Notes From the Minors 5/3

[weams]

http://www.orioleshangout.com/article/5085/minor-league-game-summaries-53

Jason Esposito help propel the Bowie Baysox to a win with his four for four day. He doubled and had an RBI as well as scoring three runs. He is the Orioles Hangout MiLB player of the day.

Tides [AAA] Lost 7 to 3

Paul Janish and Michael Almanzar each collected two hits. One of the Janish his was a triple.

Zach Davies allowed four runs in two thirds of an inning.

Baysox [AA] Won 11 to 9

Glynn Davis doubled, tripled, and singled. No homer though.

Terry Doyle picked up Parker Bridwell with four plus innings of one run relief.

Chris O'Brien (obtained in the Ryan Webb trade) won the game with a walk off, pinch hit, grand slam.

Derrick Gibson and David Frietas also homered.

Keys [A+] Lost 13 to 3

Trey Mancini was a home run short of the cycle.

Jon Keller got pounded for four runs in two and two third innings.

Shorebirds [A] Won 5 to 3

Alex Murphy went two for four with a double.

Conor Bierfeldt homered.

[weams]

Doug Raferty

Frederick Keys News Release

For Immediate Release: May 3, 2015

MUDCATS USE LATE RUNS TO BEAT KEYS 13-3

11 RUNS IN 7TH AND 8TH HAND FREDERICK SERIES LOSS

Zebulon, NC – In what was a one-run game through six innings, Carolina exploded for 11 runs between the seventh and eighth frames to hand the Keys a 13-3 loss Sunday afternoon at Five County Stadium.

Frederick scored first for the first time in the series against Carolina starter Yean Carlos Gil. In the first frame, Jeff Kemp walked with one out, the first of three times he would reach in the game. With two outs, Trey Mancini launched a ball off the left-center field fence for a triple to score Kemp and a 1-0 Keys lead.

Keys lefty Luis Gonzalez faced the minimum through the first three innings, throwing just 37 pitches in that span. However, he struggled in the fourth and was removed after allowing two runs and recording just two outs. Dustin Peterson kicked it off with a base on balls and advanced to third on Jacob Schrader’s double, his second hit of a four-knock game. After Jose Briceno popped out, Gonzalez threw a wild pitch with Joey Meneses in the box to tie it at 1-1. Meneses would end up with a single to score Schrader and a 2-1 Mudcats lead. Jon Keller entered with the bases loaded and got a long fly out by Sean Godfrey to keep it a one-run contest.

The Keys would come back in the fifth against Gil. Kemp and Drew Dosch recorded back-to-back one-out singles and were followed by Mancini’s second extra-base hit, a double to score Kemp and tie it at 2-2. Dosch was thrown out at home after an Adrian Marin groundball to third, but it pushed Mancini to third. Brenden Webb singled home Mancini and the Keys jumped on top 3-2.

Keller wouldn’t be able to complete a full third inning of work, as he gave up four runs to allow the Mudcats a 6-3 lead after seven innings. Peterson doubled home Godfrey and Eric Garcia, and Meneses lifted a sac fly against Nik Nowottnick. Carlos Franco singled home Schrader for the three-run cushion.

Nowottnick would allow seven unearned runs in the eighth due to a Dosch error with two outs in the eighth. A three-run homer by Connor Lien highlighted the inning, which tied the most amount of runs the Keys have given up in a frame this year (opening day at home against Winston-Salem).

The 13 runs were also tied for the most amount given up by the Keys pitching staff this year. Keller took the loss, dropping to 1-2 on the season. Matt Marksberry earned the win, his first of the year, by throwing a clean sixth and seventh innings.

[weams]

Douglass Newton

Delmarva Tops Augusta Again, 5-3

Four runs in third enough offense for Shorebirds

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- The Delmarva Shorebirds notched another close win over the Augusta GreenJackets by a final score of 5-3 on Sunday afternoon. With the win, Delmarva ensures a winning record on the road trip, improving their overall record to 14-9.

Unlike the first two games of the series, the action started slow on Sunday. The Shorebirds struck first in the third inning with the usual suspects doing major damage. Steve Wilkerson roped an RBI single to break the ice, scoring Jonah Heim. Alex Murphy drillled an RBI double off the left field wall, pushing his total to a league-high 25 RBIs. The next batter, Conor Bierfeldt, crushed a two-run home run that left no doubt coming off the bat. After zero home runs in the first 22 games, Bierfeldt has homered two days in a row.

