Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: 9th Inning Rally for the Curve & More

A 3-run 9th inning carried the Altoona Curve to a victory on Sunday afternoon

Entering the 9th inning on Sunday the Altoona Curve and New Hampshire Fisher Cats were tied at 6. Well, after the Pittsburgh Pirates Double-A affiliate put up a 3 spot in the top of the 9th inning they walked away 9-6 victors. With the win, Altoona improves to 33-36 on the season.

Aaron Shackelford singled to start the 9th and Matt Gorski singled with one out. Henry Davis then smoked his 4th double since being promoted to Double-A off the outfield wall, scoring both Shackelford and Gorski. After Davis moved to third on a throwing error, he scored on a Jared Triolo ground out to set the final at 9-6 Curve.

It was a huge day for Davis. The no. 1 overall pick in last summer’s draft served as the team’s designated hitter, going 2-for-4. In addition to the aforementioned double, Davis drew a walk and hit his 2nd Double-A home run.

Shackelford and Gorski also had big games outside of just the 9th inning. Shackelford went 2-for-2 with a walk, RBI and 3 runs scored. Gorski was 2-for-5 with a double and 3 RBI. Now owning a .906 OPS with the Curve, Gorski could be close to earning a promotion to Indianapolis.

J.C. Flowers started for Altoona, allowing a run on 3 hits, no walks and 4 strikeouts in 3 innings pitched. Nick Dombkowski and Jeffrey Passantino struggled, combining to allow 4 runs, 3 earned, on 3 hits, 2 walks and a home run in 3 innings pitched.

Brad Case allowed an unearned run on 2 hits, a walk and 3 strikeouts in 1.2 innings pitched. Lefty Tyler Samaniego then continued to pitch well since being promoted to Altoona. Samaniego struck a batter out in 1.1 scoreless innings pitched. While Samaniego has a 4.09 ERA at the Double-A level, all 5 runs he allowed came in one outing. Outside of this appearance he has pitched 10.1 scoreless innings for the Curve.