Orioles minor league recap 7/10: Connor Norby hits game-winning HR for Norfolk in 9th

The Tides, IronBirds and Shorebirds all picked up wins Tuesday, while the Baysox were shut out against Altoona

Triple-A: Norfolk Tides 6, Memphis Redbirds (Cardinals) 4

After giving up a three-run lead, the Tides scored two runs in the top of the ninth to secure a win over the Redbirds. Norfolk raced out to an early 3-0 lead in the first thanks to CF Daniel Johnson and SS Niko Goodrum. After Connor Norby and Coby Mayo walked to give the Tides two on with one out, Johnson launched a double to center to bring home Norby. Goodrum then followed it up with a two-run single to drive home both Mayo and Johnson and give Norfolk a sizeable early advantage.

Memphis got a run back on a sac fly in the bottom of the first, but Norfolk restored its three-run cushion in the third. Kyle Stowers led off the inning with a single and Johnson singled two batters later to move him into scoring position. With two outs, Terrin Vavra slashed a single into left field to score Stowers and give the Tides a 4-1 lead.

Carlos Tavera took over from Burch Smith in the sixth inning, and that’s when things started to fall apart for Norfolk. Tavera walked the first two batters he faced and later gave up a one-out double and single as the Redbirds cut the lead to 4-3. After working a 1-2-3 seventh inning, Tavera again ran into trouble in the eighth. On an 0-1 fastball up and in, Memphis catcher Iván Herrera launched a leadoff HR to left field to tie the game at 4-4.

Norby, Johnson and Goodrum picked up their pitcher in the ninth with some timely hitting of their own. Leading off the inning, Norby worked a 3-1 count and then pounced on a high fastball, blasting it over the left center fence for a 5-4 lead. After two strikeouts from Stowers and Mayo, Johnson reached on a two-out double and Goodrum then singled him home to stretch the lead to 6-4. The trio of Norby, Johnson and Goodrum combined to go 7-14 with four runs and five of the Tides’ six RBIs. Tavera came back and worked a scoreless 9th with two strikeouts to earn the win on the road.

Box Score

Double-A: Altoona Curve (Pirates) 4, Bowie Baysox 0

The Bowie bats couldn’t back a strong outing from starter Trace Bright, as the Baysox were shut out in Altoona. For the second start in a row, Bright, the former fifth-round pick out of Auburn, had his best stuff working. After holding Reading to one run on four hits over 4.2 last week, Bright started strong against the Curve with a 1-2-3 inning in the first. The 23-year-old righty followed that up by picking up his first strikeout to lead off the second, and then pitched around a two-out single to post another scoreless frame.

Bright ran into his only trouble of the game in the third. He walked Altoona RF Tres Gonzalez to lead off the inning, and then walked DH Yoyner Fajardo two batters later to give the Curve two on with one out. Altoona 3B Charles McAdoo made Bright pay for those walks, singling to left to drive in Gonzalez and give the Curve a 1-0 lead.

The Bowie starter picked up another pair of strikeouts in the fourth and closed out the inning by getting Gonzalez to line out, stranding runners at first and second. Bright’s evening was done after throwing 65 pitches in four innings, and he finished with a final line of 4.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB and 5 K. It’s Bright’s second consecutive start—and fifth all season—where he’s pitched 4+ innings, allowed one run or less and struck out at least five batters.

Bowie’s offense was nowhere near as sharp as the starting pitching, however, as they were limited to five hits and shutout for the second time this month. Bowie had significant scoring threats in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings, each time getting a runner in scoring position with only one out. However, in the fourth Dylan Beavers was thrown out at the plate and in both the sixth and seventh the inning ended after a strikeout and flyout. Reliever Kyle Brnovich put the nail in Bowie’s coffin in the bottom of the seventh when he gave up a three-run homer that truly put the game out of reach.

