Pittsburgh Pirates: Minor League Roundup May 6th

Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Pittsburgh Pirates had three minor league teams in action on Saturday.  The Altoona Curve were rained out for the second straight day.  The teams combined to go 2-1 on the night.

The Indianapolis Indians were outhit but held the Columbus Clippers to 1 run as they won 6-1.  The Pittsburgh Pirates Triple-A affiliate received a quality start from lefty Steven Brault.  The lefty went 5 innings, struck out 7, and gave up the only run scored by Columbus.  Following Brault was Angel Sanchez for 2 scoreless innings where he struck out 4 hitters.  Then AJ Schugel and Edgar Santana each pitched one inning each without giving up any runs.

The Pittsburgh Pirates Triple-A affiliate’s offense posted 6 runs on only 7 hits.  Max Moroff was the main cog in the Indian’s offense.  The infield prospect went deep twice.  His first was a solo shot in the 1st inning.  His second was a 2 run shot in the 8th inning.  Moroff now has 8 home runs for the season.  Anderson Feliz also had a home run, adding a 2 run shot in the 9th inning.  Austin Meadows struggles continued as he was 0-4 for the night.  His batting average is now under .200 once again. The Indianapolis Indians are now 9-16 for the year.

High-A

The Bradenton Marauders won a tight game tonight over the Dunedin Blue Jays.  The Pittsburgh Pirates High-A affiliate won by a score of 3-2.  Starting for the Marauders was pitching prospect Taylor Hearn.  The hard thrower wracked up 8 strikeouts overs 6.2 innings pitched.  He did give up 2 earned runs and also walked 2, but lowered his ERA to 3.62 on the year.  Yunior Montero finished the game throwing the final 2.1 innings.  Montero struck out 5 and did not give up any runs.  Also, throwing for Dunedin was former University of Pittsburgh pitcher TJ Zuech.  Zuech gave up 2 runs and has an ERA of 2.25 on the year, for those who care about local products.

The Pittsburgh Pirates High-A affiliate was able to scratch out just enough runs to win scoring 3 on 8 hits.  Cole Tucker scored 1 of those runs.  The former first round pick was 1-4 and also stole his 23rd base of the season. Ke’Bryan Hayes also had 1 hit in the game.  The third base prospect stole 2 bags in the game giving him 10 on the year.  Christina Kelley and Jordan George both had 2 hit games.  They were the only two to have multi-hit games.  The Marauders are now 18-12 in the early going.

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Low-A

The West Virginia Power scored 8 runs last night, and with Luis Escobar starting one would have thought they would have been in the win column.  Unfortunately, Escobar had his worse start of his fantastic season.  Escobar only made it through 3.1 innings and was tagged with 7 earned runs.  In addition to the 7 runs he gave up he also let up 7 hits, 7 walks, and only struck out 1 hitter.  Following Escobar was Mike Wallace.  Wallace threw the next 3.2 innings and gave up 2 more earned runs.  Dylan Prohoroff, a 2016 draft pick, threw the last 2 innings and did not give up any base runners and punched out 3 batters.  In total the Power gave up 3 home runs, Escobar gave up 2 of them while Wallace gave up 1.

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The Pittsburgh Pirates Low-A affiliate had a solid game at the plate scoring 8 runs on 7 hits. After going 3-4 on Friday, Clark Eagan went 2-4 with a home run.  This also gave Eagan back to back games with home runs.  He now has 3 on the season. Third baseman Hunter Owen also had a strong game.  He went 2-4 with a home run also. Owen’s home run was a solo shot, while Eagan’s was worth 3 runs.  Ty Moore, who has been batting around .400 most of the season went 0-4 and now has seen his average drop to .326 after back to back games without a hit.  The Power are now 14-16 this season.