It was a split on the farm. Norfolk and Aberdeen won.
Triple-A: Norfolk Tides 5, Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (MIA) 4
The Tides were up 4-2 going into the ninth inning after a solid five innings from Bruce Zimmermann. Kade Strowd blew the save opportunity in hard luck fashion. He walked two but got two outs. He should have gotten out of the inning on a ground ball but Jackson Holliday made a throwing error that allowed both runs to score. It was his second error of the game at shortstop.
Holliday made up for his miscue in the bottom of the ninth with the walk-off sac fly that scored Nick Maton, who had doubled to start the inning. He also singled and walked from his usual spot at leadoff.
Billy Cook had two doubles as part of three-hit day and Kyle Stowers hit his 16th double. Coby Mayo, who started a first base, went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
Double-A: Akron RubberDucks (CLE) 9, Bowie Baysox 1
The Baysox lineup managed only three hits in the game, singles from Jud Fabian, Frederick Bencosme, and Connor Pavolony. Their only run scored on a wild pitch in the eighth inning after Anthony Servideo and Collin Burns walked.
Cameron Weston started and gave up three runs on seven hits in three innings. He started the fourth inning and gave up three runs without recording an out. Houston Roth pitched very well in relief. He cleaned up Weston’s mess and pitched three hitless innings with just one walk. He struck out four. The bulk of Akron’s runs came with Keegan Gillies on the mound. He gave up six runs in just two-thirds of an inning.
High-A: Aberdeen IronBirds 10, Jersey Shores BlueClaws (PHI) 5
Moisés Chace struck out seven batters in just three innings. He gave up just three hits and didn’t walk a batter. Graham Firoved followed with two perfect innings and three strikeouts. The BlueClaws scored four of their five runs in the eighth inning off Cooper McKeehan and Zane Barnhart.
The offense scored 10 runs despite having just six hits in the game. They did pick up seven walks, which helps. Enrique Bradfield, Jr. reached base twice from the leadoff spot with a single and a walk. He also stole his 50th base of the year, which is pretty cool. There are a lot of big stolen base guys in Aberdeen. Jalen Vasquez stole his 27th base in the game and Tavian Josenberger swiped his 36th.
No batter had more than one hit in the game but Adam Retzbach was the offensive hero. He hit a grand slam as part of the team’s five-run third inning.
Low-A: Fredericksburg Nationals 3, Delmarva Shorebirds 2 – F/11
Nestor German had an excellent start for the Shorebirds with 4.1 scoreless innings. He gave up three singles and a walk and struck out five. In 14 games this year (12 starts), German has a 1.49 ERA with a 0.93 WHIP.
Braylin Tavera struck out four times but also had an RBI single. The Shorebirds other run scored on an error after Leandro Arias and Aron Estrada singled in the fourth inning. Stiven Acevedo had three hits in the game.
Fredericksburg scored two runs off of Jacob Cravey to tie the game and then walked it off in the 11th inning on a leadoff single that knocked in the Manfred Man on second.
Today’s Schedule
- Norfolk vs Jacksonville, 4:05. Starter: Justin Armbruester
- Bowie @ Akron, 1:05. Starter: Trace Bright
- Aberdeen @ Jersey Shore, 1:05. Starter: TBD
- Delmarva @ Fredericksburg, 1:35. Starter: Juan Rojas