Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Bradenton Walk Off Win & More
A walk off win for Low-A Bradenton, a poor start followed by a rain delay for Triple-A Indy and more in Wednesday’s Pittsburgh Pirates minor league roundup
Wednesday night the Pittsburgh Pirates Triple-A affiliate, the Indianapolis Indians, had to battle both the Columbus Clippers and poor weather. The delay came after a very poor start to the game for the Indians.
Miguel Yajure started for Indy and allowed 5 runs in the bottom of the 1st inning. Yajure would pitched 2.1 innings, allowing 7 runs on five hits, three walks and a home run. Although Travis MacGregor was able to get the final two outs of the 3rd inning, the Indians would enter the rain delay trailing 7-2.
Prior to the rain delay Rodolfo Castro blasted a solo home run, his 9th of the season at Triple-A. Cal Mitchell and Bligh Madris each had a hit as well, with Madris’s hit driving in Mitchell for their other run.
Following the rain delay, Matt Eckelman took over on the mound for the Indians. Eckelman pitched 3 innings, striking out three batters and allowing a solo home run. Hunter Stratton then struck out a pair in 2 scoreless innings pitched.
When the game ended the Indians found themselves as 8-3 losers, to fall to 41-43 on the season. Madris finished the game 2-for-4 with his RBI, Ji-Hwan Bae was 1-for-4, Mason Martin and Hoy Park each had a hit as well. As for Castro, he finished 1-for-3 with a walk, his solo home run and two runs scored.
9th inning falter leads to loss for Altoona
Entering the 9th inning Double-A Altoona was tied with the Richmond Flying Squirrels. However, after after the Flying Squirrels plated a pair of runs in the tope of the 9th inning they would secure a 5-3 victory. This dropped the Curve to 41-42 on the season.
Kyle Nicolas started for the Curve and struggled with his command. He threw less than 50% of his pitches for strikes, hit a batter and walked three in 2.2 innings pitched. Nicolas recorded just a single strikeout and allowed 3 runs.
Bear Bellomy followed Nicolas and had a strong outing in relief. Bellomy struck out a trio of batters and did not issue a walk in 3.1 scoreless innings pitched. Following 2 scoreless innings from Brad Case, Tyler Samaniego had a rare poor outing. The lefty allowed 2 runs in the 9th inning, making just the third time in 27 outings between High-A and Double-A this season in which he has allowed an earned run.
Jared Triolo started at shortstop and hit leadoff, going 1-for-4 with a walk. Liover Peguero was 0-for-3 with a walk and a run scored, and Connor Scott drew a pair of walks while scoring a run. Center fielder Matt Fraizer was the top offensive performer for the Curve, going 3-for-4 with his 15th double of the season and a. RBI.
High-A Greensboro gets blown out in shutout loss
For the Pittsburgh Pirates Single-A affiliates there games could not have been much different on Thursday. As we will get to, it was an exciting day at the ballpark for the Low-A Bradenton Marauders. As for the High-A Greensboro Grasshoppers, well, not so much.
Greensboro suffered a 9-0 loss against the Brooklyn Cyclones on Thursday afternoon. This loss continued what has been a poor season for the Grasshoppers who are now 13 games under .500 on the season at 34-47.
In the shutout loss the Grasshoppers had just four hits. Yoyner Fajardo and Endy Rodriguez were both 1-for-4, while Abrahan Gutierrez was 1-for-2 and Dariel Lopez was 1-for-3. Each of these hits were singles. Gutierrez and Jacob Gonzalez each drew a walk, that was it for Grasshopper base runners.
Pitching wise things started out on a positive note for the Grasshoppers. Nick Garcia pitched 5 innings, allowing just 2 runs. He did not walk a batter and struck out nine. Garcia now owns a 3.59 ERA and 69 strikeouts in 72.2 innings pitched this season.
After Garcia, things went south in a hurry for Greensboro pitchers. Ricky DeVito pitched 1.2 innings, allowing 2 runs on three hits and three walks. Denny Roman then got shelled, allowing 5 runs while managing to record just a single out. Oliver Mateo got the final three outs of the game, all of which were via strikeout.
Walk off victory for Bradenton
Wednesday afternoon saw the Low-A Bradenton Marauders get back to .500 on the season at 41-41. The Marauders did so by picking up a 5-4 walk off victory over the Jupiter Hammerheads in 10 innings.
After the Hammerheads took a 4-3 lead in the top of the 10th inning, the Marauders would quickly rally in the bottom half of the inning. After Jase Bowen struck out to start the inning, a Deivis Nadal walk was followed by a run-scoring single by Rodolfo Nolasco to tie the game at 4. Juan Jerez then singled home Nadal to walk it off for the Marauders.
While he struck out to start the 10th, Bowen still had a strong game going 2-for-5 with a run scored. Nolasco had another RBI in addition to his key 10th inning hit, and Jere’z walk off hit was part of a 3-for-4 game. Jerez also drew a walk.
Joelvis Del Rosario started for the Marauders. While Del Rosario has pitched well for most of the season, he struggled some on Thursday allowing 3 runs on a home run and a pair of walks in 3 innings pitched. Despite this outing, his ERA on the season is still a strong 3.61.
Sergio Umana followed Del Rosario, striking out four batters in 3 scoreless innings pitched. Jack Hartmann pitched a scoreless 7th inning and Johan Montero pitched a pair of scoreless innings. Wilkin Ramos pitched the top of the 10th, striking out a pair.