Your daily Pittsburgh Pirates Prospect Watch article for recaps of all of today’s games. Be sure to pick up your copy of the latest Prospect Guide in our store, available as an ebook or a limited edition paperback.
INDIANAPOLIS
Starting Pitcher: Cody Ponce 5 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 6 SO
Notable Performances:
Ke’Bryan Hayes 0-for-4
Kevin Kramer 1-for-3, HR, RBI, BB
Braeden Ogle 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO
Game Recap: Indianapolis lost 7-2 to Omaha, dropping them to 11-12 through four weeks of play. After making his last start in the majors, Cody Ponce had the same results for Indianapolis. In each outing he gave up four earned runs over five innings. Ponce was doing well in this game until the sixth inning when he left with a 2-1 deficit and two men on, after the first three batters of the inning reached base. Braeden Ogle came on and both inherited runners scored, but he was credited with a scoreless inning and he didn’t allow any hits. Jandel Gustave allowed three runs, while recording just two outs, while Joe Jacques tossed 1.1 scoreless.
The offense was Kevin Kramer in this game. He hit his third home run of the season and he scored the other run thanks to an Omaha error. Ke’Bryan Hayes had an 0-for-4 games. He’s returning to the Pirates on Thursday, though he could be done with his rehab stint, since Indianapolis is off tomorrow and he would be on his way to meet the Pirates by Wednesday. He’s hitting .250 through seven games, with two doubles and two homers. Bligh Madris had two hits, giving him a .371 average since he joined the Indians to replace the injured Travis Swaggerty. His two hits were the only Indianapolis hit besides Kramer’s homer.
ALTOONA
Starting Pitcher: Jeffrey Passantino 5 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO
Notable Performances:
Ji-Hwan Bae 1-for-4, BB
Oneil Cruz 1-for-2, 3B, RBI, 3 BB
Rodolfo Castro 2-for-4, RBI
Mason Martin 0-for-3, HBP
Cal Mitchell 2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI
Canaan Smith-Njigba 0-for-3, BB
Game Recap: Altoona lost 7-6 to Erie, dropping them to a 14-9 record through four weeks. Starter Jeffrey Passantino tossed five innings on Sunday, allowing three runs on five hits and one walk, with five strikeouts. He now has a 3.00 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 18 innings over four starts this season. Brad Case followed with two runs over 2.1 innings, before Will Gardner allowed two runs in the ninth for the loss.
The Curve got on the board early and big in the first inning. Brendt Citta started things off with a two-run double in the first. After Mason Martin was hit by a pitch, Cal Mitchell added a second two-run double (his fourth) in the inning. After Erie made it 4-3, Oneil Cruz tripled home Ji-Hwan Bae to make it a 5-3 game. Cruz would score on a sacrifice fly from Rodolfo Castro. In the bottom of the ninth, Bae and Cruz walked with one out, bringing up Castro, who ended the game one run short with a double play grounder.
GREENSBORO
Starting Pitcher: Carmen Mlodzinski 5 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 SO
Notable Performances:
Fabricio Macias 2-for-4, 2 HR, 8 RBI
Liover Peguero 2-for-5, 2B
Lolo Sanchez 1-for-3, 2 BB
Matt Gorski 0-for-3, BB
Jared Triolo 2-for-3, HR, RBI, BB
Game Recap: Carmen Mlodzinski made his third start with the Pirates and he was nearly perfect. The 31st overall draft pick from 2020 faced the minimum in his five innings, allowing one walk, while striking out eight batters. He came into the game giving up just one run over 6.1 innings in his first two starts. He now has 18 strikeouts in 11.1 innings. Trey McGough allowed a single in his three scoreless innings of relief work. Oliver Garcia retired the side in order in the ninth. Wilmington had just one batter over the minimum in a 13-0 loss.
This game was quiet on offense until the bottom of the sixth. Greensboro got one run in the second inning on Jared Triolo’s second homer. In the sixth, Matt Fraizer made it 2-0 with a sacrifice fly. That was followed by a grand slam off of the bat of Fabricio Macias, his first home run of the year. In the seventh, Aaron Shackelford hit a three-run homer to make it 9-0. That was his seventh home run of the season. Four batters later, Frabricio Macias hit his second grand slam of the night. He had seven RBIs coming into the day. In his second game back, Liover Peguero went 2-for-5 with a double and two runs scored.
BRADENTON
Starting Pitcher: Adrian Florencio 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO
Notable Performances:
Hudson Head 1-for-3, HR, RBI, HBP
Sergio Campana 1-for-2
Maikol Escotto 1-for-4, 2B, 2 BB
Jase Bowen 1-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI, BB
Endy Rodriguez 0-for-3, 2 BB
Alexander Mojica 2-for-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI, BB
Eli Wilson 2-for-3, 2B, HR, 5 RBI, 2 BB
Sammy Siani, 2-for-3, RBI, 2 BB
Jasiah Dixon 0-for-4, HBP
Game Recap: Bradenton whitewashed Palm Beach 13-1, wrapping up week four of the minor league action with a 15-9 record. Starter Adrian Florencio had a strong outing on Sunday, facing just one batter over the minimum while throwing 44 of 68 pitches for strikes. He allowed one hit, no walks and he struck out four batters. In 16 innings this year, he has allowed one earned run on ten hits, four walks and 17 strikeouts. Nick Garcia had a strong outing in relief, giving up an unearned run on four hits and one walk, with seven strikeouts in four innings.
The offense was on all game, with 25 runners reaching base (12 hits, 11 walks, 2 HBP), eight extra-base hits, and they had four multi-run innings. Eli Wilson had a huge game, with a homer, double, two walks and five RBIs. The homer was his second of the season and he now has a .407 average. Hudson Head added his third homer of the season. Alexander Mojica hit his first two doubles of the season. He scored twice and drove in two runs. Jase Bowen continues his recent hot streak with a double, two RBIs and three runs scored. Sammy Siani reached base four times on two singles and two walks. Norkis Marcos had a single, triple and a walk.
News
The GCL Pirates will now be split into two squads for the first time. There will be teams called Pirates Gold and Pirates Black, both playing in the same division, which means that they could play each other. The league schedule hasn’t been released yet. Play begins on June 28th.
