Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Aaron Shortridge AAA Debut, Big Day for Canaan Smith-Njigba in Indy Victory

Aaron Shortridge made his Triple-A debut, Nick Gonzales and Canaan Smith-Njigba remain red hot as Triple-A Indy out slugs the Rochester Red Wings

The end of the regular season at the Tripe-A level is quickly approaching. As it does, the top farm club of the Pittsburgh Pirates is looking to finish the season strong. Wednesday night, the Indianapolis Indians defeated the Rochester Red Wings 14-11 to improve to 68-76 on the season.

Making his Triple-A debut, righty Aaron Shortridge started for Indy. In 5 strong innings pitched, Shortridge allowed a run on a hit, four walks, and three strikeouts. He threw 50 of his 86 pitches for strikes, inducing six gorund ball outs to three fly ball outs.

After Shortridge's night ended, the pitching struggles began for Indy.

Thomas Hatch pitched 1.2 innings, allowing 2 runs on four hits, a walk and two strikeouts. Osvaldo Bido allowed a run in 1.1 innings pitched, and John O'Reilly pitched 2/3 of an inning allowing 7 earned runs. Travis MacGregor got the final out of the game to record his 3rd save of the season.

Both Nick Gonzales and Canaan Smith-Njigba remained red hot at the plate for Indy. Gonzales was 3-for-5 with a triple, two RBIs, and three runs scored. Meanwhile, Smith-Njigba was 3-for-5 with 3 RBIs, a run scored, and his 15th home run of the season. Gonzales and Smith-Njigba are each finishing the season on a high note to carry momentum into the offseason.

Designated hitter Joe Perez was 2-for-5 with a home run and 4 RBIs. Ryan Vilade was 1-for-4 with a walk, an RBI, and two runs scored. Aaron Shackelford was 1-for-3 with two walks and a RBI, Vinny Capra was 1-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored at the top of the lineup.