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
(7:05pm)
Starting Pitcher: Steven Wright 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
Notable Performances:
Will Craig 2-5, 2B
Fabricio Macias 2-5
Game Recap:
Indianapolis (28-28) got back to .500 by stomping Columbus, 10-3. The Indians got all the runs they needed with four in the second on a two-run double by Hunter Owen and a two-run home run by Joe Hudson. The latter was Hudson’s third of the year. T.J. Rivera added a run in the third with his fourth homer. Indy broke it open in the eight with five runs on four singles and three walks. Rivera and Hudson each finished with three RBIs. Fabricio Macias got his first two AAA hits. Rivera, Will Craig, Bligh Madris and Owen also had two hits apiece. Steven Wright went five innings, allowing two runs, both on solo home runs. Tanner Anderson made his second Pirates debut with a scoreless sixth, and Braeden Ogle fanned the side in the seventh. Blake Weiman threw the last two innings and allowed a run. Dee Strange-Gordon made his Pirates debut, playing short and going 0-for-4 with a walk.
ALTOONA
(6:30pm)
Starting Pitcher: Travis MacGregor 5 IP, 9 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
Notable Performances:
Ji-Hwan Bae 2-4
Cal Mitchell 0-4
Mason Martin 0-4
Canaan Smith-Njigba 1-3, BB
Jonah Davis 1-3
Game Recap:
Altoona (30-24) got hammered by Akron, 8-1. Travis MacGregor got off to a bad start, allowing five runs in the first two innings. He managed to finish five, giving up just one more run. He gave up nine hits in all. Cam Alldred threw two scoreless innings and Will Gardner gave up two runs in the eighth. The Curve’s only run came in the eighth, when Jonah Davis singled and scored on a double by Josh Bissonette. Ji-Hwan Bae returned from rehab and went 2-for-4.
GREENSBORO
(6:30pm)
Starting Pitcher: Braxton Ashcraft 3.1 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 6 K
Notable Performances:
Matt Gorski 1-4, BB
Liover Peguero 1-2, 2B, 3 BB
Aaron Shackelford 2-5
Blake Sabol 0-3, BB
Game Recap:
Despite Matt the Bat and Nick the Stick getting a rest, Greensboro (33-24) scored seven early runs, but the pitching came up juuust a bit short in a 13-7 loss to Asheville. The early runs came partly on homers by Grant Koch, his fourth of the year, and Will Matthiessen, his third for Greensboro, as well as a two-run single by Jared Triolo. Braxton Ashcraft pitched well through three innings, giving up one run and fanning six, but he managed to get only one out in the fourth. He was charged with five runs on the day, two scoring after Alex Manasa took over. Manasa ultimately allowed four runs of his own, one unearned, and Garrett Leonard and Austin Roberts gave up two apiece. In all, Grasshoppers pitchers allowed 17 hits, including five longballs, and nine walks, so they were actually fortunate to give up only 13 runs. Somehow they managed to strike out 16. Liover Peguero had a double and three walks. Aaron Shackelford returned to the lineup and had two hits.
BRADENTON
(5:00pm)
Starting Pitchers: Santiago Florez 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K and Nick Garcia 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K
Notable Performances:
Maikol 0-3, BB
Hudson Head 1-5, BB, HBP
Dariel Lopez 1-4, 3 BB
Endy Rodriguez 1-4, 2 BB
Jase Bowen 0-5, BB, SB
Sammy Siani 0-2, BB
Alexander Mojica 0-0, 3 BB
Eli Wilson 1-3, BB
Sergio Campana 0-2, BB
Game Recap:
Bradenton (37-20) lost the first game of its doubleheader with Clearwater, 3-0. Santiago Florez pitched like he has been all year. He gave up a single and an RBI double with one out in the first, then got through five with no more runs and just one more hit. He fanned eight. Sergio Umana followed and gave up two unearned runs in the seventh. The Marauders had just one hit, a single by Endy Rodriguez. Thanks to eight walks — Alexander Mojica walked all three times up — they had lots of chances, but they went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and stranded nine.
The Marauders won game two, 5-0, as Nick Garcia and Oliver Mateo combined for a one-hitter. Garcia went five innings, allowing the only hit, along with two walks. He fanned five. Mateo retired the last six batters, striking out four. Garcia threw 54 of 78 pitches for strikes and Mateo 17 of 26, which is noteworthy for both. Bradenton finally broke the scoring drought in an unlikely way, as Francisco Acuna blasted a three-run home run well beyond the fence in left, in the second inning. That was Acuna’s first homer with Bradenton, although he had two with Greensboro. The other two runs came in the fifth, on a single, four walks, a balk and a wild pitch. Most of that damage came against Anton Kuznetsov, a native of Moscow (yes, that Moscow). The Marauders had only five hits, but drew six more walks.
FCL PIRATES BLACK
(Noon)
Starting Pitcher: Po-Yu Chen 5 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K
Notable Performances:
Juan Jerez 0-5, BB
Franrielis Bastardo 1-5, 2B, BB
Deion Walker 0-2
Game Recap:
The Pirates Black (4-2) took a 6-1 lead but lost to the Rays, 11-6. Po-Yu Chen’s second start was impressive, as he gave up just one hit and an unearned run over five innings. He walked none and fanned seven. Through nine innings so far, he’s allowed three hits, no earned runs and no walks, while striking out 12. Unfortunately, Carlos Jimenez got lit up for ten runs, six earned, over three innings, including a seven-run sixth. (I suspect the box score will get corrected to show that one or more other pitchers followed Jimenez.) The Pirates drew 11 walks, but went a very Pirate-y 2-for-19 with RISP. Randy Romero scored three runs without getting a hit. Juan Jerez drew a walk but also fanned five times. Angel Basabe was 1-for-3 with two walks and two RBIs. Franrielis Bastardo, Luis Tejeda and Jhan Polanco all had doubles. Deion Walker made his first appearance of the season, starting in center and going 0-for-2 before being replaced.
FCL PIRATES GOLD
(Noon)
Starting Pitcher: Brandan Bidois 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
Notable Performances:
Jasiah Dixon 1-3, HR (1), 2 BB, SB
Tsung-Che Cheng 2-5, HR (1)
Deivis Nadal 1-4, SB
Game Recap:
The Pirates Gold (4-2) lost to the Braves, 9-7. Brandan Bidois started and threw two scoreless innings, but Arlinthon De Dios and Mario Garcia struggled in relief, allowing nine runs and 14 hits over seven innings. Tsung-Che Cheng, a notable Taiwanese signing for the Pirates, made his pro debut playing second. He homered in his first at-bat and beat out a bunt in his second. Jasiah Dixon also hit his first home run of the year and drove in two runs. Norkis Marcos reached base three times, stole three bases and scored three runs.
