Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Another Endy Rodriguez Home Run & More

Endy Rodriguez remains red hot for Double-A Altoona, Blake Sabol hits his 1st Triple-A home run and more in Friday Pittsburgh Pirates minor league roundup

The Pittsburgh Pirates top farm club, the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians, secured an 8-7 victory over the Louisville Bats on Friday night. After defeating Louisville, the Indians are now 65-60 on the season.

Hoy Park bat leadoff for the Indians and went 3-for-5 while scoring a run. This included a pair of doubles to give Park 11 on the season. Ji-Hwan Bae was 2-for-5 with his 6th triple of the season, a run scored and a RBI.

Blake Sabol started in left field and went 1-for-3 with a walk and a run scored. Sabol’s hit was a three-run home run, his 1st since being promoted to Triple-A. Catcher Carer Bins was 1-for-3 with a run scored, center fielder Jared Oliva was 1-for-4, and Travis Swaggerty was 2-for-5 with two RBI and his 8th triple.

Luis Ortiz started for the Indians and took his lumps. Ortiz allowed 6 runs, 4 earned, on four hits, a walk, a home run, and three strikeouts in 4 innings pitched. Noe Toribio allowed a run on three this, two walks and four strikeouts in 2 innings pitched. Travis MacGregor pitched 2 scoreless innings while striking out five. Eric Stout allowed two hits but also struck out a pair in a scoreless 9th inning to pick up the save.

Poor starting pitching performance sinks Altoona

Friday night the Altoona Curve were doubled up by the Akron RubberDucks 8-4. The loss came after the RubberDucks scored 5 runs across the first 4 innings of the game. With the loss, the Double-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates are now 61-62 on the season.

Kyle Nicolas started for the Curve and struggled. Nicolas pitched 2.2 innings for Altoona, allowing 4 runs on three hits, four walks and three strikeouts. Nicolas struggled mightily with his control, throwing just 37 of his 74 pitches for a strike. Nicolas now owns a 4.17 ERA on the season.

Omar Cruz was the first man in out of the Curve bullpen. Cruz pitched 2.1 innings, allowing a run on two hits, two walks and a strikeout. Bear Bellomy also struggled allowing 2 runs on four hits in 2.2 innings pitched. Tahnaj Thomas pitched the final 1.1 innings of the night for the Curve, allowing a run on a hit, two walks and two strikeouts.

Second baseman Nick Gonzales was 1-for-4 for the Curve, but his lone hit was his 16th double of the season. Connor Scott was also 1-for-4 with a double, he also drove in a run. Andres Alvarez and Lolo Sanchez each had a hit as well.

The star of the night for the Curve was once again catcher Endy Rodriguez. Rodriguez was 1-for-3 with a walk, his 8th home run at the Double-A level and a RBI. He also threw out his seventh base runner in 19 games with Altoona. Rodriguez continues to push to become possibly the Pittsburgh Pirates top prospect.

High-A Greensboro rolls to a blowout victory over Winston-Salem

It has not been a good season for the High-A Greensboro Grasshoppers. Friday night, however, the Grasshoppers cruised to an easy 7-1 victory over the Winston-Salem Dash. With the win, the Grasshoppers are now 55-66 on the season.

Shortstop Mike Jarvis hit leadoff for the Grasshoppers. While Jarvis was 0-for-3, he did draw a walk and drove in a run. Hudson Head was 1-for-3 with two walks and a run scored and Jacob Gonzalez was 1-for-3 with two walks, a run scored and a RBI.

Abrahan Gutierrez started at first base and went 2-for-4. Gutierrez had two hits, including his 20th double of the season, drew a walk, drove in a run and scored a run. Ernny Ordonez also had a multi-hit game, going 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI.

Valentin Linarez started for the Grasshoppers and pitched 3 scoreless, hitless innings. Linarez walked three batters and struck out three. Domingo Gonzalez allowed a run on three hits, no walks and five strikeouts in 4 innings pitched. Mitchell Miller pitched the final 2 innings of the game, walked a pair and striking out three.