Orioles minor league recap 8/11: Jackson Holliday debuts

Norfolk was the lone winner on a night when offense was hard to come by for the Orioles affiliates.

Triple-A: Norfolk Tides 9, Rochester Red Wings (Nationals) 8

Norfolk won despite its starting pitcher, Chris Vallimont, getting knocked out in the first inning. Over two-thirds of an inning, Vallimont allowed five runs on five hits, no walks, and one strikeout. He was picked up by the two pitchers that followed, Ryan Conroy and Rico Garcia, who combined to toss 4.1 scoreless innings and strikeout seven. Logan Allen allowed a pair of runs in his two innings, and Blaine Knight claimed the win even though he gave up a solo home run in his lone inning on the bump. Cole Uvila earned his ninth save of the season with a scoreless ninth inning.

This wasn’t GUNNAR HENDERSON’s night. He went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts, but he also scored a run after walking. Jordan Westburg! singled and walked. Kyle Stowers had two hits and three RBI. Yusniel Diaz doubled and scored a run. Brett Cumberland added a pair of base hits.

Double-A: Akron RubberDucks (Guardians) 3, Bowie Baysox 2

Garrett Stallings was terrific on the mound. The starter went six innings and gave up just one run on three hits, no walks, and five strikeouts. That brought his Double-A ERA down to 6.57. Shelton Perkins notched a hold by striking out three over two perfect innings. But Hector Perez could not lock down the win, loading the bases with a walk and two hit by pitches before a walk-off, two-run single ended the game.

The Baysox lineup had not provided much room for error. They produced just four hits (all singles) and two walks. The singles came from Joey Ortiz, César Prieto, Greg Cullen, and Cody Roberts; the walks from Cullen and Colton Cowser. Roberts drove in both runs with his single, which wouldn’t have been possible without some rough defensive work on Akron’s behalf. The RubberDucks had three errors in the game.

High-A: Hudson Valley Renegades (Yankees) 4, Aberdeen IronBirds 0

Another affiliate with just four hits and two walks! Heston Kjerstad had one of each, as did Donta’ Williams. It was a rather bleak night on offense otherwise. The lineup was 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position.

As bad as the hitters were, the pitching did well. Chayce McDermott, one of the players acquired in the Trey Mancini deal, pitched in his second game for the organization. He looked good, striking out seven over four innings. The two runs came on a wild pitch and a solo home run. Ignacio Feliz followed with four innings of his own, also allowing two runs, only one of which was earned. He struck out five and walked three.

Low-A: Carolina Mudcats (Brewers) 4, Delmarva Shorebirds 0 – Suspended/5

Prior to the rain, these two teams got through four-and-a-half innings. Delmarva mustered just one hit in that time, an Elio Prado single. Moises Chace served up four runs on four hits, three walks, and four strikeouts over 4.1 innings.

These two teams will finish up the game on Thursday and then play their regularly scheduled game as well. That second game will be shortened to seven innings as a result.

Other news

• The FCL Orioles lost 5-3 to the Braves. Jackson Holliday made his debut, batting second and playing shortstop. The first overall pick from last month’s draft went 1-for-3 with a single and a stolen base.
• The DSL Orioles Black lost 12-4 to the Phillies Red.

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

Thursday’s Scheduled Games

• Triple-A Norfolk: at Rochester, 1:05. Starting pitcher: Bruce Zimmermann (3-1, 4.11 ERA)
• Double-A Bowie: at Akron, 6:35. Starting pitcher: Brenan Hanifee (0-1, 8.71 ERA)
• High-A Aberdeen: at Hudson Valley, 7:05. Starting pitcher: TBD
• Low A Delmarva vs. Carolina, 5:05. Resumption of suspended game
• Low-A Delmarva: vs Carolina, TBD. Starting pitcher: TBD