings, allowing two hits and one walk. Have yourself a day, ValliSwag!

It was too bad, then, that reliever Jensen Elliott had a bad game and Easton Lucas a worse one. Elliott took the loss with three runs allowed in the sixth and Lucas allowed five more.

On offense, Bowie got contributions from César Prieto (1-for-4, RBI single), JD Mundy (2-run double), and Andrew Daschbach, who walked with the bases loaded. Hudson Haskin (.767 OPS) doubled and scored a run.

Box Score

High-A: Aberdeen IronBirds 7, Jersey Shore BlueClaws (Phillies) 6

A day after pitching a combined no-hitter, Aberdeen won a slugfest. Coby Mayo (O’s #7 prospect) brought the lumber, hitting his 12^th home run of the season into a stiff wind. The blast ties him with Ryan Mountcastle, Anthony Santander, Kyle Stowers, and Jordan Westburg for the organizational lead. Nice company.

Right fielder Davis Tavarez had an even better day, going 3-for-4 with 5 RBI and a home run of his own. John Rhodes walked and scored twice, but Colton Cowser went 0-for-4. Can’t win ‘em all.

Aberdeen starter Carlos Tavera had a lousy day (2.0 IP, 5 ER), but the rest of the ‘pen picked him up. In particular, Ignacio Feliz threw four dominant innings, striking out five and allowing just one hit. Here’s Feliz at work:

Box Score

Low-A: Salem Red Sox 12, Delmarva Shorebirds 11

Delmarva hitters kept scoring runs, but Delmarva pitchers kept giving them up. Down 10-7 in the ninth, the Shorebirds put up a valiant four-run inning to surge ahead 11-10. But then they handed the lead right back, as Luis Beltrán allowed the game-winning two runs in the bottom of the ninth. Starter Juan de los Santos threw 2.1 innings and allowed four runs.

At least the offense had a good day. For a third night in a row, Heston Kjerstad stood out, with three hits and three RBIs in five plate appearances. With a .423 average and 1.005 OPS, Kjerstad seems pretty comfortable with what he’s facing in Single-A pitching. New guy Frederick Bencosme, promoted from FCL on June 9, went 5-for-5 today with a double and two RBIs. Catcher Wilkin Grullon went 3-for-4 and walked once. And Mishael Deson had two hits and drove in 3 RBIs.

Box Score

There are no scheduled games on Monday.