Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Endy Rodriguez Stays Red Hot & More

Curve fall in high scoring affair against Bowie

Thursday night the Altoona Curve lost a high scoring affair against the Bowie Baysox. Following an 11-8 loss, the Pittsburgh Pirates Double-A affiliate have fallen back to .500 on the season at 58-58.

Aaron Shortridge started for the Curve and continued to struggle. After allowing 5 runs on seven hits, three walks, three strikeouts and a home run in 2.2 innings pitched. Shortridge now owns a 7.39 ERA in 35.1 innings pitched with Altoona.

The pitching woes continued for the Curve after Shortridge’s night ended. Jeffrey Passantino allowed 2 runs on two hits, one of which was a home run, in 2.1 innings pitched. Bear Bellomy allowed 3 runs on four hits while recording just one out, Enmanuel Mejia got the final two outs of the 6th inning while allowing another run.

Tahnaj Thomas was the lone bright spot of the night for the Curve pitching staff. Thomas retired all six batters he faced in his 2 scoreless innings pitched while striking out two batters. Thomas is continuing to develop into a potential high-leverage relief pitching prospect, now owning a 2.93 ERA and 48 strikeouts in 46 innings pitched this season.

Endy Rodriguez served as the team’s designated hitter and remained red hot at the plate. The fast rising catching prospect was 1-for-3 with a walk, two runs scored and already his 4th home run with the Curve. Rodriguez now owns a 1.164 OPS in 12 games played at the Double-A level and he has at least one hit in each of these games.

Joining Rodriguez with hitting a home run on Thursday night was second baseman Nick Gonzales. The Pittsburgh Pirates 2020 first-round pick also drew a walk in addition to his three-run blast, which was his 5th of the season and first since returning from the injured list earlier this month.

First baseman Aaron Shackelford also had a multi-hit game for the Curve. Shackelford was 2-for-3 with his 24th home run of the season, a walk and three RBI.