Minor League Game Summaries 7/1

Written by Various Authors

Norfolk

Zach Britton's final tune up?

Lew Ford had three hits and four Norfolk pitchers combined to strike out 11 as the Tides topped the Syracuse Chiefs 3-2 Sunday night at Harbor Park.

Ford singled twice and belted a solo homer in the win, helping Norfolk (42-43) pull within a game of the .500 mark. The 35-year-old outfielder is now batting .351 with six homers and 24 RBI in 39 games since joining Norfolk on May 18.

With the victory, the Tides have now won nine of their last 12 and 13 of their last 18.

With the score tied at 2-2 in the seventh, Ford left off the frame with a single before advancing to third on a hit-and-run single by L.J. Hoes. Steve Tolleson followed with a sacrifice fly to right, giving Norfolk the lead.

The seventh inning single by Hoes extended his hitting streak to 12 games. The 22-year-old has hit .455(20-for-44) with 11 runs scored over that span.

Eric Beaulac (1-0) earned the win in his Triple-A debut, as he struck out one and walked two over 1.1 innings of relief. Miguel Socolovich and J.C. Romero followed and recorded the final five outs, with Romero registering his second save of the season.

Tides starter Zach Britton turned in a solid outing, as he surrendered two runs on three hits in six innings of work. Britton walked four and struck out a season-high seven, throwing 63 of his season-high 107 pitches for strikes.

Bill Hall had three hits in the contest, while Joe Mahoney added two doubles and a run scored. Blake Davis added an RBI single. (Ian Locke)

Box Score

Bowie

Baysox lose 6-2

Box Score

Frederick

Keys lose 8-7

railing 8-4 entering the bottom of the ninth inning, the Keys would rally for three runs in the final frame only to fall one run short, losing 8-7 against the Wilmington Blue Rocks.

Twice the Keys trailed by a deficit of four, as they came back initially from a 4-0 hole to tie the score at 4 in fourth inning, but after falling behind 8-4 in the seventh, the Keys could not muster up another four-run comeback.

After Johnny Ruettiger and Travis Adair led off the bottom of the ninth inning by getting on base, Aaron Baker launched a three-run homerun to get the Keys to within one run as they instantly trailed just 8-7.

Yet with new reliever Sam Runion on the hill, he successfully put an end to the Keys comeback by getting Mike Flacco to groundout and Jeremy Nowak to strike out swinging.

Overall, 15 runs were scored in the high-scoring affair to go along with a combined 26 hits and 10 walks.

For the Keys, the fall to 5-6 in the second half of the year and 32-49 overall while Wilmington improves to 5-6 and 34-47.

Wilmington wasted no time in getting their offense started as they raced out to a 4-0 lead after the third inning off of starting pitcher Scott Copeland.  Up 1-0 entering the second, Wilmington started the inning with back-to-back homeruns from Brett Eibner and Jose Bonilla to put the Blue Rocks up 3-0.

Their next time to the plate, Lane Adams made it 4-0 when he singled home a run with runners on second and third.

The Keys would respond thanks to a Ty Kelly three-run homerun to bring the Keys to within one, as they trailed 4-3. Joe Oliveira doubled and Garabez Rosa singled before Kelly hit his sixth homerun of the year – a new career high – which sailed over all three tiers of fencing to get the Keys back in the game.

The Keys tied the score at four in the next frame after Aaron Baker forced in a run by drawing a bases loaded walk. With Johnny Ruettiger and Travis Adair singling to get on base with two outs, Ty Kelly walked to load the bases. With Baker at the plate, he drew a walk on a 3-2 pitch to then tie the game.

Yet the Wilmington bats would get back to work, scoring four more times to retake a four-run advantage.

After a solo homerun from Matt Fields off of reliever David Baker gave Wilmington a 5-4 lead in the fifth inning, the Blue Rocks added three more in the seventh off of the reliever.

With two runners on, Brett Eibner doubled in a run as Jose Bonilla’s sacrifice fly and Roman Hernandez’s single brought in two more to make it 8-4.

