The Orioles’ farm system had some pop on Wednesday, with Norfolk and Chesapeake both getting big nights from the middle of their orders.
At Triple-A, the Norfolk Tides rolled past the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, 9-5, behind a lineup that kept the pressure on from top to bottom. Nine of the 10 hitters who appeared collected at least one hit.
Heston Kjerstad and Christian Encarnacion-Strand each went deep and finished with two RBIs, while Enrique Bradfield Jr. chipped in two hits, a stolen base, and a run scored. Jonathan Rodríguez, Ryan Noda, and Bryan Ramos each added a double, and Creed Willems finished 1-for-3 with a single.
Christian Herberholz gave Norfolk a steady start, working five innings and giving up one run on four hits with two walks and six strikeouts. The only earned run against him came on a solo homer in the first.
The bullpen, though, had a rougher time. Anthony Nunez recorded one out and allowed a run, Chris Kachmar was tagged for three runs in 1.2 innings, and Nick Raquet along with Andrew Magno each handled an inning without giving up a run to close it out.
Chesapeake also leaned on the long ball in an 8-4 win over Binghamton. Ethan Anderson launched his 16th homer, Thomas Sosa added his seventh, and Wily Vasquez went deep for the second time. Frederick Bencosme reached base with a walk, swiped two bags, and scored, while Anderson De Los Santos doubled, walked, and crossed the plate twice.
Juaron Watts-Brown turned in another useful start for the Baysox and picked up the win. He worked 5.1 innings, allowing two runs on six hits with two walks and four strikeouts.
Over his last three starts, he has cut his ERA from 8.78 to 6.75. Ben Vespi gave up one run across 2.2 innings in relief, and Ryan Long surrendered a run in the ninth.
Frederick’s offense did enough to stay in the game against Brooklyn, but the pitching staff couldn’t keep the Cyclones down in a 13-7 loss. Yasmil Bucce was the bright spot at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a homer, a double, a walk, two runs, and two RBIs. Wehiwa Aloy doubled, walked, and drove in a run, Edwin Amparo picked up his first High-A double and added two RBIs and a run, and Ike Irish went 1-for-5 with a single.
On the mound, JT Quinn allowed four runs, three earned, over 4.2 innings while striking out five. Cohen Achen was hit for four runs in one inning, Todd Kniebbe gave up two runs in his frame, and Raimon Gomez was charged with three runs in the ninth, including two home runs. Chandler Marsh was the lone Frederick pitcher who came away with a clean line, throwing four outs without allowing a baserunner.
At Low-A, Delmarva fell to Charleston, 9-4, after one disastrous inning changed everything. Dalton Neuschwander was solid through four, giving up just one run, but the fifth inning unraveled when Charleston scored six times to seize control.
The bullpen did its best to keep the game from getting away entirely. Luis Beltrán, Kenny Leiner, and Zac Lampton covered the final four innings, and none were charged with earned runs, though Leiner was on the mound for two unearned runs in the eighth during a messy stretch that included a hit by pitch, three wild pitches, and a throwing error.
Braylon Whitaker sparked the Shorebirds offense from the top of the order, finishing 3-for-4 with a double, a triple, a walk, and a run scored. Stiven Martinez drove in two with his seventh homer of the season, DJ Layton had two hits, stole his 22nd base, and knocked in a run, and Cobb Hightower went 1-for-4 with a single.
Thursday’s schedule was listed at the end.
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