O's get marathon win, plus a look at the night on the farm

By Steve Melewski

Orioles

June 22, 2018, 10:00pm

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It was long and it was wild, and for the Orioles , Friday's marathon game that ended this morning ended up with a victory. There were smiles in the visiting dugout five hours and 21 minutes after first pitch as the Orioles outlasted first-place Atlanta 10-7 in 15 innings.

Chris Davis returned to the lineup and after he walked his first time up, he homered in his second plate appearance. He connected to left field in the fifth to end a 24-game homerless streak since May 9 that had lasted 89 at-bats. That was his longest homerless stretch as an Oriole and the second longest of his career. From Oct. 1, 2009 to Sept. 17, 2010 for Texas, he went 119 at-bats between home runs. In his previous 24 games, Davis had not only gone without a homer but he had just two RBIs. He matched that RBI total with two in this win.

The teams combined for 10 runs in the ninth inning. It started with the Orioles trailing 3-1 and ended with the game tied 7-7 as Atlanta scored four in the ninth off Zach Britton. The Orioles scored six runs in the ninth, their most in that inning since 2008. The ninth saw five pitchers take the mound for both teams and lasted 47 minutes.

Manny Machado's two-run homer in the 15th broke the 7-7 tie and was his 19th. According to ESPN Stats and Information, Machado's home run was the latest go-ahead homer for the Orioles since Adam Jones hit go-ahead homers in the 15th inning and 17th inning in separate games in May of 2012.

The Orioles went 7-for-14 with runners in scoring position last night. This after the club went 0-for-17 with RISP in the three-game series in Washington.

Neither team gets much of a chance to rest as they get right back on the field today at 4:10 p.m. with Dylan Bundy (5-7, 3.81 ERA) facing Braves right-hander Julio Teheran (5-4, 3.97 ERA).

On the farm Friday night: Triple-A Norfolk blasted Louisville 16-1 behind a 20-hit attack that included three doubles and two homers. Andrew Susac hit a grand slam and DJ Stewart hit a three-run shot in the ninth. Stewart went 3-for-5 with four runs and four RBIs. Winning pitcher John Means gave up five hits and one run over six innings. Norfolk improved to 7-1 versus Louisville.

The Tides are 37-33 after 70 games which is the midpoint of their season. It is the fourth-best record they've had at the 70-game mark in 12 seasons as an O's affiliate since 2007. The best was the 39-31 mark in 2009.

Double-A Bowie won 6-5 at Richmond in a game shortened to six innings by rain. Corban Joseph returned to the Baysox and went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and is batting .341. Ryan Mountcastle went 2-for-4 with a triple and an RBI and is batting .285. He is 5-for-8 the last two games. Tanner Chleborad got the win relief and is 3-0 with an ERA of 2.67. In his second Bowie game, center fielder Ryan McKenna went 0-for-1 with two walks and two runs scored.

Salem beat Single-A Frederick 5-3. Outfielder Randolph Gassaway went 3-for-5 and is batting .288 for the Keys, now 36-35 overall and 1-1 in the second half. Cristian Alvarado gave up two runs over seven innings in a no-decision and has an ERA of 3.92. This loss was just the second in the last 13 games for Frederick.

Kannapolis won 3-1 at Single-A Delmarva. Losing pitcher Cameron Bishop allowed two runs and three hits over five innings and is 6-4 with a 3.38 ERA. Branden Becker went 2-for-3 but the Shorebirds were held to eight hits and went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Ben Breazeale drew a bases-loaded walk to produce the only Shorebirds' run. Delmarva is 0-2 to start the second half. Right-hander Brenan Hanifee (5-3, 2.91 ERA) gets the start for Delmarva tonight.

Short season Single-A Aberdeen won 2-0 at Staten Island. The IronBirds have started the New-York Penn League season at 4-4 and are 3-1 since a 1-3 start. Right-hander Luis Perez from the Dominican Republic threw five scoreless on two hits with six strikeouts to gain the win. Brandon Bonilla fanned three over two innings and Zach Matson fanned five in the last two innings to pick up the save. The three IronBirds pitchers combined to fan 14 batters with a three-hitter. J.C. Escarra went 2-for-3 with an RBI and Alexis Torres added an RBI for Aberdeen.

The Gulf Coast League Orioles lost 8-3 to the Rays to fall to 0-4 to start the year. In his first pro game, third baseman John Ham went 2-for-2 with two walks and an RBI. He was drafted earlier this month in round 31 out of Tennessee Tech. Zachary McLeod went 1-for-3 and is batting .400. He was selected this year in round 33 out of Colorado Mesa University.

The Orioles announced the signings of two more draft picks Friday, adding fourth round prep lefty Drew Rom and left-hander Nick Meservey who was taken in round 21 out of Seattle University. The Orioles have now signed seven of their top 10 round picks and 25 in all.

Rom is from Highlands (Ky) High School, where he went 8-6 with a 2.42 ERA. Rom, ranked as the No. 187 prospect for the draft by Baseball America, has a college commitment to Michigan.

"A very promising young left-hander," O's scouting director Gary Rajsich said after the draft. "He's had a tick up with his stuff lately. We've liked him since we saw him on the showcase circuits last summer and we were trying to keep quiet on that one. We didn't want to expose our interest in him. We could have taken him higher. We took some risk waiting until the fourth round but we're very happy to get him. He throws a fastball, changeup and slurvy-type breaking ball with a great arm action and a good delivery."