Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Strong Start From Nick Garcia & More

It’s time to recap Thursday’s action from the minor league affiliates of the Pittsburgh Pirates

Thursday night was a rough night for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Suffering a 4-0 loss against the lowly Cincinnati Reds, the Pittsburgh Pirates fell to 1-3 on the season agains the Reds. It was also a tough night for the organization’s minor league affiliates.

Pirate minor league affiliates went just 1-3 on Thursday night. This included an 8-4 loss for the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians. With the loss the top farm club of the Pittsburgh Pirates fell to 15-16 on the season.

Osvaldo Bido started for the Indians, allowing 4 runs on 5 hits, 2 walks and 2 home runs allowed in 4.2 innings pitched. Bido did not strikeout a batter in the outing, raising his ERA on the season to 3.91.

Eric Hanhold struggled for Indy allowing 3 runs, 2 earned, on 3 hits, a walk and a home run in his inning of work. Hanhold now owns a 6.39 ERA on the season. Cristofer Melendez and Aaron Fletcher combined to pitch 2 scoreless inning, while walking 4 and striking out a pair.

Ji-Hwan Bae started at second base, going 0-for-3 with a walk and run scored. Oneil Cruz was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run scored. Designated hitter Cal Mitchell was 2-for-4 with a RBI, and Bligh Madris hit his 1st home run of the season.

Now that Cruz has started to find his groove at Triple-A it would not be a surprise to see him promoted sooner rather than later. Mitchell also continued to push for a promotion to the major league level.