Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Anthony Solometo Continues to Struggle, Tres Gonzalez HR & More

Anthony Solometo struggles, bullpen blows it in Altoona loss

The Double-A Altoona Curve fell to the Erie SeaWolves by a score of 3-1 on Thursday night. With the loss, the Curve are now 57-63 on the season. Poor offense/starting pitching and bullpen woes led to the loss.

Anthony Solometo started for Altoona and his recent struggles continued. Solometo pitched just 3.2 innings, allowing 3 runs on seven hits, a walk, and two strikeouts while throwing just 47 of 72 pitches for a strike.

Solometo now owns a 4.56 ERA in 47.1 innings at Double-A. The young lefty will be happy to move on from the month of August. In Solometo's last eight starts he now owns a 6.17 ERA in 32.1 innings pitched.

Noe Toribo followed Solometo. Toribio pitched 2.1 hitless, scoreless innings. Toribio hit a batter, did not issue a walk, and struck out three. Cam Junker walked a batter in a scoreless 7th inning.

Entering the 7th inning the Curve trailed 3-1 and had just four hits. Then in hte 7th inning, the Curve offense strung hits together to tie the game. Eli Wilson singled to start the inning and scored on a Jackson Glenn double that was accompanied by an Erie throwing error. Tsung-Che Cheng then singled home Glenn to tie the game.

Junker immediately allowed a home run to Luis Santana to start the 8th inning, giving the SeaWolves the lead back. Junker retired the next three batters, but at that point it was too late and Erie had regained a lead they would not relinquish.

Matt Fraizer singled to start the 9th and went to third base on a one-out single by Mike Jarvis. The Curve appeared to be in prime position to at least tie the game, but Lolo Sanchez struck out swinging and then Wilson struck out looking to end the game.

Low-A rained out, High-A falls 7-4

At the Single-A level, the Low-A Bradenton Marauders were cancelled due to field conditions. As for the High-A Greensboro Grasshoppers, they fell to former Pirate minor league affiliate the Hickory Crawdads by a score of 7-4. With the loss, the Grasshoppers are now 64-56 on the season.

J.P. Massey started for Greensboro and struggled. Massey allowed 4 runs on five hits, four walks, a wild pitch, and two strikeouts in 2.2 innings pitched. This outing ballooned his ERA on the season to 4.65.

Yunior Thibo got the final out of the 3rd inning and Santiago Florez took the ball for the 4th inning. Florez faced five batters, allowing 3 runs on two hits, two walks, and a batter reached on an error. Joshua Loeschorn pitched 3 scoreless innings, Jake Stevenson struck out the lone batter he faced, Jaycob Deese pitched 1.2 scoreless innings and Cy Nielson fired a scoreless 9th.

At the plate, designated hitter Tres Gonzalez was 1-for-3 with his 8th home run of the season at High-A, two walks, two RBI, and a run scored. Jack Brannigan was 1-for-3 with two walks, Termarr Johnson was 0-for-2 with two walks, and Sammy Siani was 2-for-3 with a run scored, a walk, and an RBI.