If anyone needed further convincing, the Norfolk Tides showed why their offense is about as scary as a minor league batting order can get.
Like their parent club, Baltimore, they scored double-digit runs for the second consecutive game in a victory. Saturday’s score was 12-6 against the Durham Bulls before 7,141 at Harbor Park.
The reigning International League and Triple-A national champions went ahead 9-1 by the fourth inning with a trio of three-run frames. They added three more runs to weather the Tampa Bay affiliates’ four-run surge in the sixth.
Kyle Stowers drove in five runs, consensus MLB No. 1 prospect Jackson Holliday scored four, and they were part of a lineup whose first five batters all had at least two hits.
Holliday was 2 for 4 with a walk, Connor Norby was 2 for 5 a run and two RBIs, Heston Kjerstad was 3 for 3 with two runs and two RBIs, Coby Mayo was 2 for 5 with two runs and an RBI, and Stowers was 3 for 5 and scored twice.
They made life difficult on the Bulls’ first two pitchers, Nathan Wiles (0-1) and Edwin Uceta, who were charged with 11 runs (nine earned) in five innings.
Norfolk starter Bruce Zimmermann, given so much run support, gained the victory by pitching 5 2/3 innings, yielding four earned runs and seven hits but no walks while striking out six. Chesapeake native Garrett Stallings, Andrew Suarez and Matt Krook went on the mound to finish the Bulls. Krook was making his Orioles organization debut.
The teams will conclude the three-game series with at 1:05 p.m. Sunday. Former Orioles All-Star left-hander John Means is scheduled to pitch for the Tides on a rehabilitation assignment.