{"id":670271,"date":"2026-04-08T13:09:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T13:09:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/670271\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T13:09:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T13:09:15","slug":"orioles-minor-league-recap-4-8-willems-homers-in-norfolk-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/670271\/","title":{"rendered":"Orioles minor league recap 4\/8: Willems homers in Norfolk loss"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Triple-A: Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 6, Norfolk Tides 2<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The Tides jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, but their bats quickly fell silent as the Jumbo Shrimp earned a come-from-behind victory. With two outs in the bottom of the 1st, Johnathan Rodr\u00edguez worked an eight-pitch walk to give Norfolk their first base-runner of the afternoon. Two pitches later, Creed Willems turned on an inside slider and deposited it into the right field bleachers for a two-run bomb. It was Willems\u2019 third homer of the season, with the DH hitting .286 with a 1.061 OPS.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Norfolk would only register two more hits the rest of the game, a single by Rodr\u00edguez in the 3rd and another single by Jos\u00e9 Barrero in the 5th. It was an overall poor performance for the Tides\u2019 bats, as the team finished 3-for-28 with 14 strikeouts. That included a 0-for-4 performance with two strikeouts from Jackson Holliday on his rehab assignment. The 22-year-old infielder is hitting .185 with a .500 OPS in 27 ABs with the Tides.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Jacksonville took the lead after scoring one run in every inning from the 3rd through the 6th inning. Catcher Austin Mack padded the lead with a solo HR in the top of the 8th. Jacob Berry put the final nail in the Tides\u2019 coffin in the 9th, reaching on an infield single, stealing second and third and scoring on a sac fly for the Jumbo Shrimp\u2019s sixth run.<\/p>\n<p>Double-A: Chesapeake Baysox 4, Erie SeaWolves 1<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Strong pitching and patience at the plate propelled the Baysox to a series-opening win against the SeaWolves. Big lefty Sebastian Gongora got the start for the Baysox and showed flashes of dominance against Erie. The former 11th-round pick picked up two strikeouts in the 1st, one in the 2nd and another two in the 3rd. The only blemish on Gongora\u2019s record came in the 4th, when he allowed a one-out double followed by a two-out single as Erie took an early 1-0 lead. The 24-year-old would add two more strikeouts that inning before being pulled for a reliever, finishing with a final line of 3.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER and 7 K.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The bullpen was equally strong for Chesapeake after Gongora left the game. Relievers Gerald Ogando, Micah Ashman and Yaqui Rivera combined to pitch 5.1 scoreless innings to close out the game. The trio of relievers also racked 10 Ks, as 17 of Chesapeake\u2019s pitchers\u2019 27 outs came via strikeout.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Offensively, the Baysox only registered two hits, but were able to put four runs on the board thanks to collecting nine walks. In the 5th, Anderson De Los Santos led off the inning with a walk. Chesapeake then loaded the bases with Tavian Josenberger reaching on an error and Adam Retzbach working a walk. Their first run of the game came on the Baysox\u2019s second hit, as Douglas Hodo III singled through the right side to bring home De Los Santos. Three batters later, De Los Santos scored on a wild pitch to give Chesapeake a 2-1 lead.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The Baysox would grow that lead without registering a hit in the 6th. <a href=\"https:\/\/go.skimresources.com\/?id=1025X1734621&amp;xs=1&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mlb.com%2Fmilb%2Fprospects%2Forioles%2Fethan-anderson-803175\" rel=\"sponsored nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ethan Anderson<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/go.skimresources.com\/?id=1025X1734621&amp;xs=1&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mlb.com%2Fmilb%2Fprospects%2Forioles%2Fgriff-o-ferrall-803172\" rel=\"sponsored nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Griff O\u2019Ferrall<\/a> and De Los Santos started the inning with three walks to quickly load the bases. Back-to-back sac flies from Josenberger and Retzbach scratch across two more runs as Chesapeake built up an insurmountable lead.<\/p>\n<p>High-A: Winston-Salem Dash 7, Frederick Keys 6 (F\/10)<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The Keys came from behind to tie the game in the 9th and take a lead in 10th, but couldn\u2019t finish the job in North Carolina, falling in 10 innings to the Dash. Down 4-2 heading into the top of the 9th, Orioles top prospect <a href=\"https:\/\/go.skimresources.com\/?id=1025X1734621&amp;xs=1&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mlb.com%2Fmilb%2Fprospects%2Forioles%2Fnate-george-825582\" rel=\"sponsored nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Nate Georg<\/a>e led off the inning with a walk. <a href=\"https:\/\/go.skimresources.com\/?id=1025X1734621&amp;xs=1&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mlb.com%2Fmilb%2Fprospects%2Forioles%2Fike-irish-702610\" rel=\"sponsored nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ike Irish<\/a> then moved George to second on a bloop single to right. Two batters later, RJ Austin was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Braylin Tavera then singled to left to drive home George, and Irish scored on an RBI groundout to tie the game at four.