Looking at the offense on this trip and the final day in the minors

Villar-Airborne-gray-sidebar.jpgThe Orioles have scored two runs on nine hits the last two games. Both runs came on homers by Jonathan Villar and no, that won't get it done. In the series at home last week when they swept Toronto they scored seven runs, and then 12 and 10 runs. On this road trip, they've lost four games scoring two, four, one and one run.

They have produced in order starting with Friday's game at Kansas City four, 13, six and three hits in those games. The team average is .205 on this so far winless trip. Remarkably, the Orioles went 18-for-38 (.474) in that Toronto series batting with runners in scoring position and now they are 1-for-12 (.083) with RISP on this trip. Just one hit with RISP and just 12 chances in four games.

In order they faced Brad Keller, Heath Fillmyer, Jorge Lopez and Erasmo Ramírez in Kansas City and Seattle. That quartet has thrown a combined 27 1/3 innings allowing 20 hits and six runs to the Orioles with three walks and 23 strikeouts. That is an ERA of 1.98.

Lefty Josh Rogers acquitted himself well again. Over 5 1/2 innings he gave up four hits and two runs on 80 pitches. He got hit harder the second time through the order, but again showed poise and confidence on the mound, attacking the hitters with a fastball that was often well-placed. He also had a slider that was plus at times, especially on the back-foot slider to right-handed hitters, one you throw that appears headed for the middle of the plate, but winds up near the hitter's back-foot when he swings.

We don't have enough of a sample size to make any judgements on Rogers, but he at least shows potential to have a shot to be a future back-end of the rotation starter and maybe more than that. He is exactly the type of player the Orioles need to be looking at right now.

On the farm on Monday: It was the final day of the minor league regular season on Monday and this year no Orioles farm team has made the postseason.

Triple-A Norfolk had a disappointing end to its season. The Tides were in playoff contention late in the year but finished 69-71 by losing eight of its last nine and 14 of the last 18. The Tides struggled to score runs late in the year with 57 in those last 18 games.

Durham beat Norfolk 3-2 Monday in the season finale. Anthony Santander's two-run homer provided the only Norfolk runs. DJ Stewart went 1-for-4 to finish the year at .235. Matt Wotherspoon went five innings allowing two runs in a no-decision.

The Tides have had 68 players appear on the active roster this season, with 66 of those players playing in a game (infielders Alejandro Juvier and Milton Ramos were on the roster but never appeared in a game). There have been 30 players that have played for both Norfolk and Baltimore this season - just two players shy of matching the franchise record of 32 that played for both clubs during the 2012 season. A win yesterday would see the Tides finish at or above .500 for the fifth time as an Orioles affiliate, following 2009 (71-71), 2012 (74-70), 2013 (77-67) and 2015 (78-66).

It its finale, Double-A Bowie set season highs in runs and hits with seven homers and 20 hits in beating Altoona 17-6 to finish at 67-71. Bowie went 16-10 at the end of the season.

First baseman Aderlin Rodriguez had a day to rememeber, going 4-for-5 with a double, two homers and seven RBIs and that was not his career-best. Rodriguez drove in nine runs on June 7, 2017. Rodriguez finished third in the Eastern League with 23 homera and also third with 92 RBIs. He was fourth in hits and slugging percentage.

Ademar Rifaela went 4-for-5 with two homers and five RBIs. Austin Hays was 2-for-6 with a three-run home run. Over his last 12 games, Hays hit .286 (12-for-42) with four homers and 13 RBIs. Ryan Mountcastle went 3-for-6 with a double. He finished the season batting .297/.341/.464 with 19 doubles, four triples, 13 homers and 59 RBIs in 102 games. Mountcastle's .297 average was seventh-best in the EL. Corban Joseph finished third batting .312.

Single-A Frederick beat Myrtle Beach 2-1 to finish at 65-72. Collin Woody hit a two-run homer and Randolph Gassaway added two hits. Winning pitcher Cristian Alvarado allowed one run over five innings to cap a pretty solid season. One where he finished 12-11 with an ERA of 4.18 for the year and 1.93 his last three starts. The 23-year-old from Venezuela led the Carolina League in wins and was first with 155 innings for the season. Frederick's Tyler Erwin was second in the CL with 18 saves.

Keys starting pitching did some of its best work in the last two weeks of the season. Over the last 13 games, Frederick starters posted a 2.09 ERA (69 IP/16ER) to go with six quality starts. Among all Orioles minor leaguers, Zac Lowther is first in ERA (2.18) and strikeouts (151) while Michael Baumann is second in wins (13). In the Carolina League, Alex Wells is fourth in ERA (3.47).

Single-A Delmarva went overtime to win 9-5 at Lakewood in 13 innings. The Shorebirds end the year at 68-66. Delmarva, which got two RBIs each from Ryan Ripken and Will Robertson, scored five times in the 13th. Kirvin Moesquit stole his 49th base of the year to lead the South Atlantic League. No other O's farmhand had more than 22. Cameron Ming got the start and threw six scoreless to finish with an ERA of 3.96. Delmarva finished with a winning record for the third time in four years.

Shorebirds right-hander Brenan Hanifee finished fourth in the South Atlantic League in ERA at 2.86 and Cameron Bishop was fifth at 2.94. Delmarva's Mason McCoy had 10 triples to tie for the league lead.

Short season Single-A Aberdeen also ended on a winning note with an 8-7 victory last night at Hudson Valley. Adam Hall went 2-for-4 to finish at .293, to rank seventh in the New York-Penn League. Jean Carmona had a pair of doubles among Aberdeen's 15 hits. The IronBirds finished at 38-37. On Aug. 9 they were 21-30 and then Aberdeen finished up going 17-7.

Aberdeen team MVP J.C. Escarra finished second in the league in batting (.331), tied for first in slugging (.511) and was second in OBP (.417). Hall's 22 stolen bases ranked second in the league and Aberdeen's Jimmy Murphy was ninth in ERA at 3.53.

The final record for each O's minor league club

* Norfolk 69-71
* Bowie 67-71
* Frederick 65-72
* Delmarva 68-66
* Aberdeen 38-37
* Gulf Coast League Orioles 13-42
* Dominican Summer League Orioles 38-34




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