Pittsburgh Pirates: Minor League Roundup April 25th

The Pittsburgh Pirates had three minor league affiliates play last night.  Like the Pittsburgh Pirates, none of the teams had a win.

The Altoona Curve lost to the Erie SeaWolves for the second straight day.  Altoona struggles came on the mound and at the dish with runners on base.  The Pittsburgh Pirates Double-A affiliate only sent two pitchers out against the SeaWolves.  Starting the game was JT Brubaker.  The Akron product pitched sin complete innings and gave up four earned runs.  Of the four runs, two of them came on a couple solo home runs.  Brubaker’s ERA is now north of 5.00 on the year. Following Brubaker was John Kuchno.  Kuchno has been really bad so far this season, and he continued to be last night.  Kuchno threw two innings and gave up three earned runs on six hits.

Although the Curve only posted two runs in the game, the team had 10 hits.  Kevin Newman and Michael Suchy had the two RBIs for the Pittsburgh Pirates Double-A affiliate.  Newman’s came on a solo home run in the 6th inning.  This was Newman’s first home run of the year.  Furthermore, the former first-round pick went 3-4 for the game.  Suchy batted a run in during the ninth inning on a groundout to first.  Jordan Luplow was 2-4 in the game with two doubles.  Kevin Kramer was 1-4 along with Edwin Espinal, Connor Joe, Michael Suchy, and Wyatt Mathisen. The Curve are now 10-8 for the season.

High-A

The Bradenton Marauders took a loss against Fort Myers Tuesday night.  The Fort Myers Miracle are the High-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins.  Bradenton actually out hit the Miracle, but could not hit in their runners on base.  Also, the Marauders played poor defense committing three errors in the game. Top pitching prospect Mitch Keller started for Bradenton.  He has yet to find the success he had last season when he pitched in Low-A.  He threw sice innings and allowed three earned runs.  He struck out five batters, but walked three.  One thing that made Keller so successful last year was his command, something he has failed to repeat.  Daniel Zamora took the loss in the game.  He only gave up one earned run, but actually gave up four total in his one inning of work.  Sam Street threw the final inning and kept the Miracle off the board.

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The Pittsburgh Pirates High-A affiliate combined for 11 total hits, but were only able to tally three runs in the game.  Every player had a hit in the lineup up except Mitchell Tolman, the leadoff hitter. Former first-round picks Cole Tucker, Ke’Bryan Hayes, and Will Craig all were 1-4 in the game.  Also, Hayes stole his 6th base of the season.  The top offensive performer was left fielder Logan Hill.  Hill was 2-4 in the game with two solo home runs. In addition, Alfredo Reyes also had a solid performance going 3-4 with two doubles.  Casey Hughston had the only other extra-base hit with a triple.  The Marauders now own a record of 10-9.

Low-A

The West Virginia Power lost to the Charleston RiverDogs of the Yankees’ organization.  The Pittsburgh Pirates Low-A affiliate lost by a score of 3-1.  Luis Escobar technically had his worst start of the season, although it was still very good.  The righty threw 5.2 innings and gave up two earned runs, including a solo home run.  However, the rising prospect fanned nIke hitters and only walked two.  In 22.1 innings of work, Escobar has struck out 41 batters and has an impressive 44.8 percent K-BB percent.  After Escobar was 2016 draft pick Dylan Prohoroff.  Prohoroff threw 2.1 innings and walked four hitters in those innings. Even with all those walks, the former 8th round pick only gave up one earned run. Mike Wallace threw a scoreless 9th inning.

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The Power only collected 6 hits for the night while only scoring one run.  Outside of a big three-game stretch last week, the Power’s offense has been relatively mediocre this season.  Pittsburgh Pirates 9th round pick Clark Eagan had three of the team’s hits.  Eagan was 3-4 with a double.  Ty Moore was 1-3 with a double and a base on balls.  Stephen Alemais and Logan Ratledge both had one hit also, making up for the six hits.  The Power are now 8-12 on the season. The Indianapolis Indians were Postponed Due to Weather.