Pittsburgh Pirates: Good Starting Pitching for AA and +A

The Pittsburgh Pirates had a tough game yesterday against the Chicago Cubs. The organization did however have a couple of good minor league games.

Yesterday was likely the worst game of the year for the Pittsburgh Pirates.  The pitching was hurt by the team’s overall poor defense once again.  All in all, the Bucs had four errors and gave up 10 runs all the while getting shut out.  This was a tough game to swallow after playing so well in the series against the Reds.

While the major league team struggled, the Pittsburgh Pirates minor league affiliates had much better results.  The Altoona Curve took on the Erie Seawolves of the Oakland A’s organization.  On the hill for the Pittsburgh Pirates Double-A team was Pedro Vasquez.  Opposing the Curve was a former second-round pick and University of Florida product Logan Shore. The Curve won 6-3.

Vasquez threw five complete innings against the Seawolves.  The big righty only gave up one run on five hits, striking out four batters and not allowing a walk.  Vaquez was able to get into the rotation after Eduardo Vera was bumped up to Triple-A this week.

Following Vasquez, the Curve brought in hard-throwing reliever Yeudy Garcia.  Garcia struck out three hitters in his three innings of work.  Offensively the team had two main contributors.  Logan Hill went 4-5 with two runs batted in and two runs scored.  Meanwhile, outfielder Bligh Madris had two hits in his five at-bats.  Both Madris and Hill hit solo home runs.

The Bradenton Marauders took on the Charlotte Stone Crabs of the Tampa Bay Rays’ organization.  The Pittsburgh Pirates High-A affiliate won by a score of 6-1.  The Marauders had Cody Bolton, our number 15 overall prospect, on the hill for the start.  The former Michigan commit went five strong innings, striking out six batters and not allowing any free passes.  Meanwhile, he only gave up one run on two hits.  Following Bolton was reliever Ike Schlabach,  who threw four scoreless innings on five hits and with two strikeouts.

The Marauders offense had a good bit of production from top to bottom.  The Pittsburgh Pirates 2018 first round pick Travis Swaggerty led off going 1-4 with a walk and a run scored.  Also adding in a hit apiece were outfielders Gregory Polanco (rehab) and Calvin Mitchell.  Mitchell picked up a triple on his lone hit.  The other top prospect at High-A, Oneil Cruz, had a two hit game in his five at-bats with one run batted in.

The Greensboro Grasshoppers, the Pittsburgh Pirates Low-A affiliate, was postponed due to weather.  The team will have a double-header today.  All four of the Pittsburgh Pirates affiliates will be in action today.