Orioles minor league recap 8/4: Cade Povich shines, Josh Lester blasts walk-off homer

Cade Povich and Josh Lester both provided memorable performances in a walk-off win for Norfolk

Triple-A: Norfolk Tides 3, Charlotte Knights (White Sox) 1 — F/10

Josh Lester stepped up in the bottom of the tenth with the winning run on second base. A base hit would have done the trick, but Lester launched a game-winning blast to the opposite field.

Lester led the Tides with a double, a dinger, a walk and two runs scored. Catcher José Godoy finished 2-for-3, and both Heston Kjerstad and Lewin Díaz tallied singles. Connor Norby and Joey Ortiz both went hitless.

Cade Povich absolutely shoved with six innings of one-run ball. Povich limited Charlotte to only one hit—a triple in the fifth—and one run. He struck out four and walked one.

Keegan Akin tossed a scoreless seventh, and a rehabbing Mychal Givens tossed two clean frames. The two scoreless innings represented an encouraging step for Givens. Logan Gillaspie picked up the win after retiring the side in order during the tenth.

Double-A: Bowie Baysox 13, Portland Sea Dogs (Red Sox) 7

Bowie exploded with seven runs in the fifth inning. Portland retired the first two hitters in the inning, but the Baysox brought some serious two-out lightning. Bowie loaded the bases with a pair of walks and a HBP, and both Jacob Teter and Dylan Beavers followed with RBI singles.

Billy Cook stepped up and delivered more than a single. Cook launched an opposite field grand slam to make it 11-3. Cook had already launched a three-run homer in the second inning.

Beavers finished 3-for-5 with three RBIs from the leadoff spot. Jacob Teter went 2-for-4 with three runs scored, and Jud Fabian followed Cook’s grand slam with a solo shot of his own.

Connor “don’t call me Logan” Gillispie allowed three runs in four innings. Houston Roth picked up the win despite allowing three runs in 3.2 frames.

High-A: Hickory Crawdads (Rangers) 15, Aberdeen IronBirds 2

Norfolk and Bowie did all they could to distract from a night to forget by Aberdeen. The IronBirds briefly held a 1-0 lead after an RBI double by Max Wagner in the third. Collin Burns gave Aberdeen a one-run lead again with a solo homer in the fourth, but Hickory scored the final 14 runs (yikes).

Trace Bright struck out 10 Crawdads in only four innings, but the bullpen floundered over the final five. Reese Sharp allowed five earned while failing to complete an inning, and Hayden Nierman allowed three more while recording only one out.

Low-A: Lynchburg Hillcats (Guardians) 12, Delmarva Shorebirds 7

Lynchburg scored the first six innings to put the game out of reach. Juan Rojas and Raúl Rangel combined to allow all 12 runs (nine earned) in the first six frames. Each pitcher committed an error as well.

Angel Tejada led the way for Delmarva with a pair of two-run singles. Carter Young notched the only other two-hit game, including a double.

Box scores can be found here

Friday’s Schedule

• Norfolk: vs Charlotte, 6:355. SP: Ryan Watson (4-3, 5.01 ERA)
• Bowie: vs Portland, 7:05. SP: TBD
• Aberdeen:vs Hickory, 7:05. SP: Kyle Virbitsky (3-1, 4.48 ERA)
• Delmarva: vs Lynchburg, 7:05. SP: Yaqui Rivera (1-4, 1.69 ERA)