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: Steven Brault 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 SO
Notable Performances:
Anthony Alford 1-for-4
Fabricio Macias 1-for-3
Beau Sulser 5 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 SO
Game Recap: Steven Brault made his second rehab outing since joining Indianapolis and he was perfect this time, retiring all 12 batters he faced, six of them on strikeouts. He needed 58 pitches to get through his night, with 39 going for strikes. Beau Sulser took over in the fifth inning. He finished off the game with one run over five innings for the win. He scattered six hits and three walks, while striking out five batters. Sulser has a 3.29 ERA in 65.2 innings, with 64 strikeouts. Chris Sharpe provided the big hit, belting his fourth homer in the second innings. In the seventh Bligh Madris broke a 1-1 tie with a single that scored Ethan Paul. Madris had two hits. Paul and Sharpe each had one hit and one walk.
ALTOONA
Starting Pitcher: Omar Cruz 4.1 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 4 SO
Notable Performances:
Ji-Hwan Bae 1-for-5
Canaan Smith-Njigba 0-for-2, 2 BB
Mason Martin 2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI
Cal Mitchell 0-for-4
Game Recap: Omar Cruz had a 1.77 ERA since being promoted to Altoona last month. On Friday night he ran into some trouble and got knocked out of the game early. He allowed four earned runs over 4.1 innings on five hits, four walks and four strikeouts. He threw 93 pitches on the night, with 51 going for strikes. Things could have been worse, but Cam Alldred took over in the fifth inning with the bases loaded and recorded the final two outs without letting a runner cross the plate. Cruz now has a 2.92 ERA in 24.2 innings with the Curve. Alldred ended up going 2.2 innings and the only hit he allowed was a solo homer. Shea Murray to the eighth inning and allowed two runs in the 7-3 loss to Somerset.
Mason Martin gave Altoona the lead in the first on his 19th double, which scored Canaan Smith-Njigba. Martin then scored on a single from Brendt Citta. Somerset had a 4-2 lead in the fifth when Martin singled home Connor Kaiser. Martin, Citta and Kaiser each had two hits.
Hunter Stratton was promoted to Indianapolis. In 25.1 innings, he had a 1.42 ERA, a .182 BAA and 44 strikeouts.
GREENSBORO
Starting Pitcher: Quinn Priester 6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO
Notable Performances:
Matt Fraizer 1-for-4, BB, SB
Liover Peguero 1-for-4, BB
Nick Gonzales 1-for-3, 2 BB
Jared Triolo 0-for-3, RBI
Matt Gorski 0-for-4
Lolo Sanchez 0-for-4
Game Recap: Quinn Priester went six innings on Friday night, allowing two runs (one earned) on two hits, three walks and four strikeouts. He threw 91 pitches, with 52 going for strikes. He had a 10:2 GO/AO ratio. He now has a 3.27 ERA in 55 innings pitched, with 49 strikeouts. Colin Selby followed with two perfect innings, retiring all six batters he faced. Oliver Garcia followed with a scoreless ninth, but the runner that starts extra innings on second base scored in the bottom of the tenth for the 3-2 Greensboro loss.
The Grasshoppers scored first in this game on a sacrifice fly from Jared Triolo. Down 2-1 in the seventh, Blake Sabol hit his fourth homer since joining the club. Nick Gonzales reached base three times on a single and two walks. Matt Fraizer had a single, walk, run scored and his 12th stolen base. Liover Peguero had a single and a walk.
