Close to another minor league no-hitter

The Orioles have had minor league no-hitters pitched this year by Norfolk's Chris Tillman in April and on Wednesday night by Nate Moreau in his Frederick Keys debut. Friday night, the Aberdeen IronBirds took a no-hitter into the last of the eighth of their game at Hudson Valley, but settled for a one-hitter and 5-0 win over the Renegades. Aberdeen starter Justin Moore, a 20-year-old right-hander, pitched six no-hit innings to get it started. He walked three and fanned two. Then Jason Gurka came on and pitched a hitless seventh, but Hudson Valley's Elias Otero led off the eighth with a double for the Renegades only hit of the night. David Walters finished out the three-pitcher, one-hitter with a scoreless ninth. Moore, a 26th-round pick in 2007, got the win and is 2-0, 1.06 over three Aberdeen starts. He has pitched 17 innings, allowing just 10 hits and two runs with seven walks, eight strikeouts and a .169 average against. Last year, Moore went 4-3, 3.11 with Bluefield and was 7th in the Appy League in ERA. Aberdeen got a two-run homer from Zach Moore and a three-run shot from Adam Gaylord. A 31st-round pick out of Stanford last month, Gaylord is batting .306-1-6 in 14 IronBirds games. Aberdeen improved to 6-9 and snapped a three-game losing streak with the shutout win. The Orioles did beat the Red Sox Friday night in the Carolina League, when Frederick beat Salem 5-2 to complete a three-game sweep of the Sox. Billy Rowell's two-run double in the 8th broke a 2-2 tie. Over his last seven games, Rowell is 10 for 26 with six doubles and five RBI. Winning pitcher Ryan O'Shea has allowed just 6 ER over his last five starts and has pitched to an ERA of 1.88 over that time. On the year, he is 5-3, 3.17 in 16 starts. Frederick won the first-half division title and is 6-3 to begin the second half. Charlotte beat Norfolk 2-1 Friday in front of 8,483 at Harbor Park. Blake Davis drove in the only Tides run. Tim Bascom (2-2, 4.37) pitches for Norfolk on Saturday night.