Orioles minor league recap 8/28: Basallo records first Triple-A RBI in Tides debut

Norfolk and Delmarva both earned close victories on Tuesday, while Bowie couldn’t complete a comeback and Aberdeen gave a come-from-behind win.

Triple-A: Norfolk Tides 4, Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (Marlins) 3

Samuel Basallo went 1-4 with an RBI in his Triple-A debut and the Tides held off a late rally from the Jumbo Shrimp to secure the victory. Norfolk got on the board early thanks to some patience and timely hitting. Jud Fabian led off the game with a single and Basallo followed with a walk. With two outs, Jean Segura walked to load the bases and Nick Maton followed with an RBI single hat gave Norfolk a 2-0 lead.

The Tides increased that lead in the second thanks to some aggressive baserunning and shaky Jumbo Shrimp fielding. Hudson Haskin reached on a throwing error from the Jacksonville 3B, and stole second to move into scoring position. Fabian then reached on another error, moving Haskin to third. Basallo then picked up his first Triple-A RBI, grounding out to first to drive home Haskin and give Norfolk a 3-0 lead.

The Jumbo Shrimp got a run back with a solo HR in the bottom of the third, but largely couldn’t touch Norfolk starter Justin Armbruester. The 25-year-old right-hander pitched six innings of one-run ball, holding the Jumbo Shrimp to three hits and setting a career high with 12 Ks.

Norfolk got an insurance run in the fifth thanks to another Jacksonville fielding mishap. Fabian led off the inning by reaching on an error, and then with two outs, Daniel Johnson doubled him home to give the Tides a 4-1 lead. That insurance would prove important as the bullpen almost allowed Jacksonville to tie the game in the ninth. Colin Selby entered and loaded the bases with two outs. Bennett Hostetler then singled off Selby to cut the lead to 4-2 and signal the end of the reliever’s evening. Nolan Hoffman entered and immediately forced in a run on a balk, but finally got a groundout to end the game.

Box score

Double-A: Akron RubberDucks (Guardians) 5, Bowie Baysox 3

The Baysox fell behind early and couldn’t complete their comeback as they dropped the series opener to the RubberDucks. Akron got on the board in the bottom of the 1st thanks to a solo HR from C.J. Kayfus, giving the RubberDucks an early 1-0 advantage.

Akron would triple that lead thanks to another long ball in the third. After Yordys Valdes worked a one-out walk in the bottom of the third, Cameron Weston left a pitch over the middle of the plate to Cooper Ingle, who blasted it over the right field fence for a two-run home run.

Trailing 3-0, Bowie finally got on the board in the top of the fifth. Frederick Bencosme joined in on the Home Run Derby, leading off with a solo HR to right, his eighth long ball of the season. However, Akron would respond right away with their third home run of the night. Dayan Frias reached via a walk in the bottom of the fifth, and Valdes quickly brought him home after destroying another ball down the middle for a two-run homer to right.

Bowie tried to mount a two-out rally in the eighth, but couldn’t complete the comeback. After two strikeouts to start the inning, Enrique Bradfield Jr. walked to give the Baysox a baserunner. EBJ moved to second on a balk and came around to score on a single from Dylan Beavers. The Bowie outfielder would then steal second and come into score on a single from Silas Ardoin. Creed Willems walked to put the tying run on base, but Bencosme lined out to strand two runners.

Trailing 5-3, the Baysox went down in order in the ninth to seal the Akron win. Willems, making his Double-A debut, finished 0-3 with a walk. Beavers led the way offensively for Bowie, going 2-3 with a double, an RBI, a SB and a run scored.

Box score

High-A: Wilmington Blue Rocks (Nationals) 9, Aberdeen IronBirds 5

The IronBirds raced out to an early lead but couldn’t hold on for the win, as Wilmington stormed back to take the series opener. Aberdeen took a lead before Wilmington even got a chance to bat, thanks to a big extra-base hit from Leandro Arias. In the top of the first, the IronBirds loaded the bases with no outs thanks to a pair of singles and a walk. After Jake Cunningham and Carter Young both failed to bring any runners home, Arias doubled to center field, clearing the bases and giving Aberdeen a 3-0 lead.

