Aberdeen was the only losing team in a good night for the farm.
Triple-A: Norfolk Tides 8, Charlotte Knights (CWS) 2 – F/7
You can’t sweep a doubleheader if you don’t win the first game and the Tides took care of business. They scored in nearly every inning as Connor Norby, Coby Mayo, Joey Ortiz, and Josh Lester all had RBI doubles, while Robbie Glendinning hit his sixth home run. Norby and Lester both had two-hit games and Heston Kjerstad had just one hit but he made it triple for good measure.
The best news out of this game was the dominance of DL Hall. Hall made his first appearance for the Tides since June 14th. He had been down in Florida working on getting things figured out, and it’s only been one game but…maybe he did? Hall pitched two innings with just one hit allowed and five strikeouts. And his velocity is back!
In his first outing back in Triple-A, DL Hall struck out 5 and allowed one hit in two shutout innings. His fastball averaged 95.7 mph and topped out at 98.0.
On June 14, his final outing before he went to Sarasota for deloading, Hall averaged 93.2 mph and topped out at 94.7.
— Jacob Calvin Meyer (@jcalvinmeyer) August 5, 2023
Norfolk Tides 6, Charlotte Knights (CWS) 2 – F/7
The nightcap of the doubleheader was the Kyle Stowers show. He had three hits out of the cleanup spot, including a double and a home run. He was the only Tide with a multi-hit game. Anthony Bemboom also homered. Of the other prospects, Ortiz picked up a single but Kjerstad, Mayo and Norby were hitless.
Justin Armbruester pitched two innings with three hits and a walk allowed. He gave up one run via solo homer. Once and future Oriole Nick Vespi gave up the other run in his inning pitched.
Double-A: Bowie Baysox 9, Portland Sea Dogs (BOS) 4
Tyler Wells made his first start and faced just one over the minimum through three innings before giving up a home run to the first batter he faced in the fourth. After issuing a one-out walk, he was removed for a relief pitcher. His line: 3.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K.
With nearly any other Double-A defensive lineup, Wells would have surrendered two home runs last night. But this Double-A lineup featured the first rehab game for Cedric Mullins, and Mullins did his thing in the top of the third inning. He looks healthy to me!
Cedric Mullins just did what Cedric Mullins does pic.twitter.com/PhuTV9YaRX
— Bowie Baysox (@BowieBaysox) August 5, 2023
Mullins went 1-for-6 from the top of the lineup and allowed the Baysox stars to do their thing. Jackson Holliday had a four-hit game including a home run. He’s pretty good. Dylan Beavers also reached four times with two singles and two walks. He hasn’t been there long, but Beavers seems at home in double-A.
From the bottom of the lineup, Anthony Servideo and Jacob Teter were also productive. Both had two-hit games with a double, and Teter added his first double-A home run.
High-A: Hickory Crawdads (TEX) 12, Aberdeen IronBirds 5
It’s hard out there for the IronBirds right now. After defeating Jersey Shore on July 26th they were 10 games over .500. Since then they haven’t won a game, racking up 10 losses in a row and falling back to .500. That’s rough for those IronBirds who haven’t been promoted to the Baysox in the past few months.
Anyway, pitchers Brandon Young and Cooper Chandler gave up a combined 10 runs in 5.2 innings, which isn’t going to win your team many games. They weren’t helped by the IronBirds’ four errors on the night. To be fair, that’s half the number of errors that they had on Friday!
The hitters of note in Aberdeen are last night’s 2-3-4 hitters: Frederick Bencosme, Samuel Basallo, and Creed Willems. Bencosme had a two-hit game and Willems picked up an RBI single while Basallo went hitless. Basallo, who is just 18 years old, has only been in High-A for five games.
Low-A: Delmarva Shorebirds 6, Lynchburg Hillcats (CLE) 3
The Shorebirds made the most of their seven hits with a pair of three-run innings, while the Hillcats couldn’t capitalize on their 13 hits off of Shorebirds pitchers.
Leadoff batter Stiven Acevedo had a heck of a game. He had just one hit, an RBI single, but he walked four times and stole two bases in the game. Talk about a table setter!
The fourth inning had two RBI triples in the inning, one each from Brayan Hernandez and Luis Gonzalez.
Starting pitcher Deivy Cruz allowed seven hits in four innings, which isn’t ideal. But he struck out seven and didn’t walk a batter. The 19-year-old allowed two runs, both of which scored in the top of the first inning.
Today’s Schedule
- Norfolk vs Charlotte, 4:05. Starter: Bruce Zimmermann
- Bowie vs Portland, 1:05. Starter: TBD
- Aberdeen vs Hickory, 2:05. Starter: Juan Nuñez
- Delmarva vs Lynchburg, 5:05. Starter: Juan De Los Santos