masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgIt was the sixth inning last night at Perdue Stadium in Salisbury. The Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds trailed the Savannah Sand Gnats by a 2-1 score. Orioles 2010 first-round draft Manny Machado came up to bat. He had homered the last two nights. The count went to 3-0.

Shorebirds broadcaster Bret Lasky then called the play-by-play for what happened next on 960 AM The Sports Animal.

Machado hits tape-measure homer by smelewski

Bret tells me that long-time followers of the Shorebirds say…It was the sixth inning last night at Perdue Stadium in Salisbury. The Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds trailed the Savannah Sand Gnats by a 2-1 score. Orioles 2010 first-round draft Manny Machado came up to bat. He had homered the last two nights. The count went to 3-0.

Shorebirds broadcaster Bret Lasky then called the play-by-play for what happened next on 960 AM The Sports Animal.

Machado hits tape-measure homer by smelewski

Bret tells me that long-time followers of the Shorebirds say they have never seen a homer hit that far at that park. There are a set of billboards that stand several feet behind the outfield fence. Those billboards are pretty high and the scoreboard sits on top of them. Machado’s blast carried over all of that as it rocketed deep into the night.

By the way, an inning after hitting the homer, Machado’s RBI double gave Delmarva a 3-2 lead in a game it would win by a 5-2 score. The Shorebirds are now 11-9 with six wins in a row.

The legend of Manny grows.

Over his last three games he is 6-for-12 with three homers and six RBIs, raising his OPS from .800 to .981.

On the season, over 18 games, he is batting .314 with five doubles, two triples, three homers and 14 RBIs. He also has more walks than strikeouts at 11 to nine.

Nice start for a young man that will not turn 19 until July.

Some minor league transactions:

* Right-handed pitcher Steve Johnson was transferred from Triple-A Norfolk to Double-A Bowie where he began the season.

* Right-handed pitcher Oliver Drake was transferred from Bowie to Single-A Frederick.