Pittsburgh Pirates: Minor League Roundup April 14th

The Pittsburgh Pirates minor league affiliates all were in action Friday night.  The teams split the night going 2-2.  Here is a recap of the action.

The Indianapolis Indians have fallen to 3-6 on the season after dropping a close game last night.  The Toledo Mudhens defeated the Indians by a score of 4-3.  The Pittsburgh Pirates Triple-A affiliate made a late push by scoring two runs in the 8th inning, but they could not get the tying run across. Clay Holmes got the start and struggled.  He only made it through two-thirds of the first inning and gave up two earned runs on three walks and two hits. Holmes’ command has always been an issue, and with him having power stuff, he likely will be better suited for the bullpen. Brett McKinney followed Holmes with 2.1 innings and allowed one run while striking out 4.  After McKinney, Angel Sanchez threw two innings of scoreless ball.  Then Dovydas Neverauskas threw two innings and eventually yielded the game-winning run, albeit unearned.  Edgar Santana finished the game pitching a scoreless 8th.

Austin Meadows provided all the offense in the game.  Meadows had a sacrifice fly in the first inning, with Max Moroff scoring the run.  In the 8th inning, Austin Meadows launched a two-run home run off of former big league reliever Edward Mujica.  Gift Ngoepe scored on the home run. Meadows finished the game 1-3 with three RBIs.

Double-A

Meanwhile, the Altoona Curve now have the opposite record of the Indianapolis Indians at 6-3.  The Pittsburgh Pirates Double-A affiliate took on the Akron RubberDucks last night and defeated them 5-4.  JT Brubaker got the start, and he went six strong innings, allowing two earned runs while striking out 6.  Buddy Borden and Jared Lakind followed, combining for three innings of scoreless ball.  Kevin Kramer continued his hot start to the season, going 2-2 with 2 doubles, a RBI, and two walks.  He is now batting .464 on the year.  Jordan Luplow, Michael Suchy, and Edwin Espinal each went 1-3, and all three provided a double. Wyatt Mathisen, the Pittsburgh Pirates second round pick in 2012, went 2-3 in the game.  In the early going, Mathisen is carrying an OPS over 1.000 and an average of .444.

More from Rum Bunter

• Pittsburgh Pirates Podcast: Rum Bunter Radio Talks Winter Meetings Fallout
• Pittsburgh Pirates: Potential Leadoff Hitters in 2023
• Pittsburgh Pirates: The Rotation is not being Improved
• Pittsburgh Pirates Make Vince Velasquez Signing Official
• Pittsburgh Pirates: Bob Nutting, Please Sell the Team

High-A

After starting off the year undefeated, the Bradenton Marauders have now dropped two games in a row.  They lost to the Tampa Yankees last night 3-1.  Pittsburgh Pirates top left handed pitching prospect Taylor Hearn took the loss, as he went 6 innings and gave up three earned runs.  Two of the runs he gave up came on a home run in the 6th inning.  Hearn did rack up 7 strikeouts and did not walk a single batter.  Following the hard-throwing Hearn was Jake Brentz.  Brentz was one of the pitchers acquired from Seattle last season when the Pittsburgh Pirates dealt Arquimedes Caminero to the Mariners.  Like Hearn, Brentz has a power arm and can get his fastball close to 100 miles per hour consistently.  He threw a scoreless frame and punched out two batters.  Julio Eusebio finished with a scoreless frame in the 8th.

Cole Tucker led off for the Pittsburgh Pirates High-A affiliate, and he was 1-4 with a double and a RBI.  He had one of the four hits for the Marauders, with Mitchell Tolman adding one, and Daniel Arribas collecting two hits of his own.  Ke’Bryan Hayes and Kevin Krause combined to go 0-6 with four strikeouts, but Krause did walk once.  The Pittsburgh Pirates 2016 first round pick Will Craig got the day off.

Next: A Look at the Offense

Low-A

After starting the year winless, the West Virginia Power picked up their second win last night.  The Power defeated the Royals’ Low-A affiliate, the Lexington Legends, by a score of 5-1.  Pittsburgh Pirates top 20 prospect Luis Escobar got the win, going six innings.  Escobar gave up one run, but he punched out 11  batters in his six innings.  He now has 23 strikeouts in 11 innings this season.  Following Escobar was Matt Frawley, who threw 2 innings, and Geoff Hartlieb, who threw a scoreless ninth.  Outfielder and 2015 draft pick Ty Moore had a big offensive game.  He was 3-4 with a double, a solo home run, and two RBIs.  The Power as a team had 12 hits, including a hit from every spot in the lineup.

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