Orioles minor league recap 8/30: Coby Mayo blasts Norfolk to come from behind win

The Tides and Shorebirds were winners Tuesday night, while the Baysox and IronBirds couldn’t find the late offense they needed to mount a comeback.

Triple-A: Norfolk Tides 8, Worcester Red Sox 6

The Tides offense rallied to erase multiple deficits, scoring two runs in the ninth inning to snatch a win from the Red Sox. Starter Cade Povich didn’t have his best stuff Tuesday, as Worcester tagged him for three runs in the second inning. After a one-out walk followed by a single, Povich gave up a three-run homer to Worcester shortstop Yu Chang. However, the Tides’ bats picked up their starter by getting all three of those runs back in the top of the third. Colton Cowser led off the inning with a single and scored on a Heston Kjerstad triple. Kyle Stowers then brought even more fireworks, launching a two-run homer to left-center to tie the game at three.

However, Povich couldn’t keep things tied up as the Red Sox put up another two runs in the third. After a leadoff walk, Worcester catcher Ronaldo Hernandez reached on an error by Connor Norby. Outfielder Bradley Zimmer singled to left field to give Worcester a 5-3 lead. The Tides and Red Sox traded runs in the fourth and fifth—on an RBI single from Norby and a solo HR from Hernandez—setting things up for Norfolk’s comeback.

Down 6-4 in the seventh, Daz Cameron and Joey Ortiz hit back-to-back singles and Coby Mayo walked to load the bases. Josh Lester grounded out to second base to drive home Cameron, and then Ortiz came home to tie the game on a throwing error by Chang. The Norfolk bullpen worked a perfect seventh and eighth innings to set the Tides up for a final rally in the ninth. With two outs, Cameron singled to left field and then Coby Mayo launched an absolute bomb to left to give the Tides the lead for good. Wandisson Charles worked an easy ninth inning to earn the save and close the Tides’ 77th win of the season.

Box Score

Double-A: Akron RubberDucks (Guardians) 7, Bowie Baysox 5

Akron used big innings in the third and sixth innings to come from behind and score a win over Bowie on Tuesday. The Baysox got out to an early lead when Dylan Beavers led off the top of the first with a triple to left field. Beavers then scored when Max Wagner reached on a fielder’s choice where Akron failed to throw out Beavers at the plate. Bowie doubled that lead in the third thanks to some aggressive base running from Jackson Holliday. The No. 1 prospect in baseball singled to right field and advanced to third on a Wagner single to left. Holliday then scored on a Billy Cook sac fly, giving Bowie a 2-0 lead.

That lead would not hold up, however. After a leadoff walk in the bottom of the third, back-to-back RubberDuck singles got Akron its first run. Two batters later, another Akron single drove home another run and tied the game at two. The RubberDucks then took the lead on a two-out double, driving home another two runs and putting Akron up 4-2.

Bowie would chip away at that lead in the fifth and eventually tie the game in sixth. Beavers led off the fifth with a walk and advanced to second on another Holliday single. Beavers came home to score on an Akron wild pitch. The Baysox got aggressive on the base paths again in the sixth in order to tie the game. Jud Fabian reached on a leadoff hit by pitch, and immediately stole second. Donta’ Williams then singled up the middle to bring home Fabian and tie the game.

That tie was short lived as the RubberDucks piled on three runs in the bottom of the sixth. A leadoff double followed by another double two batters later gave Akron the lead back at 5-4. Then, back-to-back singles stretched that lead to 7-4. Bowie would get one of those runs back in the top of the ninth when Holliday doubled and later scored on a groundout. However, the Baysox couldn’t keep that rally going, coming up short in their comeback attempt. Like most days, Holliday was the star of the show for Bowie, finishing 3-4 with a walk and two runs scored.

Box Score

High-A: Jersey Shore BlueClaws (Phillies) 3, Aberdeen IronBirds 2

After Aberdeen took an early lead, a three-run fifth inning from the BlueClaws doomed the IronBirds in their close loss on Tuesday. Things started about as well as they could have for Aberdeen, as Elio Prado and Frederick Bencosme worked back-to-back walks to lead off the top of first. After a double steal, Carter Young lifted a softly-hit single to center, driving home Prado and giving Aberdeen a 1-0 lead. The IronBirds would double that lead in the top of the third, when Prado launched a solo HR to left-center to lead off the inning.

However, the Aberdeen bats went all but quiet after that solo shot from Prado. The next seven IronBird hitters went down in order and Aberdeen wouldn’t get another hit until the eighth, when Bencosme collected a two-out single. That dry spell from the Aberdeen offense allowed Jersey Shore to mount a rally with a big fifth inning. The BlueClaws started off the inning with back-to-back singles before an RBI double drove home their first run. Aberdeen starter Cooper Chandler then walked the bases loaded, prompting manager Roberto Mercado to turn to his bullpen.

Things did not get much better from there, however. Reliever Dylan Heid forced a couple of ground outs to the first two batters he faced, the second of which allowed Jersey Shore to tie the game at two. BlueClaws RF Gabriel Rincones Jr. then singled to left to break the tie and give Jersey Shore a lead it wouldn’t relinquish. The IronBirds would only get two more runners into scoring position—on a Bencosme steal of a second base in the eighth, and after back-to-back walks in the ninth. However, in both situations the following batters failed to even put the ball in play, killing any chances at a comeback.

Box Score

Low-A: Delmarva Shorebirds 8, Columbia Fireflies (Royals) 7 (F/7)

Even after inclement weather forced the game to start two hours late, the Shorebirds bats came out hot in a thrilling win over Columbia. Enrique Bradfield Jr. led off the top of the first with a single, promptly stole second and then came home on a Matthew Etzel sac fly, giving Delmarva an early 1-0 lead. After Columbia tied things at one in the bottom of the first, Stiven Acevedo led off the second with a solo HR that restored the Shorebirds’ lead at 2-1.

The Fireflies responded with two runs in the bottom of the second to take a 3-2 lead, but then Delmarva went on an offensive tear. Bradfield and Mac Horvath walked to lead off the third, and then executed a double steal to give the Shorebirds two runners in scoring position. Right fielder Jake Cunningham singled to right to drive in both runners, giving Delmarva a 4-3 lead. They weren’t done there, though, as they tacked on another two runs in the fourth. Shortstop Jalen Vasquez led off the inning by reaching on an error and came around to score on an RBI double by 1B Angel Tejada. Horvath then singled to move Tejada to third, and the 19-year-old scored on a Columbia wild pitch.

The Fireflies would cut into that 6-3 lead with two runs of their own in fourth, and then took the lead with another two spot in the sixth. The back and forth nature of the game set things up for an exciting conclusion in the seventh. With one out, Etzel singled to put the tying run on base. Cunningham then did his best Coby Mayo impression, blasting his first career HR to right field to give Delmarva the lead for good. Kelvin LaRoche came in for the bottom of the seventh, looking for a save, but quickly loaded the bases with no outs. However, LaRoche cleaned up his own mess, picking up a lineout, a strikeout and a pop up to seal the win for the Shorebirds.

Box Score

Wednesday’s Scheduled Games

• Norfolk Tides at Worcester Red Sox, 6:45pm ET. Justin Armbruester vs. Shane Drohan
• Bowie Baysox at Akron RubberDucks, 6:35pm ET. TBD vs. Jack Leftwich.
• Aberdeen IronBirds at Jersey Shore BlueClaws, 7:05pm ET. Juan Nuñez vs. Christian McGowan
• Delmarva Shorebirds at Columbia Fireflies, 7:05pm ET. Juan De Los Santso vs. Henry Williams