The Shorebirds tacked on another run in the sixth inning. Jared Breen and Elier Leyva ripped back-to-back doubles to build a 5-0 lead over Augusta. Breen finished with a 3-for-4 day and a run scored.

Matthew Grimes dealt through the first five innings of his start for Delmarva. Before the sixth, Grimes had allowed just an infield single and two walks. The Shorebirds’ starter had never pitched beyond five innings in his career until Saturday. In the sixth, Grimes ran into trouble allowing three consecutive singles to Fargas, Relaford and Arenado. Skyler Ewing sliced a two-run double into right field to cut the Shorebirds’ down to 5-3, and ending the night for Grimes.

Stefan Crichton came out of the Delmarva bullpen and owned the later innings. On several occasions, Augusta sent the tying run to the plate, but Crichton buckled down each time. In total, the Shorebirds’ reliever tossed 3 1/3 scoreless innings in relief to close the game.

Grimes earned his second win of the season, also winning at Savannah earlier on this road trip. Crichton recorded his second save for Delmarva, while Nick Gonzalez took the loss for Augusta.

[weams]

Adam Pohl

Bowie, Md. - Chris O'Brien completed an unlikely Baysox comeback with a two-out, pinch-hit, walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning Sunday afternoon for an 11-9 win over Harrisburg.

The Baysox fell behind early, trailing by six runs after two innings, before beginning the long comeback journey that was capped by seven runs in the final two innings of the game.

O'Brien's grand slam was his team-leading fourth home run of the season and extended his team-high hitting streak to 12 games. The hit was the Baysox first pinch-hit home run since Robbie Widlansky 7/11/11, the first grand slam since Chris Marrero 8/19/14 and the first walk-off home run since David Freitas 8/17/14.

Harrisburg jumped out to a commanding lead in the top of the second inning against Baysox starter Parker Bridwell. The first two batters of the inning singled to reach base and then scored on a Ricky Hague double to right field. Then with one out, Bridwell walked a pair of batters to load the bases before hits by Derrick Robinson and Tony Renda brought three more runs home. The final run of the inning scored on a Caleb Ramsey sacrifice fly to give the Senators a 6-0 lead.

Bowie got two runs back in the bottom of the third inning against Colin Bates, who was making a spot start out of the bullpen. Mike Yastrzemski hit a two-out single to right field and Glynn Davis followed with an RBI triple to center field. The Baysox kept the two-out rally going with a Garabez Rosa RBI infield single to make the score 6-2.

The Senators added a run in the top of the fifth inning against Baysox reliever Terry Doyle. The first three batters of the inning reached on singles to load the bases and Matt Skole brought Renda home with a sacrifice fly to left field to give Harrisburg a 7-2 lead.

The Baysox cut into the Senators lead again in the bottom of the sixth inning on a Derrik Gibson two-run homer to right field in the bottom of the sixth inning against reliever James Simmons that made the score 7-4.

Harrisburg got a run back in the top of the seventh inning against Baysox reliever Gene Escat. With one out, Matt Skole reached on a fielding error by first baseman Brandon Snyder and he moved to third base on a double to center field by Hague. Wilmer Difo's sacrifice fly to center field brought Skole home to give the Senators an 8-4 lead.

Bowie came storming back and seriously threatened the Harrisburg lead for the first time in the bottom of the eighth inning against reliever Bryan Harper. Quincy Latimore drew a lead-off walk and scored on a Jason Esposito double to center field. With one out, David Freitas homered to left-center field to cut the Harrisburg lead to 8-7. With two outs in the inning, the Baysox had runners on second and third, but a hard Rosa line drive was snagged by Kevin Keyes at first base to end the threat.

The Senators added an insurance run in the top of the ninth inning against Baysox reliever Kenn Kasparek. Keyes hit a one-out single to center field and Skole followed with a double to right field that plated Keyes and made the score 9-7.

