Orioles minor league recap 8/4: Joey Ortiz remains hot at the plate

Many of the club’s top names had big nights, including a home run for Kyle Stowers, two hits for Colton Cowser, and a productive day for Darell Hernaiz.

Triple-A: Nashville Sounds (Brewers) 8, Norfolk Tides 2

Matt Harvey is still in the Orioles system, and he started in this one, but it did not go particularly well. Over 5.2 innings, the veteran righty allowed six runs on eight hits, including two home runs, four walks, and three strikeouts. His ERA with the Tides is up to 5.68. Kevin Smith struggled in relief as well, walking four and serving up a homer.

Norfolk only scored twice, but a couple of the notable names had nice days. GUNNAR HENDERSON went 2-for-5, and Kyle Stowers launched a two-run shot for his 18th homer of the season. Rylan Bannon added a double. Jordan Westburg! would rather forget this game, though, as he went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts and a walk.

Double-A: Bowie Baysox 6, Harrisburg Senators (Nationals) 4

The Baysox were hitting the ball all over the place. Colton Cowser had two hits and scored twice. Joey Ortiz remained red hot, going 2-for-5 with a double and three RBI. Hudson Haskin contributed a triple, two walks, and a run. Both Cody Roberts and J.D. Mundy also doubled.

Drew Rom had to battle his entire outing. Over 3.2 innings, the lefty allowed four runs (three earned) on six hits, two walks, and four strikeouts. He allowed at least one run in three of the four innings in which he pitched, and he was not helped by a Connor Norby error in the second inning. Fortunately, the bullpen was lights out behind him. Tyler Burch tossed 1.1 scoreless, including getting out of Rom’s jam in the fourth. Shelton Perkins took the win after striking out three across his two scoreless innings. And then Conner Loeprich earned the save with two perfect frames of his own.

High-A: Aberdeen IronBirds 7, Wilmington Blue Rocks (Nationals) 4

There was a whole lot of swinging for the IronBirds as they managed 10 hits and 11 strikeouts in this win. Darell Hernaiz set the table all night long at the top of the lineup, going 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, two runs scored and an RBI. Heston Kjerstad had an almost identical line, minus the one walk. A rehabbing Coby Mayo was 1-for-3 with a double and three RBI. Chris Givin contributed a pair of singles.

Daniel Federman made his first appearance in nearly a month, tossing two shutout innings as the opener. Connor Gillispie handled the bulk innings, nabbing the win with his five innings in which he allowed two runs on three hits, one walk, and three strikeouts. Daniel Lloyd finished things off with two innings, including the ninth where he allowed two earned runs.

Low-A: August GreenJackets (Braves) 15, Delmarva Shorebirds 4

Let’s get it out of the way. The pitching had a bad day, which has been a theme down in Delmarva most of the summer. They used four pitchers, and anyone that had to go more than one inning allowed a whole bunch of runs. What didn’t help matters was a pair of errors from shortstop Frederick Bencosme.

Bencosme did his best to make up for it with the bat. He had three hits, a walk, and an RBI. He continues to be an offensive force for the ShoreBirds. Luis Valdez had himself another productive day as well. He also had three hits, including a double, and scored a run and stole two more bags. The speedster is up to 55 swipes on the season. Isaac De Leon hit his seventh home run. Mishael Deson went 1-for-2 with two walks and two runs scored.

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

Thursday’s Scheduled Games

• Triple-A Norfolk: vs Nashville, 6:35. Starting pitcher: Chris Vallimont (2-4, 5.46 ERA)
• Double-A Bowie: at Harrisburg, 6:30. Starting pitcher: TBD
• High-A Aberdeen: at Wilmington, 6:35. Starting pitcher: Ignacio Feliz (5-2, 4.06 ERA)
• Low-A Delmarva: vs Augusta, 7:05. Starting pitcher: Moises Chace (1-3, 5.83 ERA)