Pittsburgh Pirates: Minor League Roundup April 20th

Three of the Pittsburgh Pirates minor league affiliates were in action Thursday night.  The teams went 0-3 on the night, and all three struggled to produce offense.

The Indianapolis Indians took on the Tampa Bay Rays Triple-A affiliate, the Durham Bulls.  The Pittsburgh Pirates Triple-A affiliate dropped the game by a score of 4-1.  Clay Holmes started for the Indians, and he had a lot more success in this start than he did in his last one.  Holmes threw six scoreless innings and struck out seven hitters while only walking one.  The big thing for Holmes was his success at getting hitters to swing at pitches out of the zone.  In his last start, he was not able to accomplish this, and he gave up more walks which led to a poor start.  This time around, Holmes had better command.  Command will be the key for Holmes going forward and will help determine if he makes it as a starter or a reliever at the next level.

New Pittsburgh Pirate: Johnny Barbato

Following Holmes was newly acquired reliever Johnny Barbato.  Barbato was acquired from the New York Yankees earlier this week, and he will mainly be used in multi-inning situations.  Barbato threw two innings of scoreless baseball.  He gave up one hit and struck out one batter in his appearance.  Cody Dickson was credited with the loss.  He started the ninth inning for the Indians and gave up three earned runs without record a single out.  He gave up two hits and a walk.  AJ Schugel followed Dickson and completed the ninth inning.  Furthermore, Schugel also gave up a run.

On the offensive side of things, the Indians combined for seven total hits, and Austin Meadows and Gift Ngoepe had four of them.  Meadows was 2-4 with a double and a run batted in.  His average is now up to a season-high of .184.  It seems as if Meadows is starting to turn the corner, and hopefully this is the case.  Gift Ngoepe was the player hit in by Meadows.  The South-African born prospect was also 2-4 in the game.  Also, Chris Bostick, Jason Rogers, and Anderson Feliz added one hit each. The Indians are now 4-10 on the year.

High-A

The Bradenton Marauders took on the Clearwater Threshers of the Philadelphia Phillies system.  The Pittsburgh Pirates High-A affiliate dropped the game by a score of 6-1.  Pittsburgh Pirates top left handed pitching prospect Taylor Hearn had his worst start of the season.  The big lefty only made it through two innings.  It was kind of a weird outing for Hearn in all honesty.  He struck out four hitters in his two innings of work, but he was credited with 5 earned runs against.  Hearn gave up six hits and one walk in his two innings.  The biggest hit he gave up was a 3 run home run in the 2nd inning.

Following Hearn was Yunior Montero.  Montero threw 3 innings and gave up an additional run, although the run was unearned.  Montero was followed up by Jess Amedee and Seth McGarry.  Both Amedee and McGarry threw two innings each, and neither of them gave up a run.  They also combined for dour strikeouts in their four innings combined.  McGarry has yet to give up an earned run this season.

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The Marauders’ offense only had seven hits in the game and were only able to produce one run.  Three of the players produced six of the hits.  Will Craig and Logan Hill were both 2-4 in the game.  Mitchell Tolman was also 2-4 in the game and accounted for the Marauders lone run with a solo home run.  Cole Tucker had the other hit.  The Pittsburgh Pirates 2014 first round pick was 1-4 in the game with a double.  Bradenton is now 9-6 on the year.

Low-A

The Pittsburgh Pirates Low-A affiliate lost in extra innings to the Lakewood BlueClaws of the Philadelphia Phillies organization.  The Power lost by a score of 2-1, yielding the game-winning run in the eleventh inning. The Pittsburgh Pirates 6th round pick from 2016, Cam Vieaux, started for the Power.  He threw six efficient innings, giving up four hits and walking two.  Following Vieaux was Matt Eckelman.  The reliever threw three innings and only gave up one hit.  He gave up no runs over the three innings.  Jordan Jess was charged with the loss.  He threw the last two innings and gave up one unearned run.

Next: Biggest Surprise So Far

The West Virginia Power also only put up seven total hits in the game.  In addition to the seven hits, the Power only scored 1 run.   Pittsburgh Pirates top 30 prospect Stephen Alemais had two of the hits.  He was 2-5 with a double. Carlos Munoz, Trae Arbet, Kevin Mahala, and Chris Harvey all each had a hit.  The West Virginia Power as a whole struck out 16 times in the game.