Notes From the Minors 5/25

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Ian Locke

May 25 2015

Norfolk used a big afternoon from Steve Clevenger and a strong effort from the pitching staff to roll past the Syracuse Chiefs 7-2 Monday afternoon at Harbor Park.

Clevenger collected four hits in the contest to raise his average to .352, helping Norfolk take the opener of the four-game set. His two-out single in the sixth inning gave Norfolk a lead it would not relinquish as the Tides improved to 8-3 over their last 11 home contests.

Clevenger has now hit safely in 11 of his last 12 contests, over which he?s batted .432 (19-44) with one home run and seven runs batted in.

Zach Davies (2-3) picked up the win as he allowed one run on four hits over 4.1 innings of relief. Making his first appearance out of the bullpen this season, Davies walked two and struck out seven to lower his ERA to 2.93 ? the lowest mark among qualifying Orioles minor leaguers.

Making his first start since being optioned from Baltimore on Saturday, UVA product Tyler Wilson went 1.2 scoreless innings and struck out three. He allowed two hits while throwing 17 of his 27 pitches for strikes.

Henry Urrutia and Paul Janish both had two hits and an RBI for Norfolk, which broke open a 2-1 contest with five eighth inning runs off of former Tides relievers Manny Delcarmen and Rich Hill. The Tides had just two hits in the eighth frame but took advantage of three walks, a wild pitch and a two-run sacrifice fly by Ryan Flaherty to extend the lead to 7-1.

Pedro Beato earned his third save of the season, allowing one run in 1.1 innings of relief.

The two clubs continue their four-game series Tuesday night at Harbor Park, with first pitch set for 6:35. Left-hander T.J. McFarland (1-2, 4.24) gets the start for Norfolk and will be followed to the mound by right-hander Eddie Gamboa (2-3, 4.62). Syracuse will counter with right-hander Mitch Lively (0-0, 1.85).

Notes: Ryan Flaherty went 0-for-3 with a walk and two RBI in his first rehab game with Norfolk…Nolan Reimold went 1-for-3 with a double and two runs scored and is now hitting .588 (10-17) over the first five games of the current homestand …Norfolk is 3-1 and has a 1.50 ERA in four games vs. Syracuse this season…Cesar Cabral worked 1.2 scoreless inning of relief, as he’s yet to allow a run in 16 appearances out of the bullpen this season

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Doug Raftery

May 25, 2015

LYNCHBURG’S COMEBACK 6-5 VICTORY SPLITS SERIES

KEYS JUMP AHEAD 4-0 EARLY, BUT FALL LATE

Lynchburg, Va. – The Keys scored four runs through the first three innings, pounding out nine hits while doing so, but Lynchburg scored six of the games last seven runs to defeat the Keys 6-5 on Memorial Day at City Stadium. The two teams split the four-game series, and the loss drops the Keys to two games out of first for the first time this season.

With the Keys leading 4-3, Lynchburg took the lead against the bullpen in the seventh. Dylan Rheault (0-1), tossing his second frame, allowed a one-out single to Luigi Rodriguez, who stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Clint Frazier walked to place runners at first and third, and Jon Keller was summoned from the bullpen. Keller surrendered consecutive RBI hits by Bradley Zimmer and Nellie Rodriguez to hand the Hillcats the lead at 5-4, and another RBI by Eric Haase pushed it to 6-4.

The Keys nearly tied it a half-inning later against Antonio Romero. Anthony Caronia singled and Austin Wynns doubled to put two in scoring position with no outs. Gregory Lorenzo grounded out to plate Caronia, but T.J. Olesczuk and Josh Hart struck out to end the half-inning. Hart went 0-for-4 with an RBI to snap his 10-game hitting streak.

Frederick scored in the first three innings against Hillcats righty D.J. Brown, who allowed nine hits and four runs. In the first, Jeff Kemp doubled home Johnny Ruettiger from second, who knocked a single with one out and advanced to second on a Trey Mancini base hit.

Luis Gonzalez went five innings, allowed six hits and three runs in a no-decision. He struck out four and walked two. The lefty pitched a 1-2-3 first inning on just 10 pitches.

In the second, the Keys got an RBI from Hart on a sac fly to left field. It scored Lorenzo, who doubled with one away against Brown. Wynns provided the spark in the third on a one-out, two-run double into left field to plate Adrian Marin and Caronia.

That’s when Lynchburg took over. Gonzalez allowed a two-run homer to Luigi Rodriguez, his eighth of the year, to cut it to 4-2. Nellie Rodriguez then doubled home Zimmer to make it 4-3.

Clayton Cook (2-2) shut down the Keys from the fourth to seventh frames, allowing just two hits in four innings. Ben Heller closed the door with a three up, three down ninth inning to save his fifth game of the season. The loss is the largest come-from-behind loss for the Keys this season.

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Atlanta Free Press

Right-hander Kyle Crick turned in his longest outing at the Double-A level, and the Richmond Flying Squirrels (18-23) moseyed past the Bowie Baysox (22-22), 6-1, at The Diamond on Monday afternoon.

The Squirrels got off to a fast start against right-hander Jarrett Miller in the first inning. Miller walked Kelby Tomlinson to open the inning, creating his own issue. An out later, Mac Williamson lofted a ground-rule double that bounced over the right-field wall. Devin Harris followed and pulled a single through the left-side of the Bowie infield that plated Tomlinson for a 1-0 lead.

Richmond exploded offensively in the third to take control of the ballgame. Rando Moreno extended his on-base streak to 13 games when he led off the inning with a single. Miller then hit Williamson and walked Harris to load the bases. Miller then uncorked a wild-pitch that allowed Moreno to score. The wild-pitch occurred during Ricky Oropesa’s at-bat. He proceeded to crush the next pitch over the right-field wall. The three-run home run, Oropesa’s team-leading sixth, gave the Squirrels a 5-0 advantage.

Crick faced the minimum and did not allow the Baysox a hit through the first three innings. However, Glynn Davis led off the fourth and lifted a solo-home run to left field to put Bowie on the board, trailing 5-1.

Miller (0-1) didn’t survive the fourth inning, retiring for the day after 3 2/3 innings. He was charged with five earned runs on eight hits. He walked three, hit another and struck out two. He endured his first Double-A defeat.

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Doug Newton

5/25/2015

HICKORY, N.C. -- The Delmarva Shorebirds lost their fourth straight game with a 10-3 final score on Memorial Day. The first-place Hickory Crawdads hit three home runs for a lopsided victory in the series opener in North Carolina.

Jose Cardona started the scoring for Hickory with a solo home run in the third inning. The Crawdads scored again in the third when a throwing error allowed Luke Tendler to score on a potential inning-ending double play.

Hickory took advantage of two more errors in the fifth inning. Three unearned runs scored when the Shorebirds twice failed to convert potential double play grounders. Rock Shouldres lifted a sacrifice fly, and Marcus Greene added an RBI double for a 5-0 lead.

The Crawdads poured it on with two home runs in the seventh. Travis Demeritte launched a three-run home run, and then Greene skied a solo shot to make it 9-0 in Hickory's favor.

Conor Bierfeldt provided some late life for Delmarva's offense, but the game was already out of reach. In the eighth, Bierfeldt drilled his own three-run home run, his sixth of the season. The Shorebirds' slugger leads the team in home runs, and now he has 44 RBIs, third-most in all of minor league baseball.

Ariel Jurado (7-0) tossed six scoreless innings, earning his league-best seventh win for Hickory. Matthew Grimes (3-2) allowed five runs in the defeat, though only one of the runs was earned.