Pittsburgh Pirates Minors: Rehab Stints Continue & More

Rehab stints continue at Triple-A and more in Thursday night’s Pittsburgh Pirates minor league roundup

Rehab starts continued for Triple-A Indianapolis on Thursday night. Four Pittsburgh Pirates players on rehab stints were in the lineup for the Indians, helping the Indians improve to 37-36 on the season with a 4-3 victory over the Nashville Sound.

Batting leadoff for the Indians was Kevin Newman who went 2-for-5 with 2 runs scored. He is now hitting .310 during his rehab stint with Indianapolis. Ben Gamel was in right field batting second, going 1-for-3 with a run scored. Yoshi Tsutsugo started at first base and hit third. Tsutsugo was 1-for-4 with his 7th walk of his rehab stint, he scored a run, drove in a run, and hit a double. Jake Marisnick started in center field and hit cleanup going 1-for-5.

Cal Mitchell also had a big night at the plate for the Indians, going 1-for-4 with his 10th double and 2 RBI. Carter Bins also had a hit, and Rodolfo Castro drew a pair of walks in the Indianapolis victory.

Jerad Eickhoff started for the Indians, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits, a walk and 7 strikeouts in 5 innings pitched. Even though he walked 3 batters, Noe Toribio did not allow a hit in 1.1 scoreless innings pitched. Cam Alldred allowed an unearned run with a pair of strikeouts in 2 innings pitched.  John O’Reilly then got the final out of the 9th inning to seal the victory.

Poor 7th inning sinks Altoona Curve in a 9-3 loss

Kyle Nicolas, who the Pittsburgh Pirates acquired in the Jacob Stallings trade, started for Double-A Altoona on Thursday night. In a 9-3 loss that dropped the Curve to 35-37 on the season. Nicolas allowed 2 runs on 2 hits, 2 walks and 4 strikeouts in 3 innings pitched. Nicolas now has 4.27 ERA and 60 strikeouts in 46.1 innings pitched this season.

Enmanuel Mejia followed Nicolas, walking a batter and striking out 3 in 2 scoreless innings pitched. Nick Dombkowski then took the mound and took the brunt of the damage in the 7th inning. Dombkowski allowed 5 runs in 1.2 innings pitched, but none of the runs were earned due to a Liover Peguero error.

Austin Roberts allowed 2 runs on 3 hits, 3 walks and no strikeouts in 1.1 innings pitched. Jeffrey Passantino would pitch the 9th inning for the Curve, working around a pair of hits allowed to post a zero.

Offensively, it was a tough night for the Curve. Matt Fraizer was 1-for-4 with a walk and a RBI. Liover Peguero was 1-for-3 with a pair of walks. Connor Scott was 1-for-3 with a walk, his 12th double of the season and 2 RBI. The only other Altoona hit was a double by catcher Jason Delay.

Another close loss for Low-A Bradenton

It has been a poor season for the Single-A affiliates of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Low-A Bradenton suffered a 5-3 loss against the Tampa Tarpons on Thursday night. With the loss, the Marauders are now 31-40 on the season.

Leadoff man Mike Jarvis was 1-for-4 with a walk, 2 runs scored and his 3rd home run of the season. Rodolfo Nolasco also went deep for the Marauders, finishing the game 2-for-3 with a walk and his 6th home run. Outside of a Jase Bowen single, the rest of the Marauder lineup was held hitless.

Wilkin Ramos started for Bradenton but failed to record an out. Ramos faced 3 batters, issuing a pair of walks and allow a home run. This led to Ramos allowing 3 runs all while he failed to record an out.

Cristian Charle received Ramos, striking out 5 batters in 3 scoreless and hitless innings pitched. Sebastian Rodriguez then pitched 3 scoreless innings of his own, walked 4 batters and striking out 5.

Darvin Garcia took the loss for the Marauders. Garcia allowed 2 runs on 2 hits, a walk, a home run and 3 strikeouts in 2 innings pitched. Dante Mendoza then struck out a batter in a scoreless inning pitched.