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: Shelby Miller 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO
Notable Performances:
Anthony Alford 0-for-5
Fabricio Macias 2-for-3, BB
Game Recap: Shelby Miller got his first start for Indianapolis, but it wasn’t much of an outing. He served up a solo homer and lasted just one inning, throwing 14 pitches total, with one strikeout. He was replaced by Steven Wright in the second inning. Miller has only pitched one other inning since July 9th, so the shortened outing could have just been by design. Wright had a lot of trouble in his outing, with eight earned runs over 3.2 innings. Matt Eckelman allowed two runs in 2.1 innings, then Braeden Ogle and Tanner Anderson each retired the side in order over the last two innings. Indianapolis lost 11-5.
The offense was very quiet early, with all five Indianapolis runs scored after Toledo already put up their 11 runs. They had some help as well getting those five runs, as two scored on a throwing error and one scored on a wild pitch. Hunter Owen hit his eighth homer and Bligh Madris had a sacrifice fly. Fabricio Macias had the only multi-hit game with two singles and a walk. He is batting .314 since being promoted to Indianapolis.
ALTOONA
Starting Pitcher: Trey McGough 5 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO
Notable Performances:
Ji-Hwan Bae 2-for-5, RBI
Canaan Smith-Njigba 2-for-5, RBI
Rodolfo Castro 0-for-4, BB
Mason Martin 1-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, BB
Cal Mitchell 1-for-4
Game Recap: Starter Trey McGough went five innings on Wednesday night, allowing three runs on six hits, with two walks and five strikeouts. He now has a 3.61 ERA with Altoona in 42.1 innings, with 47 strikeouts. Oddy Nunez followed with two runs over 1.1 innings, despite not allowing a hit. He walked three batters and had two strikeouts. Brad Case took over in the seventh and recorded the final eight outs, giving up one run on a solo homer, to give the Curve a 9-6 win.
Altoona got on the board in the first inning with a two-run homer from Mason Martin, his 18th homer of the season. They picked up another run in the second on Arden Pabst’s fifth homer. In the fifth inning, singles by Ji-Hwan Bae and Canaan Smith-Njigba each brought in a run. Daniel Amaral followed with a two-run single, then Cal Mitchell and Pabst followed with grounders that resulted in runs, giving the Curve a six-run inning.
Updates on Cruz and Contreras:
Minor-leaguers RHP Roansy Contreras and SS Oneil Cruz are rehabbing with Double-A Altoona.
Cruz is still experiencing mild symptoms with forearm and taking longer to heal.— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) July 21, 2021
GREENSBORO
Starting Pitcher: Braxton Ashcraft 4 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 0 BB, 6 SO
Notable Performances:
Matt Fraizer 1-for-5, HR, RBI
Nick Gonzales 2-for-4, HBP
Liover Peguero 2-for-5, RBI
Jared Triolo 2-for-5
Matt Gorski 0-for-4
Lolo Sanchez 1-for-4
Game Recap: Starter Braxton Ashcraft had a rough outing on Wednesday night, giving up five earned runs over four innings. He allowed six hits, but the one silver lining was a 0:6 BB/SO ratio. He gave up three runs in the first inning, then two more in the fourth. Ashcraft now has a 5.35 ERA in 38.2 innings, with 41 strikeouts. Garrett Leonard tossed three shutout innings despite giving up six base runners. Colin Selby retired the side in order in the eighth, as the Grasshoppers lost 5-3.
Greensboro had their chances to score, with Nick Gonzales, Jared Triolo and Liover Peguero each collecting two hits. Peguero had an RBI and Gonzales also reached via hit-by-pitch. Blake Sabol had three hits, including two doubles. He also scored a run. Matt Fraizer hit his 16th home run of the season.
Updates on Burrows and Mlodzinski
Some Pirates injury news:
Cruz and Contreras (forearm muscle strains) rehabbing. Roansy to play catch in the coming days. Oneil having “mild symptoms.”
Burrows has an oblique injury. Mlodzinski (right shoulder soreness) throwing again. Yajure threw a live BP earlier this week.
— Jason Mackey (@JMackeyPG) July 21, 2021
BRADENTON
Starting Pitcher: Luis Ortiz 5 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO
Notable Performances:
Maikol Escotto 0-for-4, BB
Hudson Head 2-for-4, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, BB
Dariel Lopez 2-for-5, RBI
Jack Herman 0-for-4
Eli Wilson 2-for-4, 2B
Alexander Mojica 1-for-4
Jase Bowen 0-for-4
Daniel Rivero 3-for-4
Game Recap: Luis Ortiz had a solid start in Wednesday’s early afternoon game against St Lucie. He allowed two runs on four hits and a walk, with six strikeouts in five innings. He threw 80 pitches, with 50 going for strikes, and he had a 5:1 GO/AO ratio. He now has a 3.35 ERA in 48.1 innings, with 55 strikeouts this season. Sergio Umana followed and allowed three runs over 2.2 innings. Alex Roth came in and let an inherited runner score, which proved to be the difference in the 5-4 loss.
Hudson Head had a strong game, with his tenth double, tenth homer, a walk and two RBIs. Daniel Rivero had three hits and scored a run. Eli Wilson had a single and a double. He’s now hitting .347, with a 1.000 OPS. Dariel Lopez had two hits, a run scored and an RBI. Maikol Escotto went 0-for-4 and he’s now in a 10-for-61 slump in his last 18 games.
**All four short-season teams are off today.
