On the mound, Jean Pinto was a standout, whiffing 11 in five innings as Aberdeen pounded the Asheville Tourists.
Triple-A: Durham Bulls (Rays) 10, Norfolk Tides 4
Not a stupendous day for the Tides, who collected just five hits and struck out 12 times. Their four runs came on a Jacob Nottingham homer, a Kelvin Gutiérrez sac fly, a Yusniel Díaz single and a Kyle Stowers double (his 29th). GUNNAR HENDERSON also doubled, as did Gutiérrez.
Four Norfolk pitchers appeared, all of whom have major league experience. It wasn’t a particularly impressive day for any of them: Denyi Reyes allowed five runs in 3.2 innings on eight hits. Zac Lowther retired the only batter he faced. DL Hall, in a reliever role, did what he does and walk three while striking out four. And Beau Sulser ate three innings, but he also allowed seven hits and four runs.
Double-A: Bowie Baysox 10, Somerset Patriots (Yankees) 2
Colton Cowser and Connor Norby keep trying to one-up each other, and the pair did just that with matching four-baggers on Thursday. Cowser’s went for three runs and Norby’s just for two. I guess we can forgive that. Joey Ortiz went 0-for-2 but walked and scored twice. Hudson Haskin hit three singles and John Rhodes drove in two runs with a double.
It was all smiles on the mound today, too. The 2016 draftee Brenan Hanifee threw five innings and allowed two runs on four hits. Adam Stauffer threw two scoreless, walking three and striking out three. Closer Shelton Perkins was dominant, as well, whiffing four batters over two innings.
High-A: Aberdeen IronBirds 12, Asheville Tourists 1 (Astros)
Aberdeen just squeaked out a win over the Tourists… I’m just kidding, they stomped all over them. The IronBirds scored nine runs off Asheville’s starter and had a cakewalk to victory after that. Billy Cook stood out with a 3-for-4 day, hitting a three-run home run, singling twice and walking. Isaac Bellony added a homer, too. The newly-promoted Luis Valdez went 2-for-4 and of course stole two bases. Donta’ Williams doubled, walked twice, and scored three times.
Jean Pinto, Nolan Hoffman and Cade Strowd combined to allow just four hits and three walks on the day. Pinto was the standout, with five innings thrown and a whopping eleven strikeouts.
Low-A: Salem (Red Sox) 11, Delmarva Shorebirds 10
The new-and-improved Shorebirds couldn’t overcome 11 runs surrendered by the pitchers. Salem jumped all over starter Juan de los Santos (0.1 IP, 4 R). 19-year-old Edgar Portes stabilized the game, with 4.2 innings of one-run work, but Carson King allowed five runs in the eighth inning to put the game out of reach.
The new bats did their darndest, though. Jud Fabian continued a scorching-hot start with four hits—three of which were doubles. Fabian is OPS’ing, oh, just 1.919 now. Dylan Beavers went 1-for-4 with a two-run single. Frederick Bencosme tried to make it a game with an Earl Weaver Special in the ninth inning. He’s averaging .351, but it’s good to see him add a little power.
Meanwhile, the FCL Orioles fell 4-3 to the Twins’ affiliate, but Jackson Holliday hit an RBI single and walked, while Carter Young went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a walk in his FCL debut. The DSL Orioles (Black) lost 1-0, with Luis de León throwing three one-run innings. DSL Orange also fell, 4-3, but at least the 17-year-old shortstop Edwin Amparo hit a home run.
Box scores for Thursday’s games can be found here.
Thursday’s Scheduled Games
- Triple-A Norfolk: vs Durham, 7:05. Starting pitcher: Mike Baumann (1-6, 5.32 ERA)
- Double-A Bowie: vs Somerset, 7:05. Starting pitcher: Cade Povich (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
- High-A Aberdeen: vs Asheville, 7:05. Starting pitcher: TBD
- Low A Delmarva: at Salem, 7:05. Starting pitcher: TBD