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.
The FCL game scheduled between the Pirates’ two affiliates was cancelled. They’ve obviously had a COVID outbreak. Hopefully everybody gets through it OK.
INDIANAPOLIS
(7:05pm)
Starting Pitcher: Mitch Keller 5 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 9 K
Notable Performances:
Anthony Alford 1-3, HR (9), BB
Christian Bethancourt 2-4, 2B, HR (6)
Game Recap:
Whatever Mitch Keller is doing at Indianapolis (34-35) doesn’t seem to be working. Keller fanned nine in five innings, but allowed six runs, four earned, in the Indians’ 6-4 loss to Toledo. The Mud Hens scored in each of Keller’s innings except the first and he needed 91 pitches, only 51 strikes. Tanner Anderson and Shea Spitzbarth followed with two scoreless innings each. Christian Bethancourt, Anthony Alford and Ethan Paul provided all the offense, including all of the Indians’ five hits. Bethancourt had a double, his sixth home run of the year, and three RBIs. Alford hit his ninth homer and Paul had two hits. Alford is now batting 311/443/547 in AAA.
ALTOONA
(7:05pm)
Starting Pitcher: Cam Vieaux 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
Notable Performances:
Ji-Hwan Bae 1-4, BB
Canaan Smith-Njigba 2-4, BB, SB
Mason Martin 1-4, HR (18)
Daniel Amaral 3-4, 2 2B, HR (4)
Cal Mitchell 1-3, HR (11), SF
Game Recap:
Altoona (38-30) got another strong outing from Cam Vieaux and three longballs in a 7-1 win over Somerset. Vieaux gave up just three hits and a run in six innings. He’s given up exactly one run in each of his four July starts, for a 1.71 ERA. Daniel Amaral had a big day, with two doubles and his fourth home run of the year. He scored three times. Cal Mitchell had four RBIs on a sacrifice fly and a three-run homer. The blast was his 11th of the year. Mason Martin hit number 18 with one on and Canaan Smith-Njigba had two hits.
GREENSBORO
(7:05pm)
Starting Pitcher: J.C. Flowers 6 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
Notable Performances:
Matt Fraizer 1-5
Nick Gonzales 2-5
Jared Triolo 1-4, HR (7), BB
Blake Sabol 3-4, 2B, HR (5), BB
Liover Peguero 0-4
Aaron Shackelford 0-4
Game Recap:
J.C. Flowers and Alex Manasa combined to blank Greenville as Greensboro (43-28) won, 6-0. Flowers gave up four hits over six innings and Manasa allowed just one over the last three. Jared Triolo put the Grasshoppers up to stay with his seventh home run of the year in the first. Blake Sabol had a big day, with a single, double and his fifth Greensboro homer. In a dozen games with the Hoppers, Sabol is batting 333/449/795. Nick Gonzales had two hits and two RBIs.
BRADENTON
(6:10pm)
Starting Pitcher: Adrian Florencio 5 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
Notable Performances:
Maikol Escotto 1-3, HR (5), BB
Hudson Head, Dariel Lopez, Jack Herman all 0-4
Endy Rodriguez 1-3, BB
Eli Wilson 0-2, 2 BB
Game Recap:
Bradenton (43-27) got only two hits in a 3-1 loss to St. Lucie. Endy Rodriguez singled in the second and Maikol Escotto provided the only run with his fifth home run of the season in the eighth. Adrian Florencio threw five shutout innings, but Ryan Troutman walked three and gave up three runs in the sixth. Wandi Montout finished with two scoreless innings.
FCL PIRATES BLACK
(10:00am)
Boxscore
Starting Pitcher:
Notable Performances:
Game Recap:
Cancelled.
FCL PIRATES GOLD
(10:00am)
Boxscore
Starting Pitcher:
Notable Performances:
Game Recap:
Cancelled.
DSL PIRATES BLACK
(10:30am)
Starting Pitcher: Diego Chiquillo 2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 1 K
Notable Performances:
Shalin Polanco 0-3, BB
Jesus Castillo 0-3, BB
Enmanuel Terrero 1-3, 2B, BB
Ewry Espinal 1-3, 2B, BB
Omar Alfonzo 2-2, BB
Game Recap:
The Black team (5-5) scored three in the top of the seventh to beat the Gold team (3-7), 6-4, in a seven-inning game. Starter Diego Chiquillo gave up three runs, but the Black team bullpen gave up just an unearned run over the last five innings. Andres Sierra threw two scoreless innings. The Gold team starter, Yojeiry Osoria, was one of the Pirates’ top July 2 signees in 2019. He gave up two runs over three innings. That was better than his first start, when he recorded only two outs. Ronny Sanchez and catcher Omar Alfonzo each had two hits for the Black team. Enmanuel Terrero and Ewry Espinal each had a double and a walk. Shalin Polanco, the team’s top signing for the 2020-21 signing period, went 0-for-3 with a walk. He’s now 1-for-24 for his career. Esmerlyn Valdez had a double and a single, and Rubel Lebron had two singles for the Gold team.
DSL PIRATES GOLD
(10:30am)
Starting Pitcher: Yojeiry Osoria 3 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
Notable Performances:
Jeral Toledo 1-3, BB
Esmerlyn Valdez 2-4
Game Recap:
See above.
