Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Big Day in the FCL For 2021 Draft Class Members & More
It was a rare minor league Monday
![Jul 27, 2021; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Braylon Bishop who was](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_5184,h_2916,x_0,y_129/c_fill,w_752,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/4/01h4f4vj6r0ybrygc37z.jpg)
Multiple members of the 2021 draft class had big games in the FCL, a multi-hit night for Ji Man Choi as his rehab continues, and more Pittsburgh Pirates minor league action from a rare minor league Monday
Leading off on our rare minor league Monday is the top farm club of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians. Indy defeated the Lousiville Bats 5-3 on Monday, improving their record on the season to 37-43.
Kent Emanuel started for Indy. The lefty allowed 2 runs, 1 earned, on seven hits, no walks, and two strikeouts in 5 innings pitched. Colin Selby pitched a 1-2-3 6th innings with a strikeout. Juan Minaya hit a batter while striking a batter out in a hitless, scoreless 7th inning.
Yohan Ramirez issued a walk and allowed a hit in the 8th inning, but with the help of a strikeout fired a scoreless frame. Hunter Stratton got the ball in the 9th and allowed a run on a hit, but he also struck a batter out to pick up his 2nd save of the season.
Ji Man Choi continued his rehab assignment and had a big game for Indy. Choi went 2-for-4 with a walk and a run scored. Choi started his rehab assignment with Double-A Altoona and now owns a 1.433 OPS with Triple-A Indy. Choi should rejoin the MLB club soon.
Chris Owings was 2-for-4 with a walk, double, and a RBI at the top of the lineup. Miguel Andújar went 3-for-4 with a walk, RBI, and a run scored. Cal Mitchell hit his 9th home run of the season at Triple-A going 2-for-5 with three RBI.
Lopsided loss for the Curve
Monday afternoon baseball did not go well for the Double-A Altoona Curve. Despite grabbing a 1st inning lead, the Curve fell to the Harrisburg Senators by a score of 9-2. With the loss, Altoona is now 36-38 on the season.
After grabbing a 1st inning run via a Matt Gorski sacrifice fly, the Curve offense went into a shell. Altoona had a single and a walk in the 1st inning, but only had seven base runners the rest of the game.
Liover Peguero and Mason Martin both went 0-for-3 with a walk. Lolo Sanchez was 1-for-4 with a run scored, Matt Fraizer was 2-for-3 with a run scored and a walk. Tsung-Che Cheng was 1-for-4. Catcher Dylan Shockley was 1-for-3 with a walk.
Braxton Ashcraft pitched a scoreless 1st inning for the Curve. Ashcraft issued a walked, allowed a hit, and threw 13 pf 23 pitches for a strike. Justin Meis pitched 3 innings and allowed three hits while walking three batters. However, the lone run Meis allowed came on a solo home run.
Brad Case followed Meis and struggled. In 1.2 innings pitched Case allowed 4 runs on three hits, a walk, a home run, and two strikeouts. Braeden Ogle hit a batter and allowed a run on two hits in 1.1 innings pitched. Tahnaj Thomas pitched the 8th inning and struck out the side, however, he also allowed 3 runs on a hit and three walks.
Strong pitching carries Bradenton to victory
Strong pitching and big triple helped to carry the Low-A Bradenton Marauders to a 5-2 victory. After defeating the Clearwater Threshers, the Marauders are now 40-34 on the season.
Alessandro Ercolani started for the Marauders and pitched 6 strong innings. Ercolani allowed 2 runs on three hits, a walk, a home run, and six strikeouts. On the season, Ercolani now owns a 3.88 ERA to go with 25 walks and 51 strikeouts in 53.1 innings pitched.
Geronimo Franzua allowed a hit and struck a batter out in a scoreless 7th inning. Joshua Loeschorn struck out a pair in a 1-2-3 8th inning. Ryan Harbin then took the ball in the 9th. Harbin issued a walk and allowed a hit, but recorded a strikeout while posting a zero to drop his ERA on the season to 0.83.
At the plate, Jack Brannigan had a huge game for the Marauders. Brannigan was 3-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored. Termarr Johnson was just 1-for-4 with a walk, but his hit was a 3-run triple. Rodolfo Nolasco was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk, and Geovanny Planchart went 1-for-2 with a pair of walks and a run scored.
FCL Pirates win high scoring game
Through the first month of their season the Florida Complex League Pirates have been playing some strong baseball. That continued on Monday with a 12-9 victory over the FCL Red Sox, improving the Pirates to 15-6 on the season.
Jose Garces started for the Pirates. Garces allowed 3 runs on three hits, three walks, a wild pitch, and three strikeouts in 3.1 innings pitched. After Garces was pulled, things would go sideways for the rest of the 4th inning.
Righty Jackson Grounds followed Garces and was woeful. Grounds only recorded one out while allowing three hits, walking a batter, and hitting a batter. Ground finished his day by being charged with 4 runs. Antwone Kelly was then summoned to get the final out of the 4th inning. While Kelly did so via strikeout, it was after he allowed 2 runs on three hits and a walk.
Kevison Hernandez and Jorge Ramos helped settle things down for the Pirates. Hernandez allowed three hits, issued a walk, and struck out eight batters 3.2 scoreless innings pitched. Ramos retired all four batters he faced, striking out two, while pitching the final 1.1 innings of the game.
As for the Pirate offense, there were plenty of contributors.
2021 draft class members Braylon Bishop and Lonnie White Jr. both had strong games. Bishop went 2-for-5 with a triple, two runs scored, and a RBI. White Jr. was 1-for-3 with a double, a walk, and two runs scored.
Superbly talented shortstop Yordany De Los Santos was 1-for-5 with a RBI, a run scored, and his 13th stolen base of the season. Third baseman Javier Rivas was 2-for-5 with two runs scored, a home run, a double, and three RBI.
Serving as the team's DH, intriguing catching prospect Axiel Plaz was 2-for-4 with a triple, a walk, and three RBI. Second baseman Jeral Toledo went 1-for-2 with a triple, two walks, two runs scored, and he drove in a run.
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