Pittsburgh Pirates Minors: Kramer, Brubaker, Reynolds

The Pittsburgh Pirates had an off day last night.  However, their top affiliates were all in-game action.

The Pittsburgh Pirates did not score any runs last night.  The good news is that they did not score again because they did not play.  Still, the Pittsburgh Pirates saw their minor league teams play yesterday, including their top two affiliates the Indianapolis Indians and Altoona Curve.

Triple-A Indianapolis

The Pittsburgh Pirates top affiliate faced off against the Columbus Clippers again last night.  The Clippers are a part of the Cleveland Indians’ organization. Indianapolis defeated Columbus 8-6. Indianapolis sent former sixth round pick JT Brubaker to the hill against the Clippers. Brubaker has pitched very well since joining Indy.  He continued the trend yesterday.

Brubaker went to the mound and threw five strong innings against the Clippers.  Across his five innings of work, the former Akron Zip gave up two earned runs on three hits and one walk.  The best part of his stat line was he struck out eight batters.  He did earn the win and is now 8-3 with a 3.11 ERA on the year.

On the offensive side of things, the team saw eight runs and 13 hits put on the board.  The offense was led by second baseman Kevin Kramer.  Kramer went 2-4 in the game with his 13th home run on the year.  He is now hitting .300 on the year with a .833 OPS.  Also hitting a home run was Jose Osuna, who went 1-4 with a two run shot.  Also having multi-hit games were Ryan Lavarnway and Pablo Reyes who had two hits each and Eric Wood who was 3-3.

Double-A Altoona Curve

The Pittsburgh Pirates Double-A affiliate faced off against the Harrisburg Senators of the Nationals organization.  The Curve won the ballgame by a score of 6-3.  Starting the game for the Curve was another former sixth round pick in Cam Vieaux.  Vieaux had the best start in the Pittsburgh Pirates minors yesterday.

Vieaux, a former Michigan States Spartan, pitched a shutout.  He threw a total five innings and only gave up four hits in those innings.  Furthermore, he did not walk a single batter while striking out seven batters.  He is now 9-4 on the year and could represent an intriguing lefty option as soon as next year.

The Pittsburgh Pirates saw an offseason acquisition put up a two-hit game. Outfielder Bryan Reynolds went 2-4 in the game with a double and a RBI.  He is now batting .291 with a .809 OPS.  The other impressive hitter from the game was third baseman Alfredo Reyes.  Reyes, the 24-year old, went 1-4 but had four RBIs by hitting a grand slam.