Notes From the Minors 5/8

[weams]

http://www.orioleshangout.com/article/5095/minor-league-game-summaries-58

Michael Almanzar is the Orioles Hangout Minor League Player of the Day

Tides [AAA] won 4 to 3

Michael Almanzar had two singles. And a double.

Parker Bridwell pitched seven innings, allowed three runs, and struck out eight.

Baysox [AA] Lost 4 to 2

Chris O'Brien hit a two run homer.

Brandon Snyder doubled.

Keys [A+] Won 8 to 7

Tucker Nathans had three hits.

Brenden Webb had three hits with a double. And a stolen base.

Adrian Marin had two singles.

Anthony Caronia had two hits with a double He was caught stealing.

Shorebirds [A] are Lost 5 to 1

Alex Murphy had a hit and and RBI.

Daniel Delgado pitched three and a third innings, Walked four, Struck out four, allowed no runs.

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Geoff Arnold

Woodbridge, Va.-The Frederick Keys tallied 15 hits and went 6-for-15 with runners in scoring position, as the orange and black topped the Potomac Nationals 8-7 on Friday night at Pfitzner Stadium. Coming off a recent sweep at Carolina, the Keys ended a four-game road losing streak and earned their eighth one-run win of 2015.

Getting contributions from the entire lineup, the Keys had eight different starters record one hit, five posted multiple hits, and seven tallied an RBI. Eight of those hits came off the Nationals No. 1 pitching prospect Lucas Giolito, who made his Advanced-A debut on Friday.

Limited to one hit in their first two trips to bat, Frederick batted around in the third, after a solo homer by Drew Ward and four straight singles gave the Nationals a 2-0 lead after two frames. Anthony Caronia and Johnny Ruettiger opened the frame with back-to-back singles, while a third base hit by Tucker Nathans got the Keys on the board. The Frederick leadoff man then advanced to second on a wild pitch, while a walk by Jeff Kemp and an RBI fielder?s choice by Drew Dosch tied the game at two.

One batter later, Trey Mancini plated Tucker Nathans with an RBI single before Adrian Marin completed the scoring with a single to left-center to make it 4-2. It was the second time the Keys had batted around in the last four days.

Potomac tied the game with markers in the third and fourth innings. Spencer Kieboom opened the third with a triple of Luis Gonzalez and scored on a bounce out by John Wooten in the third, while a two-out walk, a balk and an RBI base knock by Isaac Ballou brought things to even terms.

However the Keys would ensure Gonzalez (2-2) had a chance for a win after retaking the lead in the fifth. At 75 pitches for the game, Giolito (0-1) came back out to start the inning, but would throw only seven pitches. After retiring Mancini, Brenden Webb hit a bouncing ball up the first base line which kicked off the bag and over the head of Wooten for a double. Turning to his bullpen, Nats manager Tripp Keister brought in lefty Justin Thomas, who served up an RBI single to Marin to score the go-ahead run. Later in the inning, he would come home on a two-bagger by Caronia.

With the lead for good, the Keys would hand Giolito his first Advanced-A loss (and only his fourth in 33 professional starts). His first setback since last June 21, Giolito tossed 4.1 innings, surrendering five runs on eight hits to go with two walks and five strikeouts.

A double by Narciso Mesa and an RBI single by Stephen Perez moved the Keys back within a run in the sixth, but the Keys scored the next two runs thanks to an RBI single by Austin Wynns with two outs and an RBI double by Kemp, which extended his hitting streak to seven games.

The Nationals would not go quietly though against Cody Wheeler. Estarlin Martinez tripled with one out in the eighth and scored on a Mesa sac-fly, while a two-out double by Ward scored Kieboom from first. Potomac would bring on speedster Khayyan Norfork to run at second, while a walk put the winning run at first base. Both runners would be stranded though, as Wheeler retired Brandon Miller to end the game.

Gonzalez picked up his first win in nearly a month. He gave up four runs on nine hits to go along with three walks and five strikeouts. Wheeler allowed two runs on three hits in two innings, but hung on for his third save in as many attempts.

[weams]

Ian Locke

Nolan Reimold drove home Paul Janish with a sacrifice fly in the 14th inning, lifting Norfolk to a 4-3 win over the Buffalo Bisons Friday night at Harbor Park.

With the score knotted at 3-3, Janish opened the 14th frame with a double off of Colt Hynes (0-1), the seventh pitcher the Bisons used in the contest. After a deep fly ball by Henry Urrutia moved Janish to third, Reimold lifted a fly ball to center field that allowed Janish to score just ahead of the throw of center fielder Melky Mesa and give Norfolk its first walkoff win of 2015.

