Only Delmarva won, in convincing fashion, but the IronBirds and Shorebirds offenses were red-hot.
Triple-A: Norfolk Tides v. Durham Bulls – PPD (rain, makeup TBD)
Double-A: Richmond Flying Squirrels (Giants) 12, Chesapeake Baysox 2
Nestor Germán had a bad day, allowing six earned runs (seven total) in five innings. Three of those runs came on a Richmond hit parade in the third, then three more on a pair of home runs in the fifth. Germán is 3-3 with a 4.60 ERA on the season.
Relief-wise, Raúl Alcántara was even worse, letting four runs score in the sixth and retiring none. Relievers Daniel Lloyd, Nathan Webb and Kyle Vrbitsky were all pretty good, only Webb allowing a run.
Both Baysox runs came home in the sixth, and both were of the ugly kind. Two runners reached on a HBP, then came around to score on a groundout. Creed Willems had two hits. Jalen Vásquez and Carter Young each had a hit and an RBI.
High-A: Greensboro Grasshoppers (Pirates) 13, Aberdeen IronBirds 7
Is Vance Honeycutt heating up? The Aberdeen centerfielder homered and walked two times from the leadoff spot. The rest of the IronBirds offense looked good, too, with all but one hitter recording a base hit, and everyone reaching at least once. Aron Estrada hit a two-run home run, and Anderson de los Santos did, too, which almost but didn’t quite make up for his three—count ‘em, three—errors in the field on Sunday. Griff O’Ferrall also singled and walked.
The backend bullpen was full of leaks, which is how Aberdeen wasted an early 7-5 lead. Christian Heberholz pitched the fourth and fifth, allowing four runs to come home (three earned). Carter Baumler surrendered two runs, but struck out three. Alejandro Méndez allowed two more runs to score in the ninth.
Starter Eccel Correa was lifted after three innings, with five runs (three earned) coming home. Four of those came on a first-inning grand slam.
Low-A: Delmarva Shorebirds 9, Frederickburg Nationals 2
This was a total blowout, partly on the strength of a brilliant start by Yeiber Cartaya. Cartaya, 22, tossed six shutout innings, striking out seven. Kyle Glassey tossed two scoreless innings. Delmarva raced out to a 6-0 lead after two innings, and they were still up 9-0 after eight innings, and only closer Andy Fabian and his two runs (one earned) in the ninth failed to preserve the shutout.
The top of the Delmarva order was red-hot, with the first four hitters putting up two or more hits. That includes Nate George and his gaudy .363 average, who had three hits. So did Yasmil Bucce, who also hasn’t stopped hitting. On Sunday Bucce racked up a home run, a double and a single, for two RBI. Joshua Liranzo went deep and walked twice. Raylin Ramos and Elis Cuevas had two hits apiece. Fernando Peguero had three RBI.
Monday’s Schedule
There are no scheduled games on Monday.