Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Quinn Priester Dominates Again & More
Blake Sabol goes deep again, Quinn Priester continues to dominate, and more in Friday’s Pittsburgh Pirates minor league roundup
Friday night the Indianapolis Indians rode late inning offensive success ot a victory. Following a 7-5 victory over the Omaha Storm Chasers, the Triple-A affiliates of the Pittsburgh Pirates are now a nice 69-63 on the season.
Osvaldo Bido started for the Indians, and allowed 3 runs on six hits, three walks, and seven strikeouts in 5 innings pitched. Eric Stout allowed two hits in a scoreless 6th inning, Junior Fernández then made his Pittsburgh Pirates organizational debut with a strikeout in a scoreless 7th inning.
Zach Matson took over in the 8th inning with the Indians leading 5-3 and struggled. Matson faced five batters, allowing two hits, striking a batter out, and being charged with 2 runs while recording just two outs. Eric Handhold struck out a pair in 1.1 scoreless innings to finish the night for the Indians.
Indianapolis was able to score twice in both the 8th and 9th inning. Base hits by Jose Godoy and Jared Oliva drove in runs in the 8th inning, giving the Indians a 5-3 lead. With the game now tied at 5, a two-run Blake Sabol home run in the 9th inning gave the Indians a 7-5 lead they would not relinquish.
Sabol finished the game 2-for-3 with two walks, runs scored, and RBI. He now owns a 1.099 OPS at the Triple-A level. Bligh Madris was 2-for-4 with a walk, Mason Martin was 1-for-5 with a double, Diego Castillo was 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored, and Godoy’s 8th inning run-scoring hit was part of a 2-for-4 performance.
Quinn Priester shoves again for Double-A Altoona
While the Pittsburgh Pirates farm system has questions about pitching, Quinn Priester is not a question mark. Friday night he was dominant once again for the Double-A Altoona Curve, helping to lead the Curve to a 3-1 victory over the Erie SeaWolves to improve to 66-63 on the season.
Priester was simply dominant. In 7 scoreless innings pitched, Priester allowed just two hits, walked a pair, and struck out five. He threw 50 of 75 pitches for strikes and now owns a 2.13 ERA with 70 strikeouts in 71.2 innings pitched for Altoona this season.
Priester’s start came with general manager Ben Cherington being in attendance in Erie. Hopefully this was a sign of Cherington scouting Priester for potential MLB starts later this month. When Altoona’s season ends, Priester has earned the right to make starts for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Left-handed pitcher Dillon Peters made a rehab appearance in relief of Priester. Peters pitched a 1-2-3 8th inning while striking out a pair of batters. Tahnaj Thomas allowed a solo home run in the 9th inning, but retired the other three batters he faced to slam the door shut on Erie.
Liover Peguero bat leadoff for Altoona going 1-for-4 with a triple. Malcolm Nuñez was 3-for-4 with a double, a run scored and a RBI. Andres Alvarez was 1-for-3 with a RBI, Connor Scott was 1-for-4, and Endy Rodriguez was 1-for-4 with a run scored and a RBI.
High-A gets shutout as rain continues to be a problem at Low-A
The High-A Greensboro Grasshoppers fell to 58-69 on the season as they got shutout by the Bowling Green Hot Rods 5-0. Jared Jones started for Greensboro, allowing 3 runs on five hits, two walks, a home run and three strikeouts in 4 innings pitched.
Domingo Gonzalez pitched 2 scoreless innings of relief, allowing three hits and striking a batter out. Dante Mendoza and Eddy Yean each pitched an inning of relief, and each allowed a solo home run.
Returning to the lineup, designated hitter Dariel Lopez was 1-for-4. Jase Bowen was 1-for-4 and Jacob Gonzalez went 2-for-4, that was it for Grasshopper hits. However, Sammy Siani and Mike Jarvis did each draw a walk.
Low-A Bradenton was slated to play a doubleheader after being rained out on Thursday night. However, inclement weather would once again rear its ugly head.
Bradenton jumped out to a 5-0 lead in game one of their doubleheader. At this point the game was suspended and will be completed on Saturday. The second game of the originally scheduled doubleheader has bene postponed.