The Baysox first lead of the game came in the bottom of the ninth inning against Harrisburg reliever Abel De Los Santos. Snyder hit a lead-off double to left-center field, Esposito walked and Freitas was hit-by-a-pitch to load the bases with two outs. Then came O'Brien to pinch-hit for Ozzie Martinez, hitting the game winning home run over the fence in right field for the 11-9 win.

After throwing six shutout innings in his last start, Bridwell lasted just two innings Sunday, allowing five runs on six hits while walking two and striking out two. Doyle stepped up after Bridwell's early exit, throwing four innings and allowing one run on five hits with five strikeouts. Escat pitched two innings, allowing one unearned run on one hit while striking out one. Kasparek pitched the ninth inning, allowing one run on two hits while striking out one in the win.

De Los Santos took the loss and blown save for Harrisburg, throwing one and one-third innings and allowing four runs on four hits while striking out three and walking one.

[weams]

Nick Scarriotta

Eric Fryer had three hits, part of an 11-hit offense that led the Rochester Red Wings to a 7-3 win over the Norfolk Tides Sunday afternoon at Frontier Field. After an off day Monday, the Wings head to Indianapolis to open a road trip Tuesday night.

The team returns home on May 11 to host the Toledo Mud Hens (Tigers) for another Kids Eat Free Monday. Complete promotion details below...

Wings right-hander Alex Meyer was matched with Tides righty Zach Davies, who came into the game with a 1.25 ERA in four starts - the second lowest ERA in the league. The Wings put two runners on with one out in the bottom of the first inning, and Eddie Rosario was sent home on Josmil Pinto's single. But Rosario was tagged out on a close play at home after a fine throw by left fielder Henry Urrutia. Hot-hitting catcher Fryer made sure the Wings got on the scoreboard, drilling a two-out RBI single that gave the Wings a 1-0 lead. Fryer extended his hitting streak to seven games with the hit.

Danny Ortiz followed Fryer with a two-run triple to right-center, and an infield hit by James Beresford - on a play where Davies failed to cover first base - plated another run for a 4-0 Rochester advantage. That brought an end to Davies' day, with Chris Jones coming on in relief. Davies (1-1) had not allowed a first inning run in any of his previous four starts.

After being hit hard in his last start (nine hits and five runs in four innings against Columbus April 28), Meyer didn't allow a hit until the third inning Sunday. A triple and a single got the Tides on the scoreboard with one out, but a double play started by Jose Martinez at third base quickly ended the rally attempt. Through four innings Sunday, Meyer had allowed two hits and two walks, while striking out three.

The Tides put together back to back hits with one out in the fifth inning, but Meyer struck out the next two batters to strand the runners.

The Red Wings added to the lead in the fifth. A pair of infield hits with two out set the stage for an RBI single by Martinez, putting the Wings ahead 5-1. The hit gave Martinez a 10-game hitting streak. Beresford added another hit to bring in one more run to make it 6-1.

Aaron Hicks hit his second home run of the season in the bottom of the sixth, an opposite field shot that landed in the Norfolk bullpen in left field

Meyer worked into the seventh inning for the first time this season, as his pitch count closed in on the 90 mark. He allowed a single around a flyout, a popout, and an strikeout in the seventh.

Meyer (2-1) walked the first batter he faced in the eighth, then went to a full count before walking former Wing Chris Parmelee. That brought Caleb Thielbar out of the bullpen and into the game. Doug Bernier took away an RBI hit from Daniel Alvarez with a stellar play at short, forcing Parmelee at second base for the first out. Thielbar walked Henry Urrutia to load the bases, and Jayson Nix blooped a single to left field to bring home two runs and make the score 7-3. A.J. Achter took over for Thielbar with the bases loaded, and with an infield fly and strikeout Achter ended the rally attempt.

Meyer's line: 7+ innings pitched, six hits, three earned runs and four walks to go with six strikeouts. He threw a season-high 104 pitches, 63 for strikes.

Achter retired all five batters he faced to record his first save.

The Wings, who entered the game second in the league in team average (.275), out-hit the Tides 11-8.

[Redskins Rick]

http://www.masnsports.com/steve-melewski/2015/05/a-look-at-the-orioles-hot-hitting-with-runners-in-scoring-position-and-bowies-walk-off-grand-slam.html

Melewski's writing of the O'Brien walk-off grand slammy.

[JayThomas]

Thanks for posting all this stuff Michael. Must spread rep ...