Orioles minor league recap 8/5: Darell Hernaiz stays hot for Delmarva

The Shorebirds were the only affiliate to win as Norfolk was rained out, and both Bowie and Aberdeen fell.

Triple-A: Norfolk Tides at Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (Marlins) – PPD/Rain

These two teams were supposed to play a doubleheader on Wednesday, but rain washed it away. They will try to play twice on Thursday instead.

Double-A: Somerset Patriots (Yankees) 6, Bowie Baysox 2

Bowie’s one RBI came off the bat of who else, but Adley Rutschman. He doubled in the first inning to score a rehabbing Yusniel Diaz, who had hit a double of his own moments earlier. Rutschman would go on to score later in the inning, coming home on a fielding error by the Somerset third baseman. Zach Watson and Ramon Rodriguez also had hits. Kyle Stowers was 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts.

Kyle Brnovich received his first decision as a Double-A pitcher, a loss. He struggled early, giving up three runs over his first two innings before settling down. The righty would throw four innings total, allowing those three runs on five hits, one walk, and five strikeouts. Logan Gillaspie was first out of the ‘pen, and he had a tough time missing bats. Over two innings he served up two runs on six hits and a strikeout. Tyler Erwin may have had the best outing of any pitcher. He gave up just one run on two hits, a walk, and three strikeouts over his two frames of work.

High-A: Jersey Shore BlueClaws (Phillies) 2, Aberdeen IronBirds 1

Conner Loeprich turned in a real nice performance on the mound, scattering three hits across five scoreless innings and striking out four in the process. It is by far his best start of the year at the High-A level. Unfortunately, Kade Strowd had a tough time following up. Over his two innings of work, Strowed coughed up the lead by allowing two runs to score on three hits, three strikeouts, and two wild pitches. Clayton McGinness added a scoreless inning to close the book of Aberdeen’s arms.

The IronBirds did not make the most of their opportunities on offense. They left 10 runners on base as a team, went just 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position, and it didn’t help that they had zero extra base hits on the night. The only RBI was a Shayne Fontana single in the fifth inning to drive in Craig Lewis. Jordan Westburg, Gunnar Henderson, Andrew Daschbach, and Lewis all singled as well. J.D. Mundy was the lone IronBird to have a mult-hit game.

Low-A: Delmarva Shorebirds 5, Down East Wood Ducks (Rangers) 3

Darell Hernaiz continues to make noise for the Shorebirds. He went deep for the fifth time this season, a two-run shot, as part of his 2-for-5 game. TT Bowens, Ryne Ogren, and Wily Yahn were other Shorebirds with two hits in this game. Bowens also stole a pair of bases while Mason Janvrin swiped his 18th bag of the season.

Each of the Delmarva pitchers had a solid night on the bump. Shane Davis started and delivered four innings while giving up one earned run on three hits and three strikeouts. Gregori Vazquez followed with three innings in which he served up a run while striking out four. And then Nick Roth earned the save with two scoreless innings, working around a hit and two walks.

Complete box scores from all of Wednesday’s games can be found here. The Orioles’ Florida League Complex teams and their Dominican Summer League teams did not play any games.

Thursday’s scheduled games

• Norfolk: at Jacksonville, 5:05. Starter: Mike Baumann (1-0, 3.60 ERA)
• Norfolk: at Jacksonville, TBD. Starter: TBD
• Bowie: at Somerset, 7:05. Starter: Grayson Rodriguez (4-1, 2.91 ERA)
• Aberdeen: at Jersey Shore, 7:05. Starter: Garrett Stallings (7-3, 4.63 ERA)
• Delmarva: vs Down East, 7:05. Starter: Noah Denoyer (5-3, 3.02 ERA)