Box score

High-A: Aberdeen IronBirds 12, Asheville Tourists (Astros) 2

Enrique Bradfield Jr. had three hits and three stolen bases, Mac Horvath blasted a two-run homer and the IronBirds cruised past the Tourists. The first two picks from the 2023 draft got the scoring started immediately in the top of the first. Bradfield led off the game with a single up the middle, and two batters later Horvath blasted a ball to left center to give Aberdeen a 2-0 lead.

The pair would again cause some havoc in the top of the third. Bradfield picked up his second hit of the day on a one-out single to right, then stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch. With two outs, Horvath worked a six-pitch walk, and a passed ball on the final pitch allowed Bradfield to scamper home, giving Aberdeen a 3-1 lead.

After Asheville scored to make things 3-2 in the bottom of the third, the floodgates opened for Aberdeen in the fourth. With two on and two outs, ninth hitter Angel Tejada reached on a throwing error that allowed both runners to score and Tejada to advance to third. Bradfield then picked up his third single of the day on a safety squeeze, scoring Tejada and making it 6-2. Tejada doubled home another run in the sixth, as the IronBirds tacked on another three-spot that inning to make it 9-2.

The IronBirds’ final offensive outburst came in the ninth, as a flurry of singles, sac flies and fielding errors allowed them to score three more runs. Bradfield finished the game 3-4 with three runs, two RBIs and three steals. The three stolen bases bring Bradfield’s total on the season to 44, 11 more than anyone else in the South Atlantic League. Horvath finished 1-3 with his eighth HR and three RBIs. The three RBIs tie a season high for the former Tar Heel, who is now six RBIs behind Creed Willems for the team lead.

Box score

Low-A: Delmarva Shorebirds 5, Lynchburg Hillcats (Guardians) 1

Blake Money pitched four scoreless innings in relief and the Shorebirds used rallies in the third and eighth to hold down a win vs. the Hillcats. After starter Nestor German pitched two scoreless innings to start the game, Delmarva opened the scoring with two runs in the third. RF Jake Cunningham led off the inning with a solo HR to left and C Cole Urman immediately followed that up with a double. Two batters later, Aron Estrada singled to left to drive home Urman and give the Shorebirds a 2-0 lead.

German would allow Lynchburg’s only run of the game in the bottom of the fourth. After Jaison Chourio led off the inning with a single, he stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch. The Hillcats then cut Delmarva’s lead to 2-1 thanks to an RBI groundout from Wuilfredo Antunez.

Money entered the game in the fifth and proceeded to shut down the Hillcats lineup. He worked around a two-out single to post a scoreless fifth, struck out two batters in the sixth, stranded two runners in scoring position in the seventh and posted two more Ks in the eighth. The former LSU Tiger finished with a final line of 4 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB and 6 K. The 2023 12th-round pick has pitched 13 scoreless innings with 17 Ks over his last three outings and has a 3.32 ERA in 21.2 innings since the beginning of June.

Delmarva then put the game away thanks to some small ball in the eighth inning. Estrada led off the inning with a single and stole second. Leandro Arias was then hit by a pitch and Stiven Acevedo walked to load the bases. Aneudis Mordán singled to drive home Estrada, Arias scored on an RBI groundout from Kevin Guerrero and Acevedo came home on a wild pitch. Estrada was the offensive MVP for Delmarva Tuesday, finishing the game 2-4 with a run, an RBI, a SB and a HBP. The 19-year-old infielder from Venezuela is now third in the Carolina League with 83 hits and sixth in OPS at .815.

Box score

Wednesday’s scheduled games

Norfolk Tides at Memphis Redbirds, 8:05pm ET (Bruce Zimmermann vs. Michael McGreevy)

Bowie Baysox at Altoona Curves, 6:00pm ET (Seth Johnson vs. Thomas Harrington)

Aberdeen IronBirds at Asheville Tourists, 6:30pm ET (Moisés Chace vs. Trey Dombroski)

Delmarva Shorebirds at Lynchburg Hillcats, 6:30pm ET (Riley Cooper vs. Alonzo Richardson)