J.J. Hardy singles in first at Double-A Bowie, Flaherty homers in the second

BOWIE, Md. - Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy contines to hit the ball hard as he gets closer to a return to the team. He singled in the last of the first inning at Double-A Bowie tonight.

He could possibly rejoin the Orioles as soon as tomorrow night at Yankee Stadium, and Ryan Flaherty could join him.

Hardy playing short and Flaherty playing second base make up the Bowie double-play combo for a third night in a row tonight at Prince George's Stadium.

Batting second for the Baysox, Flaherty flied to left on the first pitch he saw tonight from Akron right-hander Will Roberts in the bottom of the first. Batting next, Hardy hit a hard line drive single to center on a 2-2 pitch.

Hardy is now 4-for-9 (.444) with Bowie, and Flaherty is 2-for-8 (.250) for Bowie. Hardy can be activated by the Orioles as soon as tomorrow while Flaherty's DL stint is up and he could be activated as soon as Friday.

Bowie took a 3-0 lead in the first inning. Garabez Rosa delivered a two-run single to right scoring Hardy and Mike Yastrzemski, who had walked. Rosa later scored on an Akron error. Left-hander Tim Berry pitched a 1-2-3 top of the first.

In a Baysox transaction earlier today, right-hander Bobby Bundy was placed on the seven-day minor league disabled list with a sprained right knee. Bobby Bundy got the win relief of his brother Dylan Bundy last night, pitching 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. He is 1-0 with a 4.20 ERA over eight Baysox games.

To take his roster spot, the Baysox have added right-hander Marcel Prado.

Dylan Bundy, whose start was cut short by rain last night, will stay on his regular rotation turn next time through the rotation. Last night, he went one inning and one batter before the rain came.

In the second inning: Flaherty homered for the Baysox in the last of the second. He hit an 0-1 pitch from Roberts over the right-field wall to score Michael Burgess, who had doubled in a run. Chris O'Brien led off the inning with a double, extending his current hitting streak to 15 games. Flaherty's last minor league homer came the last time he was in the minors, on Aug. 31, 2013 for Single-A Frederick. Hardy followed the Flaherty homer with a groundout to short as both O's are 1-for-2 tonight.

Looking for its fifth win in a row, Bowie leads 6-2 in the third inning.

A hit in a flash: Flaherty led off the last of the fifth with a single to left but was erased on the bases when Hardy bounced into a short-to-first double play. Flaherty is 2-for-3 tonight, and Hardy is 1-for-3.

Both players have made nice defensive plays tonight. Hardy ranged into the hole at short in the second inning to get a force out at second base. Flaherty ranged up the middle in the fifth to make a play on a grounder and hold a runner at third base with the infield playing in.

Berry was knocked out in the fourth inning and gave up six hits and six runs (four earned) over 3 2/3 innings. Right-hander Andrew Triggs came on out of the Baysox bullpen. This game is tied 6-6 in the sixth.

In the seventh: Flaherty and Hardy both batted with two on in a 6-6 tie in the last of the seventh, but could not provide Bowie the go-ahead hit. Flaherty was called out on strikes and Hardy grounded out back to the mound against right-handed reliever Trey Haley.

Both players stayed in the game for the top of the eighth after playing seven innings here the past two nights. In three Bowie games, Hardy is 4-for-12 and Flaherty is 4-for-11.

Extra innings: This game is now in the 10th tied 6-6 but Hardy and Flaherty came out after the last of the ninth. Flaherty lined out to left to end the ninth with Hardy on deck. Now Ozzie Martinez is in at short and Derrik Gibson at second for the Baysox. Hardy went 1-for-4 tonight and Flaherty went 2-for-5.