Blowout features three new Baltimore Orioles Minor League records
*Cover Photo: Katie Gilmore
Ok, the Norfolk Tides are on a completely different planet right now.
I thought Tuesday night was impressive enough, as the 10-6 win featured some big home runs including a 451 ft. Heston Kjerstad bomb.
I get done practice for Stevenson Club Baseball, and then I read 26-11. Again, I thought I saw enough on Tuesday night. Apparently not.
This was not just a blowout, but an absolutely brutal onslaught of the Charlotte Knights who are dismembered for the second straight night. The Tides did so by collecting 29 hits and setting three notable records.
First, their eight home runs in the game set a franchise record for home runs in a single game. No Tides team prior to last night had ever hit more home runs in a single game. Home runs were hit last night by Kjerstad, Kyle Stowers, David Banuelos, Peyton Burdick, and Connor Norby. Burdick's home run in the 8th inning set the franchise record.
Stowers accounted for three of those home runs. His performance last night (4-for-7, 7 RBIs) also accounted for another one of the Tides' records set last night. The former 71st overall pick out of Stanford University is now the Orioles' Minor League home run king with 43 career Minor League home runs. He passes former Orioles farmhand and current Diamondbacks star Christian Walker's previous record of 42. According to John Stanley, this is his second 3-homer game as a Tide, his last one coming on May 22, 2022.
It's easy to say that Stowers is really pushing hard to get back to the Major Leagues. He's done being in Triple-A. The home runs that he is hitting are not casual home runs, but titanic moonshots. His swing looks excellent right now, and sometimes almost violently effective. I don't know what he's doing right now to stay hot, whether he's doing extra cage work with his coaches or whether he's getting some Chipotle power in him before the game. Whatever it is, he should probably keep doing it.
Oh, we aren't done there, though. Kjerstad also had a record-setting night of his own. MLB's No. 32 prospect went a ridiculous 5-for-7 with a record 10 RBIs. This is the most RBIs a Norfolk Tide has ever collected in a single game, and I can't even remember the last time I heard of someone having 10 RBIs in a single game. This is bonkers. Oh, and Kjerstad had a multi-home run game to boot with oneof his home runs being a grand slam. It was his second consecutive two-homer game, as he had two the night before.
Ok, I think I covered everything. Did I miss anything? Oh, well if it helps for you to know, No. 1 prospect Jackson Holliday went 4-for-6 with 2 walks and 2 RBIs. One of his hits came off lefty Bailey Horn. Coby Mayo went 5-for-7, and the backstop Banuelos went 3-for-6 with a walk and 2 RBIs. Everybody in the lineup got at least one hit.
The real question is what did the Tides not do on offense? They hit with runners in scoring position, they took advantage of errors, and they just kept depositing balls over the fence. I kind of wish that I had a ticket to see this unfold, but I have to feel just a tad bit for the Knights fans.
Nah, not really. This is some fun Norfolk Tides baseball, and I love how they are just laying it all out in the box. It is a mix of just having fun and a mix of trying to get to the show. I don't know what the Tides are doing behind the scenes and in the cages, but it's working because everyone seems to be having fun and the fans, including myself, are enjoying every moment of these future Orioles giving us a preview of what is to come.
Do I dare say they do something similar tomorrow? Double-digit runs again? 20 hits? Maybe even more home runs? Well, what doesn't change is that the sun will rise and the Tides will head to Truist Field for Game 3 of this 6-game set to keep their winning ways going. Chayce McDermott's got the ball for his second start of the season.
Keep a close eye on these Norfolk Tides, everyone. This is the future of Orioles baseball on full display if you even want to call it that.
Can the Tides take the place of the A's for a season?