Pittsburgh Pirates: Minor League Roundup April 24th

Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /
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On Monday night the Pittsburgh Pirates had two minor league affiliates in action.  They were 1-1 on the day, both playing in tight games.

The Altoona Curve needed 12 innings in their game against the Erie SeaWolves, however the Curve came away victorious.  The scored ended in a 3-1 decision with the Curve scoring two in the 12th frame.  Starting for the Pittsburgh Pirates Double-A affiliate was right-handed pitcher Alex McRae.  McRae continued his outstanding start to the season by throwing six innings of one run baseball.  He did not walk or strikeout anyone, but he induced 11 groundouts including one double play.  His ERA is now just under 2 at 1.99 on the season.  Miguel Rosario threw three innings of relief following McRae.  He did not allow any runs and struck out three while only giving up one hit.  Tate Scioneaux was the pitcher who worked all three extra-inning frames, and he obviously did not allow any runs either.   Scioneaux struck out four batters and has yet to give up an earned run all season.

Offensively the Curve scored three runs on nine hits across the 12 innings.  Kevin Kramer, Michael Suchy, and Chase Simpson all had two hits in the game.  Kramer, who is now batting .382 on the season, had a double, but also struck out three times.  Elvis Escobar led off for the Curve, followed by Kevin Newman, and both were 0-5 in the game.  Pablo Reyes had the game-winning hit and RBIs.  Michale Suchy had a sacrifice bunt to move the runners into scoring position.  With two outs, Reyes singled up the middle on a ground ball, scoring both runs.  Reyes was 1-4 with a walk in the game, he also scored the first run of the game for the Curve.  The Altoona Curve are now 10-7 for the season.

Low-A

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The Pittsburgh Pirates Low-A affiliate lost yesterday by a score of 6-5.  The West Virginia Power took on the Yankees’ Low-A affiliate, Charleston. Blake Cederlind, the Pittsburgh Pirates 5th round pick in 2016, started for the Power.  He went 3.2 innings and gave up two earned runs on four hits, two walks, and he had three strikeouts.  Left hander Hector Garcia finished the fourth inning. Garcia recorded a third of an inning.  The 2015 Tommy-John recipient is expected to be a starter, but at such a young age is still working to build his arm back up.  Following Garcia was Matt Eckelman.  Eckelman took the loss on Monday night after giving up four earned runs in 3.1 innings.  Additionally, two of the runs came on a two run home run.  Jordan Jess relieved Eckelman and threw the last 1.2 innings, and he was not charged with any runs.  The pitching is usually the stronger part of the team, but last night the starter and the bullpen struggled.

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The Power only had six hits on Monday night, but they also had four hitters reach on walks.  The Power’s best hitter, Ty Moore, had the only multi-hit game.  The Pittsburgh Pirates 2015 12th round pick was 2-4 in the game, raising his average to .411 on the year. Logan Ratledge, Trae Arbet, Carlos Munoz, Kevin Mahala, and Clark Eagan all each had a hit.  Munoz had two walks.  Also, Eagan had a double and two RBIs.  Furthermore, Trae Arbet had two RBIs including one coming on his solo home run.  The West Virginia Power are now 8-11 for the season.

*All stats are courtesy of Baseball Reference and milb.com