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Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Big Day From Oneil Cruz, Matt Gorski & More

By Marty Leap|
Indianapolis Triple-A short-stop Oneil Cruz (15) swings at the ball during the game agains the Omaha Storm Chasers on Tuesday, April 5, 2022, at Victory Field in Indianapolis.Baseball 220405 Indianapolis Triple A Baseball Team Opener Omaha Storm Chasers At Indianapolis Triple A Baseball Team
Indianapolis Triple-A short-stop Oneil Cruz (15) swings at the ball during the game agains the Omaha Storm Chasers on Tuesday, April 5, 2022, at Victory Field in Indianapolis.Baseball 220405 Indianapolis Triple A Baseball Team Opener Omaha Storm Chasers At Indianapolis Triple A Baseball Team
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Pittsburgh Pirates
Indianapolis Triple-A short-stop Oneil Cruz (15) rushes towards third base during the game against the Omaha Storm Chasers on Tuesday, April 5, 2022, at Victory Field in Indianapolis.Baseball 220405 Indianapolis Triple A Baseball Team Opener Omaha Storm Chasers At Indianapolis Triple A Baseball Team

Kicking off today’s recap of minor league action for the Pittsburgh Pirates is Triple-A Indianapolis splitting a doubleheader

After being rained out on Wednesday the Indianapolis Indians played a doubleheader on Thursday. The Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates went on to split their doubleheader against the Toledo Mud Hens to now find themselves sitting at 19-18 on the season.

In the first game of the day the Indians fell 4-2. Roansy Contreras started allowing 3 runs, 2 earned, on 6 hits, a walk, a home run, and 4 strikeouts in 5.2 innings pitched. Eric Handhold then allowed an unearned run in 1.1 innings pitched. Both unearned runs were due to a pair of throwing errors by Hoy Park.

Game two saw the Indians bounce back to defeat the Mud Hens 8-4. Nathan Kirby served as the team’s opener, allowing 2 runs on 2 hits and a walk in 2/3 of an inning pitched. Jerad Eickoff then followed by striking out 5 in 2.2 scoreless innings pitched.

After John O’Reilly struck a batter out in 1 inning pitched, Austin Brice took his lumps for the Indians. Brice allowed 2 runs on 4 hits, a home run and 2 strikeouts in his inning of work. Cristofer Melendez then struck out 5 in 2 scoreless innings pitched to finish the game.

At the plate Oneil Cruz had a huge game for the Indians. He finished 2-for-5 with a double and 4 walks. His double was hit at a blistering 112 MPH. It’s time to get this man to Pittsburgh to join the major league club.

Mason Martin collected two more extra base hits on the day going 2-for-7 with his 5th triple of the season and his 6th home run. Ji-Hwan Bae had a walk in game one, a triple in game two and drove in 4 runs on the day.

Kevin Newman played in game one on a rehab assignment going 1-for-3. What was noteworthy is that Newman played second base in the game while Cruz was at shortstop. Cal Mitchell was 2-for-7 with a RBI across the two games, Canaan Smith-Njigba was 0-for-2 with a pair of walks, and Cole Tucker was 0-for-5 with 2 walks on the day. In game two Travis Swaggerty was 1-for-2 with a walk.

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