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Frederick then led off the top of the 10th with <a href=\"https:\/\/go.skimresources.com\/?id=1025X1734621&amp;xs=1&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mlb.com%2Fmilb%2Fprospects%2Forioles%2Fvance-honeycutt-701689\" rel=\"sponsored nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Vance Honeycutt<\/a> as their Manfred Man and Ryan Stafford at the plate. Stafford reached on a two-base error by the Dash LF, allowing Honeycutt to move to third. Then, with one out, Irish singled up the middle to bring home both runners and give the Keys a 6-4 lead.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Reliever Jacob Cravey couldn\u2019t hold the lead, however, as he allowed a triple to the first batter he faced. The extra base hit scored Winston-Salem\u2019s ghost runner and cut the Frederick advantage in half, all while putting the tying run on third. Cravey then walked the next batter before giving up a game-tying sac fly. After a wild pitch moved the winning run to second, the Frederick right-hander picked up a strikeout to get within one out of forcing an 11th inning. Instead, he left a ball over the plate to the Dash\u2019s Alec Makarewicz, who served it into right field for a walkoff single.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The Keys did get standout pitching performances from two pitchers acquired at last year\u2019s trade deadline in Boston Batemen and Twine Palmer. The 20-year-old Bateman started the game and delivered a line of 4 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB and 5 K in his season debut. Palmer took over in the 6th, tossing 4 IP with 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB and 5 K. Irish led the way offensively, going 3-for-4 with 2 RBI, 1 run, 1 BB and a SB.<\/p>\n<p>Low-A: Augusta GreenJackets 10, Delmarva Shorebirds 7<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Delmarva raced out to an early lead thanks to a big 3rd inning, but couldn\u2019t keep that momentum going as they dropped the first game of their series with Augusta. With the game tied at 0-0, F\u00e9lix Amparo led off the 3rd with a single followed by a steal of second base. Cobb Hightower then grounded out to move Amparo to third, before <a href=\"https:\/\/go.skimresources.com\/?id=1025X1734621&amp;xs=1&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mlb.com%2Fmilb%2Fprospects%2Forioles%2Fjordan-sanchez-820847\" rel=\"sponsored nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jordan Sanchez<\/a> drove him home on an RBI groundout to tie the game at 1-1.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/go.skimresources.com\/?id=1025X1734621&amp;xs=1&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mlb.com%2Fmilb%2Fprospects%2Forioles%2Fstiven-martinez-815913\" rel=\"sponsored nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Stiven Martinez<\/a> then extended the inning by reaching on an error on a ball hit to short. Luis Almeyda kept the two-out rally alive with a single to center before Joshua Liranzo launched a three-run homer over the left-center fence to give the Shorebirds a 4-1 lead.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The GreenJackets would tie the game again in the 4th with a three-run inning, before Martinez restored a Delmarva lead with a solo blast to lead off the 5th. Augusta briefly took a 6-5 lead after scoring two runs in the top of the 6th, only for Delmarva to tie things again via a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the 6th.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Walks would come back to betray the Shorebirds in the 7th, as the GreenJackets started the inning with four straight walks to take a 7-6 lead. Augusta would tack on another two runs thanks to a throwing error, before scoring their 10th run on an RBI single. Sanchez would get one of those runs back with a leadoff homer in the 9th, but it\u2019d be the only run Delmarva could claw back as Edwin Amparo struck out to end the game.<\/p>\n<p>Wednesday\u2019s scheduled games<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Norfolk Tides vs. Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, 6:35pm ET (Dean Kremer vs. Dax Fulton)<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Chesapeake Baysox vs. Erie SeaWolves, 6:05pm ET (TBD vs. Eric Silva)<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Frederick Keys at Winston-Salem Dash, 6:30pm ET (Yeiber Cartaya vs. Gabe Davis)<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Delmarva Shorebirds vs. August GreenJackets, 7:05pm ET (Keeler Morfe vs. Derek Vartanian)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Triple-A: Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 6, Norfolk Tides 2 The Tides jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, but&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":670272,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2374],"tags":[143,47,3433,2538,5,4,125],"class_list":{"0":"post-670271","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-baltimore-orioles","8":"tag-baltimore","9":"tag-baltimore-orioles","10":"tag-baltimore-orioles-prospects","11":"tag-baltimoreorioles","12":"tag-baseball","13":"tag-mlb","14":"tag-orioles"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116369252340302764","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=670271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/670272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=670271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=670271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=670271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}