Orioles Affiliate Norfolk Tides The Best Minor League Team Scored Insane 26 Runs

The box score and game reports from Triple-A Norfolk are read aloud by Orioles manager Brandon Hyde every night, or morning, depending on when the game concludes.

Orioles Affiliate Norfolk Tides The Best Minor League Team Scored Insane 26 Runs

He has been monitoring five of the Orioles’ best prospects—Jackson Holliday, Connor Norby, Heston Kjerstad, Kyle Stowers, and Coby Mayo—who failed to make the team despite impressive performances in spring training. This season, all of them are anticipated to play in the majors, and Hyde is curious about the whereabouts of his future players.

Hyde could be confined for a little while longer than normal after last night’s Tides game.

On Wednesday night at Truist Field, Norfolk, the Orioles affiliate, defeated Charlotte 26–11, a final score that has never been recorded in AL/NL history. The team also established a club record for hits (29) and runs (eight) scored.

At any level, offensive outbursts of this magnitude are uncommon. The last Minor League club to top that score total was the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts (29) on July 6, 2023. This is the best single-game output by an International League team since the Buffalo Bisons (27) on April 18, 2013.

It’s Kjerstad’s season-long hitting form.583 (14 for 24) in five games with eight home runs and eighteen RBIs. Meanwhile, skyscrapers are being attacked.400 (10 for 25) with 14 RBIs and five home runs. Holliday is batting. He is the son of seven-time All-Star Matt Holliday.400 (10 for 25) for the Tides, who are 4-1 on the season, with two home runs and eight RBIs.

Even if they haven’t found their offensive groove yet, the Orioles big league squad is still dominating because they are packed. But eventually, it’s going to be much harder to keep these five out of the majors.

Two performances in particular stood out historically. Heston Kjerstad, the No. 31 overall prospect in MLB, went deep three times and established a record with 44 career roundtrippers in Norfolk. Kyle Stowers, an outfielder, also went deep twice on his way to a club-record 10 RBIs.

Of course, there are standout performances all around the lineup in any game that scores more than three touchdowns. Jackson Holliday, the best prospect in baseball, went 4-for-6 with two walks, five runs scored, and two RBIs.

With five hits, Coby Mayo (MLB’s No. 29) was one home run short of the cycle. At least four players made it to base seven times, and two-thirds of the lineup had an OPS above 1.000.

The Orioles presently have four outfield players on the roster: Ryan O’Hearn and Jorge Mateo can also step in for outfielders Cedric Mullins, Austin Hays, Anthony Santander, and Colton Cowser.

If Stowers is promoted, it would probably imply that one of the starters would have to be hurt or someone like Cowser, who is a solid defender at all three locations and is 4-for-8 so far, would have to be optioned.

Kjerstad, who went 5-for-7 with 10 RBIs on Wednesday and was on the Orioles postseason roster the previous season, is another player Stowers faces up against. Connor Norby, who started the season as a second baseman but has only appeared in corner outfield roles, is also in this category.

 

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