As the dog days of summer began, Luis De León showed he could bring the heat.
The Orioles' third-ranked prospect notched a season-high nine strikeouts during Sunday's scoreless outing for Double-A Chesapeake. De León allowed one hit, three walks and hit a batter over 5 2/3 innings in a 2-0 victory over Binghamton at Mirabito Stadium.
Although issuing a walk to Chris Suero (NYM No. 13) to open his start, De León got some help from his batterymate, Ethan Anderson (BAL No. 23), who threw out Suero at second base. The southpaw followed it up with his first punchout of the afternoon.
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De León racked up two more strikeouts in the second, one in the third, two in the fourth and one in the fifth. He surrendered his lone hit on a single by Nick Lorusso in the fourth.
In his final frame, De León won a six-pitch battle with Suero for his penultimate strikeout. After notching his ninth in the following at-bat, the 23-year-old walked Lorusso and exited after throwing 84 pitches, 47 for strikes. His 14 swings-and-misses were the fifth-most at the level Sunday.
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De León, who sports a 60-grade fastball and 60-grade slider, lowered his ERA to 5.37 with his third scoreless start of the year. He has totaled 81 strikeouts -- the fourth-most among Minor Leaguers in Baltimore's organization this season -- in 62 innings for the Baysox.