Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Power Surges for Indy, Altoona & More

Curve out slugged by Somerset Patriots

The Double-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Altoona Curve, had plenty of offense on Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, it was not enough in a 12-8 loss against the Somerset Patriots, falling to 14-19 on the season.

First baseman Brendt Citta hit a 2-run home run for his 1st of the season. Infielder Andres Alvarez continued his strong start to the season (.979 OPS) by going 3-for-5 with a double, his 4th home run of the season and 3 RBI.

Tucupita Marcano started in left field going 2-for-5 with a double and a RBI. Liover Peguero drove in a run with his 11th double of the season. Nick Gonzales was 2-for-5, continuing his strong weekend by finally getting his batting average back up over .200 to .212 on the season.

Luis Ortiz started for the Curve, allowing a run on a hit, a walk and 5 strikeouts in 3 innings pitched. Noe Toribio had a rare poor outing surrendering 2 runs on 2 hits, a walk and 3 strikeouts in 2 innings pitched. Will Kobos pitched a scoreless inning and Enmanuel Mejia struck out a pair in 1.1 scoreless innings pitched.

Righties Brad Case and Austin Roberts led to the undoing of the Curve bullpen. Roberts Allowed 5 runs on 4 hits. While he struck a batter out, they reached based on a wild pitch on strike three. Case allowed 4 runs on a pair of home runs 1.2 innings pitched.

Greensboro Grasshoppers pick up a 1-run victory

Following a 4-3 victory over the Hickory Crawdads the High-A Greensboro Grasshoppers improved to 14-18 on the season. Domingo Garcia started for the Grasshoppers allowing 2 runs on 5 hits, he did not walk a batter and struck out 2 in 4.1 innings pitched.

Ricky DeVito allowed a run, but struck out 3 in 1.2 innings pitched. On the season DeVito now has a 3.12 ERA and has struck out 20 batters in 17.1 innings pitched.

Michell Miliano, Jack Carey and Tyler Samaniego combined to pitch 3 scoreless innings. Miliano struck a batter out, Carey fanned a pair and Samaniego struck out 3. The trio combined to allow just a single hit, while issuing one walk.

Jacob Gonzalez continues to look like Barry Bonds of the minor leagues going 3-for-4 with a solo home run. This was Gonzalez’s 3rd home run at the High-A level, giving him a total of 7 on the season. He now has a 1.930 OPS with the Grasshoppers.

Matt Gorski hit his 9th home run of the season, and could be in line for a promotion to Double-A Altoona sooner rather than later. Catcher Abrahan Gutierrez was 2-for-4 with his 9th double of the season and a RBI, while Hudson Head was also 2-for-4 with a double and a RBI.

Low-A Bradenton rolls to an easy victory

Batting leadoff left fielder Luke Brown was 1-for-3 with a walk and 2 runs scored. Rodolfo Nolasco was in right field and went 1-for-5 with a RBI double. Designated hitter Jase Bowne was also 1-for-5 with a double, driving in 2 runs.

Second baseman Mike Jarvis was 2-for-5 with a RBI and 2 runs scored. Shortstop Tsung-Che Cheng was 2-for-4 with his 8th double of the season and 3 RBI. Juan Jerez went 3-for-4 and stole a base.

Joelvis Del Rosario started for the Marauders and went 5 strong. The righty allowed 3 hits, walked a pair and struck out 7 while pitching 5 scoreless inning. With the outing he lowered his ERA on the season to 4.01. In three starts in May Del Rosario has allowed just 3 earned runs on 9 hits, 5 walks and 16 strikeouts. He has pitched 5 innings in each of these starts.

Darvin Garcia, Jake Sweeney and Sergio Umana each pitched a scoreless, hitless inning of relief for the Marauders. Carlos Lomeli had a poor outing for the Marauders, allowing 2 runs on on 3 hits, including a home run.