O's game blog: O's in Fenway plus minor league notes

After being swept four straight at Yankee Stadium, the Orioles move on to Fenway Park in Boston tonight. The Orioles (39-82) have lost nine of the last 10 games, all against Houston and New York.

Right-hander Aaron Brooks (2-6, 6.35 ERA) starts tonight's series opener, and he can really use a good outing. In six starts with the Orioles, Brooks is 0-3 with a 9.41 ERA. Over 22 innings he has allowed 32 hits and seven home runs. Despite his poor numbers, the Orioles are 3-3 when he gets the start.

On Wednesday at New York, Renato Núñez logged his first career five-hit game. It marked the first five-hit game by an Oriole since catcher Matt Wieters did so on Aug. 14, 2016 at San Francisco, exactly three years ago to the day. Núñez collected the third ever five-hit game by an Oriole against the Yankees and first since infielder Jerry Adair on Aug. 24, 1962 at Memorial Stadium. Núñez produced the 49th five-hit game in Orioles history and he was the 37th different Oriole with a five-hit game. Hall of Famer Cal Ripken, Jr. leads the way with four five-hit games.

Boston (64-59) is 8-5 this season against the Orioles and 2-2 at Fenway Park. The Red Sox lead the majors in batting average (.275) and doubles (271) and rank 2nd in runs (709), OBP (.346), and extra-base hits (484). Boston is 7 1/2 games out of the second American League wild card berth.

Right-hander Rick Porcello (10-9, 5.67 ERA) will make the start tonight for the Red Sox. Over his past five games he has a 6.83 ERA and has allowed a .297 average and nine homers over 27 2/3 innings. In two starts this year against Baltimore, he is 1-1 with a 9.00 ERA, allowing 17 hits in nine innings.

Aberdeen's All-Stars: The short season Single-A Aberdeen IronBirds are sending six players to the New York-Penn League All-Star game. They are outfielders Kyle Stowers and Dalton Hoiles, infielders Toby Welk and Andrew Fregia and right-handed pitchers Ryan Conroy and Leonardo Rodriguez. The six IronBirds will represent the NYP Red All-Stars on Aug. 21 at Richmond County Bank Ballpark at St. George in Staten Island, N.Y.

Other farm notes: Aberdeen catcher and O's top draft pick Adley Rutschman went 2-for-4 with two doubles, two RBIs and a run scored last night. That extended his season-high hitting streak to seven games, during which he is hitting .423 (11-for-26) with six doubles, nine RBIs, five walks and five runs. He's recorded three consecutive multi-hit games and has hit two doubles in back-to-back games. Rutschman's seven-game hitting streak is tied for the third-longest active streak in the New York-Penn League.

Through 12 games in August, the Triple-A Norfolk Tides have gone 10-2, the best record in the International League. They lead the IL in team ERA (2.29) and WHIP (1.10) this month, and have surrendered only five home runs in August, the fewest in all of Triple-A.

In last night's Tides win, outfielder Austin Hays finished 2-for-5 with two RBIs. In his last eight games, he is hitting .367 (11-for-30) with a double, a triple, two home runs, five RBIs, and seven runs scored. Righty Dean Kremer will make his Triple-A debut tonight. In 15 starts with Double-A Bowie, Kremer went 9-4 with a 2.98 ERA and 87 strikeouts to just 29 walks.

The Bowie bullpen was lights out during the four-game series against Richmond. Baysox relievers combined to pitch 11.0 scoreless innings. After Wednesday night's 4-0 win over Richmond, the Baysox now have 16 shutouts this year, more than any other team in the Eastern League. Bowie right-hander Tyler Herb has been solid for the Baysox in four starts since returning from Norfolk. In those games, Herb is 3-0 with a 2.25 ERA in 24 innings.

Frederick righty Ofelky Peralta tossed six dominant innings of shutout ball to earn the win, 1-0 over Salem Thursday night. He gave up just two hits while walking three and striking out three and is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA and 0.92 WHIP in his last two starts.