The Keys comeback in the ninth was not enough to overcome a second four-run gap. (Derek LeComte)

Box Score

Delmarva

Power club Shorebirds, 15-10

The Delmarva Shorebirds (1-9) bullpen gave up four home runs over the final four innings as the West Virginia Power (6-5) won game three of the series, 15-10 at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium on Sunday night.

After the Power struck first with two runs in the top of the second, the Shorebirds answered with five runs in the bottom of the second. Planeta reached second on a hit and error and scored on a Wynston Sawyer base hit. Later in the inning, Brenden Webb scored Sawyer on a sacrifice fly. Then, Jason Esposito hit an RBI single to give the ‘Birds a 3-2 edge. Joe Velleggia followed with a two-run double to deep right field to stretch the lead to 5-2.

West Virginia countered with three runs in the third to tie the game at 5-5.

The Power took their first lead in the fifth on a triple to center field by Greg Polanco to score Ashley Ponce. Polanco scored on a groundout to second by Willy Garcia to increase the lead to 7-5.

In the sixth inning, the Power increased the lead to 10-5. Chris Lashmet hit a leadoff home run to left-center. With two outs, the top of the Power order combined for three hits to score two runs.

The Shorebirds responded in the bottom of the sixth. Esposito connected on a sacrifice fly to deep left field to trim the gap to 10-6. Then, with two outs and two aboard, Connor Narron hit a laser line drive home run to right field to cut the deficit to 10-9.

The Power pulled away with a four run eighth inning off reliever Ryan Palsha. Alen Hanson hit a leadoff homer to deep right field to stretch the lead to 11-9. Later in the inning, Willy Garcia hit a three-run homer to left-center field to give the Power a 14-9 lead.

Brenden Webb hit a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth, his eighth of the year. The Shorebirds did not get any closer.

Zac Fuesser, who entered in the second for Zack Dodson, earned the win over 3.1 scoreless innings. Shorebirds starter Parker Bridwell took the loss over five innings. He surrendered nine hits and seven runs.

Polanco led with Power’s 21 hit attack with a 5-for-5 day at the plate. Webb led the Shorebirds with a 3-for-4 night and two RBIs.

(Bret Lasky)

Box Score

Aberdeen

Ironbirds beat the Yankees

In the top of the first inning, with two outs, DH Saxon Butler began the game for the Staten Island Yankees Sunday night with a solo home run hit deep into right field.

In the bottom of the first inning, IronBirds CF Roderick Bernadina hit a line drive into far centerfield receiving a triple and placing the IronBirds in scoring position. Bernadina then scored off of a wild pitch by Yankee P Andrew Benak and tied the score at 1-1.

Yankees broke the tie in the top of the third inning when LF Taylor Dugas tripled to RF rehabber Ronnie Welty, putting Yankees in scoring position. Dugas then scored on a ball passed by C Sam Kimmel. Later on in the inning, 2B Joe Rosario scored on a ground out hit by CF Ravel Santana giving the Yankees the lead at 2-3.

IronBirds fought back in the bottom of the third inning when LF Anthony Vega scored off of a ground ball hit by 3B Torsten Boss to SS Claudio Custodio.

IronBirds continued to rally during the bottom of the fourth inning when SS Joel Hutter scored of off a triple hit by DH Lucas Herbst, evening the score at 3-3. A double by 1B Cameron Edman sent Herst to home plate. Edman scored on a fly ball hit to centerfield by Bernadina. C Sam Kimmel then scored from a Welty fly ball single to LF Dugas. IronBirds ended the inning with a solid 6-3 lead.

Yankees 1B Matt Snyder scored on a grounder Custodio in the top of the sixth inning.

Refusing the Yankees anymore runs, IronBirds continued to score in the bottom of the sixth inning. Welty homered to left center field bringing Bernadina to home plate. IronBirds extended their lead to 8-4.

Banak (0-0) picked up the loss for the night while Jaime Esquivel (1-1) picked up the win for the IronBirds. RHP Bobby Wilkens closed the game in the top of the ninth inning and did not allow the Yankees to score.

Box Score

GCL Orioles

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