Bowie were the only winners while the other affiliates struggled to hit with runners on base
Triple-A: Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (Marlins) 16, Norfolk Tides 4
It was not an encouraging rehab outing for John Means. The lefty tossed 34 pitches and recorded only one out, allowing five runs on five hits, a walk, no strikeouts, and two home runs. His pitch mix seemed rather normal, and his fastball velocity was in the low-90s, about what you expect from Means. The outcomes were just bad, which has been alarmingly common for the southpaw as he works his way back to Baltimore.
Jonathan Heasley was good in relief, tossing 2.2 scoreless and striking out three. Andrew Suárez had a much worse day, serving up eight runs (seven earned) on eight hits, two strikeouts, and two home runs. Nolan Hoffman followed, giving up on run in 1.1 innings. Matt Krook tossed one scoreless frame before Noelberth Romero gave up a pair of runs in his lone inning.
Norfolk’s offense had some traffic on base, but nowhere near enough to climb out of the immense hole dug by the pitching staff. Kyle Stowers had two hits, including a double, and an RBI. Coby Mayo was 1-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored. Connor Norby hit his fifth double of the season and scored a run. Heston Kjerstad was 0-for-4 with a walk and a run scored. Old friend Mychal Givens pitched in relief for the Jumbo Shrimp. He struck out the side in the eighth inning.
The Tides are on the board! @cobymayox drives in Errol Robinson for his 12th RBI of the season!#RisingTide pic.twitter.com/tBSflgDeHd
— Norfolk Tides (@NorfolkTides) April 18, 2024
Double-A: Bowie Baysox 5, Altoona Curve (Pirates) 0
The only winners down on the farm were the Baysox. They were led by a fantastic pitching performance that started with Seth Johnson. The righty went four shutout innings, striking out three in the process. Keagan Gillies tossed one scoreless inning of his own before Carlos Tavera came on to dominate. The 2021 draft pick went four perfect innings and struck out seven, a huge improvement from his first outing of the year last week.
9 ⬆️ 9⬇️ for Carlos Tavera in relief, including 5 Ks! pic.twitter.com/nvKg9qqIG7
— Bowie Baysox (@BowieBaysox) April 17, 2024
Bowie’s lineup wasn’t exactly opportunistic, going 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position, but they were powerful. TT Bowens, Frederick Bencosme, and Billy Cook all went deep. Those home runs accounted for all five of Bowie’s runs. Bencosme had the biggest day at the plate, going 3-for-4. Cook and Collin Burns had two hits each. Bowens also stole a base.
Bencosme blast pic.twitter.com/ScDIlSAsIn
— Bowie Baysox (@BowieBaysox) April 17, 2024
High-A: Hudson Valley Renegades (Yankees) 5, Aberdeen IronBirds 4 – F/11
Much of the IronBirds offense was limited to Mattew Etzel’s bat. The first baseman went 4-for-5 with a triple, a stolen base, a run scored, and an RBI. The entire lineup was an abysmal 2-for-17 with runners in scoring position and left 13 runners on base. Ew. Hudson Haskin managed to go 1-for-4 with two walks. Mac Horvath and Jalen Vasquez also worked two walks apiece. Reed Trimble stole his third base of the year.
Matthew Etzel with a single and this stand up triple so far tonight. Raises the average to .387. #FearTheBeard pic.twitter.com/Qu9eynws2D
— The Verge- An Orioles MiLB Podcast (@TheVergePod) April 18, 2024
There was some good and some bad on the mound for Aberdeen. Cameron Weston started and went four scoreless innings while striking out four. Edgar Portes followed with four more innings, his lone run coming on a solo homer. But things went off the rails as Hayden Nierman tried to close out the game. Nierman allowed only one hit, but also walked three batters, hit a batter, and uncorked two wild pitches. He wasn’t helped by his defense either, which made an error. In all it led to three runs (two earned) and a blown save. Yaqui Rivera came on and managed to wiggle out of that jam with a double play, went on to get out of the 10th inning clean, but then couldn’t stop the automatic runner on second base from scoring in the 11th for a walk-off loss.
Cameron Weston with four shutout innings and four strikeouts tonight.
Season line: 12 IP, 1 R, 4 BB, 14 K pic.twitter.com/XBI0Cg3PB0
— The Verge- An Orioles MiLB Podcast (@TheVergePod) April 18, 2024
Low-A: Down East Wood Ducks 4, Delmarva Shorebirds 3 – F/10
Delmarva scored all three of their runs in the fifth inning. Yet again, this affiliate could not come through with runners on base. They went 2-for-16 with runners in scoring position. Thomas Sosa, Angel Tejada, and Alfredo Velásquez all recorded two hits, including a double. Tejada stole three bases while Sosa, Velásquez, and Cole Urman swiped one each.
The standout performer on the mound was Trey Gibson. The 21-year-old righty threw five innings in the middle of the game, struck out eight, and only allowed a walk but no hits. Jacob Cravey started and delivered three solid frames, allowing one run on two hits and three walks. Grabiel Salazar surrendered two runs in his one inning. And it was Dominic Freeberger that took the hard luck loss, allowing the automatic runner to score in the 10th inning.
Thursday’s Schedule
- Norfolk: at Jacksonville, 7:05. SP: Bruce Zimmermann (1-1, 7.53 ERA)
- Bowie: vs Altoona, 6:35. SP: Alex Pham (0-0, 5.14 ERA)
- Aberdeen: at Hudson Valley, 6:35. SP: Levi Wells (0-1, 8.10 ERA)
- Delmarva: at Down East, 6:30. SP: Ty Weatherly (0-0, 0.00 ERA)