The two teams combined to use 14 pitchers in what was the second-longest game by innings in the International League this season. The two offenses combined to go 4-for-30 with runners in scoring position while leaving 28 men on base.

The Tides trailed the contest 3-2 in the ninth inning but rallied against Bisons closer Bo Schultz to tie the game. Michael Almanzar opened up the frame with a double before moving to third on a sacrifice bunt by Janish. Urrutia then chopped a ground ball over a drawn-in infield to plate Almanzar and knot the score. After Reimold reached on a force out, the Tides nearly won the contest when Chris Parmelee laced a double to the right-center field gap, but the Bisons executed a perfect relay throw to nab Reimold at the plate and send the game to extras.

Tides starter Chris Jones, making a spot start due to the call-up of T.J. McFarland, turned in a solid outing in his first start of the year. Jones allowed two runs on five hits in 4.2 innings of work, walking one while striking out two.

Almanzar finished with three hits to pace Norfolk’s 12-hit attack, as the Tides improved to 8-7 in one-run games this season. Norfolk has now seen 13 of its last 18 games decided by one run.

The two clubs continue their three-game set Saturday night at Harbor Park, with first pitch set for 7:05. Zach Davies (1-1, 2.82) gets the start for Norfolk against left-handed veteran Randy Wolf (3-0, 1.24).

[weams]

Douglass Newton

SALISBURY, Md. -- The Delmarva Shorebirds were stymied by the Asheville Tourists in Friday night’s finale, a 5-1 defeat to decide the series. The Shorebirds (16-11) were limited to a season-low two hits in the loss, resulting in their first series loss since April 18th.

Asheville starter Sam Howard dominated the night with an impressive outing. The left-hander did not allow a hit until the sixth inning, allowing just four baserunners in total. Though he carried a 7.31 ERA into the game, Howard was lights out in seven innings of work.

The Tourists put up a big number in the third inning, and that was all they needed on Friday night. Brian Gonzalez surrendered three straight singles to lead off the inning and load the bases. After a flyout, the Shorebirds’ starter issued a walk to force in the first run. Drew Weeks chopped an infield single for another run, and Sean Dwyer lifted a sacrifice fly to left. Reliever Dariel Delgado walked in two more runs for a five-run frame for Asheville.

With Howard dealing, Delmarva did not score until the sixth inning. Jared Breen sliced a single into right field, breaking up the no-hitter bid. In his last five games, Breen is hitting .556 (10-for-18). After a couple of groundouts, Alex Murphy delivered a two-out RBI single to drive home Breen. Murphy leads the South Atlantic League with 26 RBIs so far this season.

Yoely Bello and Gavin Glanz threw two scoreless innings in relief for Asheville, closing out the 5-1 win for the Tourists. The Delmarva bullpen also pitched well, with Delgado settling in after the third inning. Delgado threw 3 1/3 scoreless innings, and then Matt Trowbridge and Mike Burke combined for three perfect frames to finish the night.

[weams]

Matt Wilson

Baysox C Chris O'Brien has a flair for the dramatic. Just five days after hitting a walk-off grand slam in Bowie with two down in the ninth, O'Brien nearly sparked another magical moment. Representing the tying run with two down in the ninth, O'Brien got into a delivery sending it to the outfield wall, where Richmond left fielder Daniel Carbonell caught the ball at the wall to end the game.

The loss ended a season-high six-game winning streak for Bowie. Altoona was a winner over Harrisburg so the Baysox will enter Saturday morning back in a tie for first place in the Eastern League's West. The win was the fifth straight for Richmond since starting the season at 3-17.

Baysox starter Parker Bridwell was strong. He went a season-high seven innings, allowing four runs while striking out eight batters. Bridwell did not allow a walk.

Down 4-0 in the seventh inning the Baysox cut the lead in half. 1B Brandon Snyder doubled with one down but had to exit the game with a lower body injury. Derrik Gibson came in as a pinch-runner and O'Brien drove a ball out the opposite way with a two-run home run to left field making it 4-2 Richmond. For O'Brien it was his fifth home run of the season. All five have come with at least one runner on-base.

RHP Marcel Prado worked a scoreless inning in the eighth inning to keep the Baysox within two runs for the ninth inning. For Prado, it was his first appearance of the year.

[hoosiers]

Thanks for the work with the reports. Bridwell pitched well for Bowie - not Norfolk.