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
(7:05)
Starting Pitcher: Max Kranick 5 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
Notable Performances:
Anthony Alford 2-4, 2B, SB
Jared Oliva 0-1
Shea Spitzbarth 1.2 IP, 2 K
Nick Mears 1 IP, 1 BB, 1 K
Game Recap:
Max Kranick had a rough start as Indianapolis (21-18) got hammered by Memphis, 10-1. Kranick gave up a two-run bomb in the first inning and allowed three more runs in the second. He hung on for three scoreless innings after that. Matt Eckelman then came in and gave up five more runs. The offense couldn’t get anywhere apart from Jason Delay’s second home run in his last two games (also second on the year). Anthony Alford had a single and a double. Hunter Owen had the only other hit.
ALTOONA
(7:05pm)
Starting Pitcher: Trey McGough 5.2 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
Notable Performances:
Oneil Cruz 2-4
Canaan Smith-Njigba 2-4, SB
Rodolfo Castro 1-4
Mason Martin 1-4
Brendt Citta 1-4
Cal Mitchell 0-3
Game Recap:
Altoona (24-15) lost to Erie, 4-2. The Curve got a run in the first on a two-out, RBI single by Brendt Citta. Erie tied it, then Jonah Davis untied it in the fifth with his fourth home run of the year. Trey McGough had a good start, taking the 2-1 lead into the sixth. A double by Spencer Torkelson set up a sacrifice fly that tied the game with two out and brought on Oddy Nunez. The tie lasted into the eighth, when Nunez gave up a two-run home run to Torkelson. Altoona had eight hits, but wasn’t able to get back on the board. Oneil Cruz and Canaan Smith-Njigba each had two hits. Smith-Njigba is 13-for-37 (.351) over his last ten games
GREENSBORO
(7:00)
Starting Pitcher: Omar Cruz 6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
Notable Performances:
Matt Fraizer 1-5
Liover Peguero 1-5
Aaron Shackelford 3-3, 3B, HR (11), BB
Lolo Sanchez 1-5
Fabricio Macias 1-5
Matt Gorski 2-3, BB
Game Recap:
Aaron Shackelford led the offense as Greensboro (22-18) beat Winston-Salem, 6-2. Shackelford went 3-for-3 with a triple and his 11th home run of the year. The Grasshoppers scored four in the first as Lolo Sanchez and Fabricio Macias each singled in a run, and Matt Gorski singled in two. Omar Cruz went six innings, allowing just a run and two hits. Bear Bellomy finished up with two scoreless innings. Gorski finished with two hits and a walk.
BRADENTON
(4:00pm)
Starting Pitchers: Logan Hofmann 4.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K — Nick Garcia 1.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K
Notable Performances:
Hudson Head 0-5, 5 K
Endy Rodriguez 2-8, 2B, BB
Sammy Siani 0-7, 2 BB
Eli Wilson 2-3
Maikol Escotto 4-5, HR (2), 2 BB
Alexander Mojica 1-3, 2B
Jase Bowen 1-4, 2 BB
Blake Sabol 0-2, 2 BB
Sergio Campana 1-4
Dariel Lopez 2-4
Eddy Yean 3 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 4 K
Game Recap:
Bradenton (26-14) swept a doubleheader from erstwhile powerhouse Tampa. The Marauders won the first game, 3-1, with all three runs coming on a home run by Maikol Escotto, his second of the year. Logan Hofmann made his first pro start. He had a strong game, but seemed to run out of gas in the fourth and fifth innings. He couldn’t quite get the last out in the fifth, so Enmanuel Mejia came on to strand two runners with a strikeout. Mejia finished up with two scoreless innings, fanning four in all, to get the win. Bradenton had six hits, two each by Escotto and Eli Wilson. Hudson Head picked up his third golden sombrero of the month.
In the second game, the Marauders got four in the first as Tampa starter Ryan Anderson couldn’t throw strikes. Unfortunately, Nick Garcia couldn’t, either. He gave up a leadoff double in the bottom of the first to one of the Yankees’ top prospects, Anthony Volpe, but got a break when Blake Sabol — catching for the first time as a pro — threw Volpe out stealing. Volpe and the Tampa manager then got themselves ejected between innings.
Garcia got through the first, but in the second he gave up two hits and two walks, and left with one out, having thrown 50 pitches. Cam Junker came on with the bases loaded and stranded everybody with two strikeouts. The Marauders coasted to an 8-2 win after that. They eventually added four more runs on a bases-loaded walk, an RBI single by Escotto and a two-run single by Endy Rodriguez. Junker threw an inning and two-thirds, then Eddy Yean came on for three scoreless innings. In the eighth, Alex Roth came in for his first appearance of the year. He faced four hitters and retired only one, giving up a run. Sergio Umana got the last two outs. Rodriguez, Escotto and Dariel Lopez each had two hits in the game.
