Checking on two prospects

By Roch Kubatko

Orioles

May 08, 2010, 6:04am

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Josh Bell hit a walk-off home run last night for Triple-A Norfolk, belting a 1-1 offering from Toledo reliever Jay Sborz over the right-center field wall in the bottom of the 12th inning to give the Tides their third straight win. Sborz hadn't allowed an earned run in 10 games before last night. His eight saves are tied for the International League lead. Bell went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two walks. He's homered in three straight games, giving him six on the year to go with 18 RBIs, and has hit safely in 14 of his last 17 games. The walk-off blast was the first for Norfolk since Chris Roberson hit a 10th inning homer in a 4-3 win over Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on June 17, 2008. The Orioles don't want to rush Bell and he needs to play third base every day if he's going to get better, which won't happen in Baltimore with Miguel Tejada on the roster, but he's trying real hard to pressure an organization that's losing patience with its impotent offense. On the flipside, Brandon Snyder went 0-for-5 with five strikeouts and stranded six runners. He's batting .181 with one home run. The Orioles don't need that bat in their lineup. They have enough problems at the moment.