BRADENTON
Starting Pitcher: Logan Hofmann 4 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO
Notable Performances:
Maikol Escotto 3-for-4, RBI, BB
Jack Herman 3-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI
Jase Bowen 0-for-5
Dariel Lopez 1-for-5
Eli Wilson 3-for-3, 2 2B, 3 RBI, 2 BB
Alexander Mojica 1-for-5, 2B
Endy Rodriguez 1-for-4, BB
Daniel Rivero 1-for-4, RBI
Game Recap: Logan Hofmann had a solid night on Friday, giving up one run over four innings. He allowed two hits and a walk, while striking out four batters. He now has a 2.72 ERA in 46.1 innings, with 61 strikeouts. Drake Fellows followed with his Low-A debut. After three scoreless appearances in the FCL, covering eight innings, he allowed one run on two hits and two walks in 2.1 innings. He had four strikeouts. Just like with Hofmann, Fellows’ one run came on a solo homer. Wandi Montout bailed him out in the seventh by stranding two inherited runners while recording the final two outs. Oliver Mateo took over in the eighth and allowed one run on two hits and three walks, with four strikeouts, in two innings. The Marauders won 8-3.
Bradenton got on the board first in this game on a two-run double by Jack Herman. Eli Wilson doubled in Herman to make it a 3-0 game. Wilson made it 4-1 in the fifth on an RBI single. In the eighth inning, back-to-back singles by Daniel Rivero and Francisco Acuna made it a 6-1 game. In the ninth, Wilson added an RBI double to his impressive night. He would come around for the eighth run on a throwing error. Wilson reached base all five times tonight, also drawing two walks. He has a 1.053 OPS. Maikol Escotto had three singles, a walk and his ninth stolen base. Herman had three hits.
FCL PIRATES BLACK
Boxscore
Starting Pitcher:
Notable Performances:
Game Recap: Canceled
FCL PIRATES GOLD
Boxscore
Starting Pitcher:
Notable Performances:
Game Recap: Canceled
DSL PIRATES BLACK
Starting Pitcher: Isaias Uribe 3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO
Notable Performances:
Shalin Polanco 0-for-3
Javier Rivas 0-for-3
Ewry Espinal 0-for-3
Game Recap: Starter Isaias Uribe had a strong outing, giving up one hit and no walks in three scoreless innings. He struck out four batters. This was his second career appearance. He threw 2.2 innings without an earned run in his debut. Juan Santos followed and he too had three scoreless frames. He gave up three runs over 2.1 innings prior to this outing. He gave up two hits, no walks and struck out two batters. Jonathan Salazar followed with a scoreless inning for the save in the 1-0 game. The Pirates had just three hits and all of them were singles. They had one walk and 13 strikeouts in the seven-inning contest. Their only run came in on a wild pitch, which was scored by Ewry Espinal, who reached on a wild pitch during a strikeout. Top prospect Shalin Polanco has started off 1-for-21 and he struck out in all three trips to the plate today.
DSL PIRATES GOLD
Starting Pitcher: Jose Garces 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 0 SO
Notable Performances:
Jeral Toledo 1-for-4, 2B
Wesley Zapata 0-for-4
Esmerlyn Valdez 0-for-4
Gustavo Armas 0-for-3, BB
Dioris Valdez 3-for-3
Osvaldo Gavilan 0-for-1, 2 BB
Rodolfo De La Cruz 0-for-2, BB
Game Recap: Starter Jose Garces gave up two unearned runs and couldn’t make it out of the first inning on Friday. He was very wild in the inning, but it all started with an error that allowed the lead-off hitter to reach base. Garces then walked three and threw three wild pitches before being pulled with a 2-0 score and two outs. Reliever Rafael Mendez recorded the final out of the first and stranded two inherited runners. He ended up pitching 2.1 innings, allowing a run on a solo homer. Juan Fuentes followed with three no-hit/shutout innings before giving way to Weslyn Touissant in the seventh. He allowed two runs and took the 5-3 loss in seven innings.
Dioris Valdez went 0-for-8 to start his career before going 3-for-3 with three singles and a run scored today. He had half of the team’s hits. Jeral Toledo hit his third double. Osvaldo Gavilan is still looking for his first hit, but he had two walks today. All three Pirates runs scored on wild pitches, as did two runs from the opposition, so there were no RBIs from the Pirates. They went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.
