Reyes, Gonzalez lead way for Shorebirds

Managers look forward to nights in which hitters are really locked in at the plate or the starting pitcher is in the zone on the mound. On Tuesday, Ryan Minor got both.

With Orioles' No. 11 prospect Jomar Reyes going 4-for-4 with five RBIs and No. 15 Brian Gonzalez tossing 6 1/3 one-hit frames, Minor's Class A Delmarva topped Lakewood, 8-2, at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium.

Reyes tied a career high in hits and set a personal best for RBIs while falling a homer shy of the cycle. The 18-year-old smacked a run-scoring double to right field in the first inning and a two-RBI two-bagger to center in the third for his 13th multi-hit game of the year.

"He was really good. He took what they gave him at the plate. He hit some mistake pitches that he was able to handle. … He did a really nice job at the plate of not swinging at pitches that were out of the zone and getting good pitches to hit in good counts," Minor said. "I think tonight will be one of those nights he gets to look back on for a long, long time. It was a special, fun night for him."

In the fifth, the Dominican Republic native came up with two on and nobody out. He then laced his third triple of the season to right.

"They were working him pretty good, a little differently than they were in the first two at-bats, but he was able to get a pitch out over the plate and keep his hands back and get extended and hit it to the right-field gap," the manager said. "Our ballpark is pretty deep out there, so you have the opportunity to run for a while.

"We were fortunate enough with no outs that our guys were able to score without having to hold them at third. That kind of gave us momentum going into the rest of the game."

Meanwhile, Gonzalez (3-1) held his ground on the mound. The 19-year-old left-hander carried a perfect game into the sixth, when he allowed a one-out bunt single to Derek Campbell.

"It was one of those things where if you get a hit, you have to deal with it, you have to get back on the mound and go after the next hitter," the skipper said. "Some of his outings this year, he's had difficulties doing that. Giving up a hit or two here and there and just working himself into tough games and not being able to put hitters away, but tonight he was able to do that."

Gonzalez got two quick outs to end the inning, but ran into trouble in the seventh. The Florida native allowed two walks before Minor decided to take his starter out.

"He was able to command all of his pitches, for the most part, all night long and get some early-count soft contact for outs. That was a big key for him to be able to work ahead," Minor said. "When he got some early-count outs, he was able to get into a roll and use his secondary stuff early in counts to get ahead of hitters."

Both Reyes and Gonzalez have found themselves getting into grooves of late. The third baseman has hit .417 with 10 RBIs in his last 10 games while the southpaw has held opponents to one run on four hits over 12 1/3 innings in his last two starts.

Lakewood starter Josh Taylor (2-3) allowed six runs on six hits and four walks while striking out seven in four innings.