Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: 6 Scoreless Innings From Anthony Solometo & More
6 shutout innings from Anthony Solometo, another multi-hit game for Tsung-Che Cheng, and more Pittsburgh Pirates minor league action
Wednesday was not just a successful day for the Pittsburgh Pirates. It was also a good day in their minor league system, including a 13-1 victory over the Toledo Mud Hens for the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians. This win improved Indy's record on the season to 25-27.
It proved to be a bullpen game for Indy, starting with Caleb Smith walking a batter and striking out a pair in 2 scoreless innings pitched. Carmen Mlodzinski followed with 2 scoreless innings of his own, dancing around a hit and three walks.
Daniel Zamora allowed a run on two hits, a walk, and a strikeout in 1.2 innings pitched. Eli Villalobos allowed a hit, to go with a walk and a strikeout in 1.1 scoreless innings pitched. Chase De Jong then struck out three, while issuing a walk and allowing a hit in 2 scoreless innings pitched.
Miguel Andújar led the way for the Indy offense going 4-for-5 with a double, a run scored, and two RBI. Canaan Smith-Njigba, Nick Gonzales, and Cal Mitchell all hit home runs for the Indians, with Gonzales's being a grand slam.
Travis Swaggerty returned to Indy's lineup going 0-for-5 with a walk and a run scored. Jared Triolo had a pair of hits, scored twice, and drove in a run. Endy Rodriguez was 1-for-4 with a walk and a run scored.
Extra innings walks off victory for Altoona
Wednesday night saw the Double-A Altoona Curve walk off the Binghamton Rumble Ponies in extra innings. Following a 4-3 victory in 10 innings, the Curve are now back over .500 on the season at 23-22.
The Curve walk off came via a Connor Scott scarifice fly. After Matt Gorski started the ininng on second base, he stole third base to set up the walk off sacrifice fly. This was Scott's lone RBI in an 0-for-4 night.
Liover Peguero was 1-for-3 with two walks at the top of the Curve lineup and center fielder Matt Fraizer was 1-for-4. In addition to scoring the winning run, Gorski also hit his 6th home run of the season. Mason Martin also got in the home run fun with his 9th of the season.
Henry Davis started at catcher and was 0-for-3, but he also drew a pair of walks and scored a run. Lolo Sanchez was 2-for-3 with a walk.
Kyle Nicolas started for Altoona and pitched 6 strong innings. Nicolas fired 51 of 83 pitches for strikes, while allowing two hits, walking a batter, and striking out eight in 6 scoreless innings of work. This lowered his ERA on the season to 4.05.
Juan Minaya struck out a pair in a 1-2-3 7th inning, and Noe Toribio issued a walk while picking up a strikeout in a scoreless 8th inning. Tyler Samaniego struggled in the 9th inning allowing 3 runs on four hits and a home run. Oliver Garcia then issued a walk and struck out a pair in a scoreless 10th inning.
Anthony Solometo shoves in Greensboro victory
The High-A Greensboro Grasshoppers improved to 24-21 on the season with a 6-1 victory over the Winston Salem Dash on Wednesday night. The Greensboro victory was powered by a dominant start from Anthony Solometo.
The lefty allowed three hits and walked a pair in 6 scoreless innings pitched. Solometo struck out five batters, lowering his ERA on the season to 2.77. To go with his 2.77 ERA Solometo now owns a 24:57 BB:K ratio in 48.2 innings pitched this season.
Solometo is very quickly becoming one of the top pitching prospects in the Pirate farm system. At just 20-years-old he is largely dominating High-A batters. He has already pitched more innings than he did last season, so it will be interesting to see how high the Pirates let his inning load get this season.
At the top of the Greensboro lineup Tres Gonzales was 0-for-2, but he drew three walks and scored a run. Tsung-Che Cheng continues to nothing but hit going 2-for-4 with a walk, his 7th home run of the season, two runs scored, and he drove in a pair of runs.
Jase Bowen hit his 9th home run of the season, while Brenden Dixon, Luke Brown, and Wyatt Hendire all had a base hit as well.
Low-A Bradenton gets walk off
The lone loser on the night in the Pirate farm system was the Low-A Bradenton Marauders. The Marauders were walked off 2-1 in 10 innings by the Tampa Tarpons. With the loss, the Marauders are now 24-23 on the season.
Both teams scored in the 2nd inning. Bradenton took a 1-0 lead in the top half of the inning when Geovanny Planchart singled home Tanner Tedaway. Tampa Bay would then respond with a run in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game at 1.
For the most of the rest of the night, it was a pitcher's show in Tampa.
J.P. Massey started for the Marauders and continued to throw the ball well. Massey allowed run on three hits, three walks, and four strikeouts in 4 innings pitched. He now owns a 2.58 ERA, and an 18:48 BB:K ratio in 38.1 innings pitched this season.
Yunior Thibo followed Massey, allowing a hit and striking out four in 2 scoreless innings pitched. Darvin Garcia allowed a hit, walked two, and struck a batter out in 2 scoreless innings of his own.
Ryan Harbin then took the ball in the 9th inning. After pitching a scoreless 9th, Harbin allowed the walk off hit in the 10th inning. Harbin allowed just one hit and struck a batter out in 1.2 innings pitched, with the run he allowed being unearned due to the extra innings base runner rule.