Orioles minor league recap 6/29: Norby goes deep, Rodriguez cruises for Norfolk

The bats were hot for Norfolk and Aberdeen, but not so much for Bowie and Delmarva.

Triple-A: Norfolk Tides 12, Charlotte Knights (White Sox) 5

Oodles of offense for the Tides here. Connor Norby smacked his ninth homer of the season. Maverick Handley had a pair of doubles. Colton Cowser went 2-for-3 with a double and two walks. Joey Ortiz singled twice and swiped a pair of bases. Heston Kjerstad singled and walked twice. And the rehabbing Ryan Mountcastle was 2-for-5 with two singles, two RBI, and a run scored.

Grayson Rodriguez looked strong in another Triple-A start. Over six innings the big righty allowed two runs on four hits, one walk, and eight strikeouts to earn the win. Ryan Watson, Logan Gillaspie, and Noah Denoyer each threw one inning in relief. Gillaspie was the only one to escape without allowing a run.

Double-A: Somerset Patriots (Yankees) 3, Bowie Baysox 2

Home runs crushed Cade Povich in this start. All three of the runs he allowed came on solo homers, one in the second inning and two in the fourth. It makes his final line (3.2 innings, four hits, three runs, four walks, five strikeouts) a little easier to swallow. At the least the bullpen was dynamite. Tyler Burch struck out five in 2.1 scoreless innings, Nolan Hoffman had three K’s in two shutout frames, and all three outs Keagan Gillies recorded came via strikeout.

Bowie had two extra base hits: one double apiece for Jud Fabian and Anthony Servideo. Greg Cullen, Tim Susnara, and Servideo each had two-hit days. Coby Mayo took an 0-for-4 with a strikeout.

High-A: Aberdeen IronBirds 8, Winston-Salem Dash (White Sox) 3

There wasn’t one individual standout on offense for Aberdeen. It was a full team effort. Both the eight RBI and eight runs scored were distributed among seven unique players. All eight hits came from eight different members of the starting lineup, and six different players accounted for the seven total walks. They even had five stolen bases split up between four guys. And because you want to know, Jackson Holliday was 1-for-5 with an RBI, a run scored, and a strikeout

Trace Bright racked up eight strikeouts in his 4.2 innings. The starter also allowed three runs on five hits and two walks. Carson Carter nabbed the win by throwing 3.1 shutout innings, striking out three and working around five hits. Yaqui Rivera wrapped up the game with a scoreless ninth inning.

Low-A: Lynchburg Hillcats (Guardians) 3, Delmarva Shorebirds 0

A tough night for the Delmarva bats. They totaled just four hits and struck out 10 times without any walks. Trendon Craig went 2-for-4 with a double, bringing his batting average up to .356 at the level this year. Noelberth Romero was 2-for-3 with a double. Samuel Basallo ended the game 0-for-4 with a strikeout.

But the arms did well! Jared Beck was saddled with a hard luck loss after allowing one run on one hit, three walks, and six strikeouts over five innings. Wyatt Cheney held things together in the middle innings, tossing two scoreless frames. But Alejandro Méndez struggled in the eighth, giving up a pair of runs on two hits, two walks, and a strikeout.

Box Scores

Thursday’s Schedule

• Norfolk: vs Charlotte, 12:05. SP: Drew Rom (5-5, 5.16 ERA)
• Bowie: vs Somerset, 6:35. SP: TBD
• Aberdeen: vs Winston-Salem, 7:05, SP: Cooper Chandler (4-3, 2.82 ERA)
• Delmarva: at Lynchburg, 6:30, SP: Deivy Cruz (4-1, 4.84 ERA)
• DSL Orange, DSL Black, and FCL teams also play today