Wilmington cut into that lead in the second. Branden Boissiere reached on a one-out double, and back-to-back singles from Marcus Brown and Armando Cruz brought him in to score. Aberdeen starter Levi Wells then uncorked a wild pitch with Cruz on third, allowing the Blue Rocks SS to scamper home and cut the lead to 3-2.

The IronBirds would get those two runs back in the top of the third thanks to some Wilmington wildness. Elio Prado led off the inning with a single and then scored on a Jake Cunningham double. After Young grounded out to move Cunningham to third, the Aberdeen outfielder came home to score on a wild pitch from the Blue Rocks’ Riley Cornelio.

While a 5-2 lead was better than a 3-2 lead, it still wasn’t safe as Wilmington came storming back in the bottom of the third. The Blue Rocks loaded the bases on a pair of singles and a walk before another single from Boissiere scored two runs and cut the Aberdeen lead to 5-4. Two more wild pitches from Wells and a throwing error by catcher Adam Retzbach allowed Wilmington to take a 6-5 lead and take control of the game.

Aberdeen nearly got the game back level in several innings. In the fourth, Prado had runners and second and third with two outs, but struck out to end the inning. Jalen Vasquez and Thomas Sosa each got an AB with two runners in scoring position in the sixth, only for Vasquez to strike out and Sosa to line out to leave them stranded. In the seventh, Prado led off the inning with a walk and steal of second, only to be stranded after two Ks and groundout. After escaping several attempted rallies by the IronBirds, the Blue Rocks scored three runs in the eighth to finally put the game out of reach.

Box score

Low-A: Delmarva Shorebirds 5, Salem Red Sox 2

The Shorebirds used a five-run fifth inning to score a come-from-behind win on Tuesday. Delmarva starter Ty Weatherly was dominant from the very first inning, setting the tone by striking out two batters in the top of the first. Weatherly, a 2023 undrafted free agent out of Ball State, set down the first 14 batters he faced while racking up seven strikeouts.

The Red Sox first baserunner came in the fifth, when Caden Rose reached on an infield single tapped to Weatherly and advanced to second on the pitcher’s throwing error. Salem then got its first hit out of the infield via a Natanael Yuten liner to left, bringing home Rose and then ending the inning when Yuten was thrown out at second.

Seeing Delmarva fall behind despite Weatherly’s excellent pitching clearly woke up the bats, as the Shorebirds responded to being down 1-0 with five runs of their own. Ryan Stafford led off the bottom of the fifth with a single, stole second, advanced to third on a throwing error and scored on a ground ball from Nazzan Zanetello.

With the score tied 1-1, Colin Tuft reached on a fielder’s choice and stole second to move into scoring position. Maikol Hernández followed with a single to move Tuft to third and stole second to give Delmarva two runners in scoring position. Edwin Amparo then executed a suicide squeeze to score Tuft and give the Shorebirds a 2-1 lead. Amparo and Hernández executed a double steal of second and home to grow that lead to 3-1, and Austin Overn capped off the rally with a two-run shot to right field.

The Red Sox added another run in the top of the sixth when Fraymi De Leon stole third and came home on a throwing error from Delmarva catcher Ryan Stafford. Justin Showalter worked three scoreless innings to finish off the win, picking up five Ks in the process. Offensively, the Shorebirds continue to be propelled by Overn, who is hitting .333 with a .978 OPS in his first 11 games at Delmarva.

Box score

Wednesday’s scheduled games

Norfolk Tides at Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, 7:05pm ET (TBD vs. TBD)

Bowie Baysox at Akron RubberDucks, 6:35pm ET (Trace Bright vs. Tommy Mace)

Aberdeen IronBirds at Wilmington Blue Rocks, 6:35pm ET (TBD vs. Mikey Tepper)

Delmarva Shorebirds vs. Salem Red Sox, 7:05pm ET (Eccel Correa vs. Luis Cohen)