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: Mitch Keller 5.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K
Notable Performances:
Anthony Alford 2-4
Fabricio Macias 1-4
Game Recap:
Mitch Keller fanned eight over five and a third innings as Indianapolis (30-29) edged Omaha, 3-2. Keller gave up two runs, one unearned, but needed 94 pitches to get into the sixth. He didn’t exactly get pummeled, leaving after an error, a bunt hit and a walk loaded the bases. Tanner Anderson came on to walk in a run before getting out of the inning. Anderson, Braeden Ogle and Nick Mears threw scoreless ball over the last three innings. Indy got all its runs on two-out rallies. One came in the fourth when Hunter Owen, T.J. Rivera and Chris Sharpe all singled with two out. In the fifth, the Indians strung together four two-out singles, by Anthony Alford, Fabricio Macias, Christian Bethancourt and Owen.
ALTOONA
(6:30pm)
Starting Pitcher: Cam Vieaux 4 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
Notable Performances:
Ji-Hwan Bae 2-4, 2B, SB
Canaan Smith-Njigba 1-3, BB
Mason Martin 0-4
Cal Mitchell 2-3
Hunter Stratton 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
Game Recap:
Altoona (32-26) got all of its runs in the first inning in a 6-3 win over the Binghamton Bumble Ponies. Most of the outburst came on a grand slam by Connor Kaiser, his first longball of the season. Cam Vieaux had a good start, giving up just a run on a solo homer over four innings. Steven Jennings allowed the other two runs. Oddy Nunez and Hunter Stratton each threw a scoreless inning, with Stratton getting his sixth save. Ji-Hwan Bae had a single and a double, along with his eighth steal, even though he’s only played in 28 games. After batting just .200 in May, he’s 14-for-30 (.467) when he’s been able to play since, raising his overall average to .291. Cal Mitchell was 2-for-3, raising his average to .294.
GREENSBORO
(7:00pm)
Starting Pitcher: Michael Burrows 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
Notable Performances:
Matt Frazier 1-3, 2B, BB
Nick Gonzales 1-4
Liover Peguero 0-4
Aaron Shackelford 1-4, HR (14)
Game Recap:
Greensboro (36-25) pitchers allowed just one hit and Aaron Shackelford launched a two-run home run with two outs in the top of the ninth in a 2-0 win over Rome. The bad news, though, is that Michael Burrows left after an apparently uneventful, ten-pitch first inning. The reliever got a long warmup, so it was almost certainly an injury. Garrett Leonard followed with four hitless innings, walking four and fanning six. Colin Selby threw three innings, striking out another four. He allowed the only Rome hit, a two-out infield single in the eighth. Austin Roberts pitched the ninth for the save. Before Shackelford hit his 14th home run of the season, the Grasshoppers had only two hits, a double by Matt Fraizer and a single by Nick Gonzales.
BRADENTON
(7:35pm)
Starting Pitcher: Luis Ortiz 6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
Notable Performances:
Hudson Head 0-4, BB
Endy Rodriguez 0-3, BB
Dariel Lopez 3-4, 2B
Sammy Siani 1-3, SF
Jack Herman 1-4, HR (1)
Eli Wilson 1-4
Jase Bowen 0-4
Alexander 0-3, BB
Maikol 1-4, 2B
Game Recap:
Bradenton (39-21) broke a 2-2 with a four-run eighth inning, then held on to beat Daytona, 6-5. The big blow in the winning rally was a three-run homer by Jack Herman, playing his first game at the level after moving up from the FCL. Starter Luis Ortiz gave up two runs over six innings. Ryan Troutman allowed three in the bottom of the eighth, bringing Daytona to within one, although two of the runs scored after Enmanuel Mejia came on in relief. Mejia finished up for his seventh save. Dariel Lopez stayed hot, going 3-for-4 with a double. He’s batting 290/361/516 and has cut his K rate. Sammy Siani drove in the other three runs with a two-run, first-inning single and a sacrifice fly in the eighth.
FCL PIRATES BLACK
(Noon)
Starting Pitcher: Carlos Jimenez 5 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
Notable Performances:
Rayber Romero 4-5
Juan Jerez 1-3, BB
Luis Tejeda 1-3, BB
Game Recap:
The Black team (7-3) edged the Orioles Black, 3-2. There wasn’t a ton of offense; just six singles, four of them by Rayber Romero. Juan Jerez and Luis Tejeda had the others. The Pirates got all their runs in the first on just one hit, along with four walks and an error. On the day, they struck out 14 times. Carlos Jimenez had a terrific start, throwing five no-hit innings. He walked one, fanned six and gave up an unearned run. Yoelvis Reyes gave up the other run and Wilkin Ramos finished with three scoreless innings to get a save.
FCL PIRATES GOLD
(Noon)
Starting Pitcher: Arlinthon De Dios 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K
Notable Performances:
Tsung-Che Cheng 0-4, 2 BB, SB
Rodolfo Nolasco 1-3, 2 BB
Deivis Nadal 2-5
Game Recap:
The Gold team (7-3) won their second straight blowout, 13-0 over the Orioles Orange. Arlinthon De Dios, Adrian Mendez and Listher Sosa combined on the shutout, throwing four, three and two innings, respectively. The Pirates had 12 hits and 12 walks, and benefited from five errors, a hit batsman and five wild pitches. Randy Romero had three hits and three runs, and Gustavo Polanco had three hits and two RBIs. Daniel Rivero managed three RBIs without a hit, and Norkis Marcos scored three times on one hit and two walks. The only extra base hits were a double by Deon Stafford and a triple by Marcos.
DSL PIRATES BLACK
(10:30am)
Starting Pitcher: Yoldin De La Paz 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
Notable Performances:
Shalin Polanco 0-3
Ewry Espinal 0-2, BB
Enmanuel Terrero 1-2, BB
Game Recap:
The Black team (0-2) dropped a 1-0 game to the Rays2. Yoldin De La Paz started and went three innings, allowing just two baserunners. One came on an error and one on a hit batsman, and they were wiped out by a caught stealing and a double play. Eliecer Romero fanned five over three innings, but took the loss on an unearned run. The Pirates had only two hits, singles by Javier Rivas and Enmanuel Terrero.
DSL PIRATES GOLD
(10:30am)
Starting Pitcher: Luigi Hernandez 3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
Notable Performances:
Jeral Toledo 0-2, 2 BB
Esmerlyn Valdez 1-3, 2B
Samuel Escudero 1-3
Game Recap:
The DSL Gold team (2-0) beat the Brewers, 4-2, in a seven-inning game. Luigi Hernandez gave up one run over three innings while striking out five. Luis Faringthon followed with three scoreless innings to get the win. Eddy Rodriguez entered the game partway through as a pinch hitter, then went 2-for-2 with two RBIs, both coming on a bases-loaded, two-out single that gave the Pirates the lead. Jhonson Pena had a single, a walk and two runs scored. Esmerlyn Valdez had the only extra base hit, a double.
