Norfolk and Bowie are in first place, plus other minor league notes

Taking a look at a few notes around the Orioles minor leagues:

* The Orioles' top two farm clubs are in first place with identical 47-34 records. Triple-A Norfolk is leading its division by 1 1/2 games and Double-A Bowie leads its division by 3 1/2 games. Here are notes on those clubs plus a few from Single-A Frederick, Single-A Delmarva, short-season Single-A Aberdeen and the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League.

Norfolk notes: The Tides are now a season-high 13 games over .500 after winning 10 of 12 games. Outfielder Henry Urrutia is batting .429 (15-for-35) during an eight-game batting streak with four doubles and five RBIs, raising his average for the year to .287. Norfolk's 46 errors are the fewest in the league.

International League All-Star Oliver Drake has recorded 20 consecutive scoreless outings. During that time he has fanned 30 over 20 innings with 12 saves and a .106 batting average against.

Bowie notes: The Baysox continue to get some strong starting pitching. Terry Doyle is 8-1 with a 2.09 ERA. The 29-year-old right-hander has allowed just one earned run in 23 innings over his last three starts with one walk and 24 strikeouts. Meanwhile, right-hander Elih Villanueva has pitched to an ERA of 1.59 in his past three starts and is 7-5 with a 2.56 ERA over 12 starts. Hershey, Pa., native Joe Gunkel is 2-0 with a 1.59 ERA in five Baysox starts since the Orioles acquired him from Boston for Alejandro De Aza.

The Baysox have already used 52 players for at least one game. In all of 2014, the Baysox had just 47 different players. The Bowie record for players in a season is 66 in 2009.

Since returning from Baltimore, reliever Mychal Givens has appeared in four games, pitching 6 1/3 scoreless innings and allowing two hits with no walks and nine strikeouts. He has an ERA of 1.38 for the season.

Frederick notes: The Keys need a win tonight at Winston-Salem to snap a five-series losing streak. The Keys are 1-10 in their last 11 series-opening games. Frederick beat Winston-Salem 5-2 on Sunday as pitchers Mitch Horacek and Matt Taylor retired 22 of the last 23 batters. Taylor picked up his second professional save, tossing the eighth and ninth innings.

Keys catcher Chance Sisco's bat has heated up after a slow start that included two stints on the disabled list. Since June 1, Sisco is batting .333 (34-for-102). In June, he hit .333 with an OPS of .850.

Delmarva notes: Shorebirds first baseman Logan Uxa drove in seven runs last Monday night in a 7-3 win and that tied the team record, last done in July 2005. Uxa capped his huge night with a walk-off grand slam.

Delmarva reliever Nick Cunningham has made 10 appearances since the start of May, including two spot starts. In those outings, Cunningham has allowed just four runs in 30 1/3 innings with a batting average against of .211.

Aberdeen notes: First baseman Steve Laurino went 2-for-4 Sunday and is batting .382/.382/.588 over his last eight games. Outfielder Michael Odenwaelder has now hit safely in eight of his last nine games, batting .323. The O's third-round draft pick, left-hander Garrett Cleavinger out of the University of Oregon, tossed a hitless sixth inning in his professional debut yesterday. Through his first four games, top draft pick DJ Stewart is batting .143 (2-for-14) with a double, an RBI, four walks and one strikeout.

GCL notes: The Orioles' second first-round pick, high school shortstop Ryan Mountcastle, was batting .148 in his first seven pro games before going 4-for-4 with four singles on Saturday to raise his average to .258.

The O's seventh-round pick, high school pitcher Gray Fenter, who was signed to an overslot bonus of $1 million, made his pro debut today in the Gulf Coast League. He pitched two scoreless innings, allowing one hit with one strikeout.