Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Home Runs for Lover Peguero, Canaan Smith-Njigba, & More

Liover Peguero and Matt Gorski homered at Double-A, Triple-A Indy split a doubleheader, and more Pittsburgh Pirates minor league action

Game one of Wednesday's doubleheader saw Triple-A Indianapolis fall to the Toledo Mud Hens 4-3. In the loss, lefty Kent Emanuel started for the top farm club of the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 2.2 innings pitched, Emanuel allowed 2 runs on a hit, two walks, and two strikeouts.

John O'Reilly was summoned to get the final out of the 3rd inning but ran into trouble. O'Reilly faced five batters and recorded just one out. The righty allowed 2 runs on a pair of hits and a pair of walks. Following O'Reilly, the bullpen pitched well. Chase De Jong continued his rehab assignment and allowed a hit and walked a pair but also struck out a pair in a scoreless inning. Yerry De Los Santos and Carmen Mlodzinski each pitched a scoreless inning as well.

Canaan Smith-Njigba was 0-for-3 with a walk and a run scored in game one. Serving as the designated hitter Endy Rosriguez was 1-for-3 with a RBI. Josh Palacios and Aaron Shackelford each hit a triple and drove in a run.

In game two, Indy was victoirous by a score of 9-0. With the win they improved to 11-17 on the season. Leading the way to the shuout victory was veteran lefty Caleb Smith. Smith struck out five, allowed three hits, and did not walk a batter in a complete game 7 inning performance.

Much of game two was tight knit. Indy took a 1-0 lead in the 2nd inning when Grnat Koch grounded into a run-scoring double play and the lead grew to 2-0 with a Smith-Njigba solo home run in the 5th inning. Indy then scored 7 runs in the top of the 7th inning to bust the game wide open.

Koch doubled to start the inning, Josh Bissonette walked, Cal Mitchell singled, Smith-Njigba walked, Vinny Capra singled, and just like that it was 4-0. The lead grew to 5-0 on a one-out base hit by Palacios. After Malcolm Nuñez walkd and Shackelford was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, Koch singled home a pair to set the final at 9-0.

Home runs carry Double-A Altoona to extra innings victory

It took a little bit of everything from Double-A Altoona to secure a victory on Wednesday night. A 3-run 1st inning, home runs, extra innings, but, in the end, the Curve improved to 11-10 on the season with a 5-4 victry over the Richmond Flying Squirrels in 10 innings.

It did not take the Curve long to get going offensively. Liover Peguero singled to start the game and scored on a Domingo Leyba base hit. Matt Gorski then laucnhed a 2-run home run, his 3rd of the season, to cap off a 3-run 1st inning.

Altoona scored again in the 5th inning when Peguero hit a solo home run, his 1st of the season. This would be it for the Curve offense until the 10th inning. After Peguero advanced to third base on a fly out by Henry Davis, he came around to score on a single by Leyba. This gave the Curve a 5-4 lead they would not relinquish.

Local product Justin Meis started for the Curve but ptiched just 1 inning. He allowed a run on hit, three walks, two strikeouts, and 39 pitches. Travis MacGregor followed Meis, allowing 2 runs on a hit, which was a home run, a walk, and five strikeouts in 3 innings pitched.

Matt Eckelman also pitched 3 innings of relief. Eckelman did not allow a run, while allowing just one hit, issuing a walk, and striking out a pair. Tyler Samaniego walked a batter and struck out three in a hitless, scoreless 8th inning. Noe Toribio hit a batter, threw a wild pitch, walked a batter, and allowed a run on a hit with four strikeouts in 2 innings pitched.

6th and 7th inning issues sink Low-A Bradenton

It was not a good night on Wednesday for the Pittsburgh Pirates orgnaziation and teams from Tampa as the Low-A Bradenton Marauders were defeated by the Tampa Tarpons 6-2. With the loss, the Marauders are now 14-9 on the season.

Owen Kellington started for Bradenton and ptiched well. In 4 innings pitched, Kellington allowed 2 runs on five hits, a walk, no home runs, and five strikeouts. Kelling threw 41 of his 68 pitches for strikes and induced five ground ball outs.

Darvin Garcia pitched a scoreless 5th inning and then started the 6th inning. Following a Termarr Johnson error to start the bottom of the 6th, Garcia issued back-to-back walks and was lifted for Joshua Loeschorn who promptly allowed a triple.

Loeschorn also allowed a run in the 7th inning on a solo home run. Garcia was cahrged with 3 runs, 2 earned, while issuing three walks in 1+ innings pitched. Loeschorn struck out a pair while allowing a run in 2 innings pitched. Yoldin De La Paz pitched the 8th inning, striking out all three batters he faced.

Rodolfo Nolasco went 1-for-4 at the plate with an RBI, and Shalin Polanco was 0-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. Johnson was 0-for-3 with a walk and a run scored, Alexander Mojica was 0-for-2 with two walks, and Jesus Castillo was 0-for-3 with a walk and a run scored.