Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Henry Davis Homers, Shalin Polanco on Base Four Times & More

Nick Gonzales exited Triple-A Indy's game with injury, Henry Davis launched his 2nd home run of the season, and more Pittsburgh Pirates minor league action

Sunday afternoon the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians picked up a 7-0 victory over the St. Paul Saints. With the win, the top farm club of the Pittsburgh Pirates improved to 7-8 on the season. It marked the second win in a row for Indy after they had lost four straight games, all against the Saints.

Hunter Stratton worked as an opener for the Indians, pitching 2 scoreless innings. He allowed two hits, walked a pair, and five of the six outs he recorded were via strikeouts. Osvlado Bido followed Stratton, allowing two hits, walking four, and striking out nine in 5 scoreless innings pitched. Bido now owns 15 strikeouts and an 0.75 ERA in 12 innings pitched this season.

Lefty Angel Perdomo pitched the 8th inning. Perdomo issued a walk and struck a batter out while posting a zero. Carmen Mlodzinski then allowed a hit and struck out a pair in a scoreless 9th inning to end the game.

Nick Gonzales, coming off a four-hit game on Saturday, started at third base and bat lead off. He drew a walk to start the bottom of the 1st inning. However, early in the at-bat he grabbed his shoulder after taking a swing. He would exit the game after drawing the walk and now everyone is in wait and see mode with Gonzales.

So far this season Gonzales owns a .910 OPS in 63 plate appearances. Hopefully, this injury will be just minor for Gonzales. Chavez Young, who played in right field with Ryan Vilade shifting to third base, took over for Gonzales in likeup and went 0-for-2 with a walk and a run scored. Vilade was 0-for-4.

Cal Mitchell was 2-for-3 with a walk and a run scored, and Travis Swaggerty was 1-for-3 with a walk, a stolen base, and a run scored. Malcolm Nuñez and Tyler Heineman each hit their 1st home runs of the season They accounted for all 7 Indian runs, with Nuñez's blast being a grand slam and Heineman's a 3-run shot.

Double-A Altoona fails to recover from a slow start

Continuing their poor start to the season Double-A Altoona suffered a 7-3 loss on Saturday afternoon, falling to 3-6 on the season. The Curve fell in a 3-0 hole against the Erie SeaWolves after the 3rd inning and never recovered.

Aaron Shortridge started for Altoona and struggled. The righty allowed 4 runs, 3 earned, on six hits, no walks, a wild pitch, and three strikeouts in 3.1 innings pitched. The error that burnt Shortridge was committed by Henry Davis who started in right field instead of his usual catcher.

At the plate, Davis did all he could to make up for his error. He was 2-for-4 with his 2nd home run of the season, raising his OPS on the season to .869.

After Shortridge's day ended Noe Toribio took over on the mound for Altoona. The righty pitched 2.2 scoreless innings, allowing a hit and striking out three. Control has always been a major issue for Toribio, so him issuing zero walks while throwing 24 of 34 pitches for a strike is very encouraging.

Tahnaj Thomas followed Toribio and struggled. Thomas, who was hurt by a Drew Maggi error, allowed 3 runs (2 earned) on a hit, a walk, and two strikeouts in 1 innings pitched. The hit Thomas allowed was a home run. Tyler Samaniego pitched the 8th inning, posting a zero while walking a batter.

Second baseman Domingo Leyba continued his strong start to the season going 2-for-4 with his 2nd home run of the season. He now owns a .957 in 31 PAs this season. Left fielder Josh Palacios continued his strong start to the season as well going 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles.

Bradenton gets back over .500

The Low-A Bradenton Marauders defeated the Lakeland Flying Tigers 7-3 on Sunday, getting back over .500 on the season at 5-4. Righty J.P. Massey started for Bradenton, allowing 3 runs on six hits, two walks, and six strikeouts in 3.2 innings pitched.

Ryan Harbin issued a walk, but then recorded a strikeout to get the final out of the 4th inning. Brad Case allowed a hit and struck out a pair in 2 scoreless innings pitched, and Yunior Thibo walked a pair in 2 scoreless innings of his own. Mike Walsh allowed a hit, walked a batter, and struck a batter out in scoreless 9th inning.

Jesus Castillo started at third base for Bradenton and went 2-for-4 with a double, a run scored, and an RBI. He now owns a 1.019 OPS early this season. Center fielder Tres Gonzalez was 2-for-5 with a double, run scored, and two RBI.

Highly touted 2020 international free agent addition Shalin Polanco was in right field and continued his strong start at the Low-A level. Polanco was 1-for-2 with three walks and an RBI. First baseman Edward Mojica was 1-for-3 with tw owalks and a run scored.