Orioles minor league recap 6/23: Norfolk walks eight times in win

The Tides were the lone winners in a rain-soaked night that saw Justin Armbruester make his Double-A debut and Zach Watson hit a home run.

Triple-A: Norfolk Tides 7, Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs (Phillies) 6

Spenser Watkins started here, but tossed just one scoreless inning. The Orioles may need him later this week, so they treated this game like a glorified bullpen day. Bruce Zimmermann came next and struggled, at least right away. In his first inning of work he allowed five runs on five hits (three doubles), a walk, and a balk. It was ugly. But he settled down from there to keep the Iron Pigs off the scoreboard between the third and sixth innings while striking out six. Marcos Diplán struck out four over his 1.1 innings, but also allowed a run on three hits and two walks. Morgan McSweeney nabbed the win with his 1.2 scoreless innings to close things out.

Norfolk’s offense did not get going until the fifth inning, when they opened up the frame with a trio of walks followed by a Shed Long Jr. two-run single. Two more walks in the sixth inning set up an RBI base hit for Anthony Bemboom. Jonathan Araúz tied the game in the eighth inning on a single to score a pair. And then it was an RBI double from Jordan Westburg and a run-scoring sac fly from Gunnar Henderson to give the Tides the win.

D.J. Stewart made it on base four times with two singles and a pair of walks. Terrin Vavra was 1-for-4 with a walk and a run scored. Westburg went 1-for-5. Henderson took the collar, but walked, scored a run, and had an RBI.

Double-A: Erie SeaWolves (Tigers) 5, Bowie Baysox 4 – F/11

This was Justin Armbruester’s Double-A debut, and he held his own. Over five innings, the 6-foot-4 righty allowed three runs on seven hits, no walks, and four strikeouts. Shelton Perkins surrendered one run (a solo home run) over his two innings of relief. Jake Prizina tossed a scoreless inning. While Jensen Elliot was saddled with the loss after allowing the Manfred runner to score in the 11th inning, which would have been his third inning of work.

Cesar Prieto, Joey Ortiz, and Hudson Haskin all had multi-hit games. Ortiz’s triple was the lone extra-base hit from that group. Zach Watson’s two-run homer in the ninth inning was the big blow of the day, effectively sending the game to extra innings. A.J. Graffinino stole his second base of the season. As a group, the Baysox struggled to turn base runners into runs. They went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position.

High-A: Wilmington Blue Rocks (Nationals) 2, Aberdeen IronBirds 1

It was not the best night for the Aberdeen bats. They mustered five total hits. John Rhodes and a rehabbing Yusniel Diaz both doubled, the team’s only extra base hits. Darell Hernaiz went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. Connor Norby was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. Colton Cowser and Coby Mayo had the day off.

Dan Hammer had himself a start that seemed better than the final line indicates. Over 3.1 innings he allowed just two hits and struck out five. The two runs he gave up came on one-swing of the bat, a home run in the fourth inning on his 75th and final pitch of the day. The bullpen was dynamite behind him. Rickey Ramirez and Wes Robertson combined for 4.2 scoreless innings, allowed one hit, five walks, and five strikeouts.

Low-A: Delmarva Shorebirds, Lynchburg Hillcats (Guardians) – PPD/Rain

Rain washed away this game. It will be made up on Thursday as part of a doubleheader. Carter Baumler is slated to start Game 1.

Box scores for Wednesday’s games can be found here.

Thursday’s Scheduled Games

• Triple-A Norfolk: at Lehigh Valley, 7:05 Starting pitcher: Cody Sedlock (2-1, 5.79 ERA)
• Double-A Bowie: at Erie, 6:05. Starting pitcher: Ryan Watson (4-1, 3.93 ERA)
• High-A Aberdeen: at Wilmington, 6:35. Starting pitcher: TBD
• Low-A Delmarva: vs Lynchburg, 5:35. Starting pitcher: Carter Baumler (0-0 1.54 ERA)
• Low-A Delmarva: vs Lynchburg, TBD. Starting pitcher: Moises Chace (0-3, 7.29 ERA)