Enrique Bradfield Jr. made the loudest noise in Norfolk’s comeback win Tuesday, but the Tides’ 9-3 victory over Jacksonville was built on a full-on sixth-inning avalanche.
Norfolk entered the bottom of the sixth trailing 3-2 after Jacksonville had just broken a tie with a solo homer in the top half of the inning. That’s when the Tides flipped everything. Payton Eeles drew a one-out walk, Rece Hinds followed by launching a two-run homer to left-center, and the inning kept rolling from there.
Ryan Noda was hit by a pitch and came around right away on Brandon Butterworth’s blast to left. Jud Fabian kept things moving with a walk, Sam Huff singled, and then Amos Willingham lost the strike zone with a wild pitch that brought Fabian home and pushed Norfolk in front 7-3.
The Tides weren’t done. In the eighth, Huff walked again after two quick outs, Ramos reached on catcher interference, and both advanced on a wild pitch.
Bradfield then ripped a ball into the left-center gap for a triple, clearing the bases and capping a big night. The 2023 first-round draft pick finished 3-for-5 with 3 RBIs, a stolen base and 6 total bases.
Trey Gibson gave Norfolk the kind of start that made the rally matter. The right-hander worked five innings and held the line long enough for the offense to take over, allowing 3 hits and 2 runs, one earned, while walking two and striking out none. He lowered his season ERA at Norfolk to 3.96.
Chesapeake followed a similar script at Double-A, using a five-run sixth to surge past Portland 6-4. The Baysox were down 2-0 after a two-run homer in the third, but Aron Estrada started the response with a single and Vance Honeycutt tied it with a two-run shot to right-center for his second Double-A homer.
Ethan Anderson then went back-to-back with a solo homer to left for a 3-2 lead, and the inning kept getting worse for Portland. Wehiwa Aloy and Victor Figueroa singled, Dom Keegan was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Thomas Sosa punched a two-run single through the left side to make it 5-2. Chesapeake added another run in the eighth when Aloy singled, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error before Figueroa lined a single up the middle.
Caden Hunter finished his season in Bowie with another strong outing. The lefty didn’t allow a hit until the third, when a leadoff double turned into two runs after a one-out homer.
He settled in from there, striking out nine over five innings while allowing 3 hits, 2 earned runs and 2 walks. Hunter now has 147 strikeouts in 99 innings this season.
Frederick needed a weather delay and a shortened game to finish the job against Brooklyn, but the Keys handled it just fine in a 6-4 win over the Cyclones. After more than two hours of delay, the game was limited to seven innings, and Brooklyn jumped ahead 2-0 in the first.
Frederick answered with a three-run second, starting with back-to-back walks and a Braylon Whitaker fielder’s choice that scored Braylin Tavera. DJ Layton then doubled to center and cleared the bases for a 3-2 lead.
The Keys kept adding on. Colin Yeaman walked to open the fourth, stole second and third, and scored on a wild pitch.
In the fifth, Leandro Arias drew a walk, moved up on a balk and scored on a Tavera single. Brooklyn cut into the margin with a homer in the sixth, but Frederick got the run back in the seventh when Layton walked, moved up on a bunt single, and eventually came around on a double play grounder by Arias.
Brooklyn hit another solo homer in the bottom of the seventh, but that was as close as it got.
Frederick and Brooklyn also wrapped up a suspended game from July 5th that had been halted by lightning. The teams resumed tied at 2-2 with two outs in the top of the seventh, and Frederick won it in extras on Yasmil Bucce’s walk-off single in the 10th.
At Low-A, Delmarva couldn’t climb out of an early hole in a 6-2 loss to Kannapolis. Eric Booth Jr. turned in a solid effort for the Shorebirds, but the Cannon Ballers scored twice in the first after back-to-back one-out singles and a pair of stolen bases set up Grayson Fitzwater’s two-run single to right. Kannapolis added another in the fourth on a triple and a sac fly/pop-up into foul territory.
Delmarva answered in the fifth with some small-ball work. Joshua Liranzo opened with an infield single, moved to second on a wild pitch, and scored when Hector Campusano bunted him to third and Jhomnardo Reyes followed with an RBI groundout.
Booth then singled and stole second, but the inning ended there. The Shorebirds had more chances in the sixth and seventh, opening both innings with leadoff doubles, but they went just 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position.
Booth brought home Campusano with a single in the ninth, but Kannapolis closed it out from there.
In Other News...
Orioles Already Sent A Clear Message With Luis De Lens Debut
Luis De Lens major league debut came in relief against the Rockies, and even in a brief one-inning look, the Orioles got a small snapshot of why they brought him up. He struck out one batter, showed the kind of arm that can miss bats at this level, and also learned immediately how quickly the margins tighten in the big leagues when a two-run homer changes the shape of an outing.
Craig Albernaz and De Lens teammates still came away talking about his potential future role, which is often the real point of these first appearances for a young pitcher. For Baltimore, the debut was less about one line on a scorecard than about sending a message that De Len is in the conversation now, with the next step depending on how the Orioles decide to use and develop him from here. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Are Pulling Off A Trade Deadline Balancing Act
The Orioles spent the trade deadline walking a line that few clubs are willing to try this late in a season, moving notable pieces while still keeping one eye on the playoff race. Baltimore dealt away key players including Adley Rutschman, Taylor Ward and Tyler Wells, then brought back a wave of prospects, a haul that signaled a clear bet on the future without fully shutting the door on the present.
Even with the sell-off, the Orioles were still hanging around the wild card picture in early September, which is what makes the deadline such a balancing act. The Athletics report handed Baltimore an A grade for the moves, pointing to both the clubs continued contention and the promise in the prospects it added, leaving the bigger question for the weeks ahead: whether the front offices mix of short-term competitiveness and long-term planning can pay off on both fronts. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Face A Tough Jackson Holliday Decision At The Worst Time
Jackson Hollidays rookie season has reached the kind of stretch that forces a contender to weigh patience against practicality. Since Aug. 1, the 22-year-old first overall pick has been one of the Orioles least productive regulars, hitting just .202/.242/.310 with a 50 wRC+, while also battling through uneven defense. Even so, Baltimore has kept running him out there as the club tries to stay in the playoff race, betting that the long view still matters even in a crowded pennant chase.
Blaze Alexanders return only sharpens the question of how much longer the Orioles can keep sorting through Hollidays growing pains in real time. Alexander has handled right-handed pitching well, giving the club another option as the games start to carry more weight, and that leaves Baltimore with a tricky playing-time puzzle at exactly the wrong moment. For a team with postseason hopes on the line, every at-bat and every defensive decision now carries a little more consequence than it did a month ago. [Read more 🡒]