Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: J.P. Massey, Braxton Ashcraft Pitch Strong & More

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J.P. Massey and Braxton Ashcraft impress in first starts at their new levels and more in Wednesday's Pittsburgh Pirates minor league roundup

Wednesday night's Pittsburgh Pirates minor league action is one that was greatly impacted by the weather. Low-A Bradenton was rained out, while Triple-A Indianapolis and Double-A Altoona both played doubleheaders due to games that were rained out in April.

In game one of their doubleheader Triple-A Indianapolis rolled over the Columbus Clippers 11-2. Lefty Kent Emanuel started for Indy, allowing 2 runs on three hits, a walk, two home runs, and eight strikeouts in 6 innings pitched. John O'Reilly walked a batter and recorded a strikeout in a hitless, scoreless 7th inning.

Nick Gonzales bat lead off for the Indians, going 1-for-2 with a double, two walks, and a run scored. Endy Rodriguez was 1-for-4 with a walk, his 10th double of the season, and two RBI. Miguel Andújar was 1-for-5 with a double and two RBI, and Ryan Vilade was 2-for-2 with two walks, two doubles, a RBI, and a run scored.

Jared Triolo also had a huge game. Triolo started at third base and went 3-for-3 with a walk, two RBI, three runs scored, and four stolen bases. Triolo should earn his first promotion to the major leagues soon.

Game two saw the Indians fall 3-2. This loss dropped Indy to 30-40 on the season.

Travis MacGregor started for Indy, striking out three and allowing three hits in 3 scoreless innings pitched. Duane Underwood Jr. allowed 3 runs, 2 earned, on five hits in 2 innings pitched. Juan Minaya pitched the final 2 innings, posting a zero while not allowing a hit, walking two, and striking out two.

Gonzales served as the team's DH in game two and went 0-for-3. Chris Owings and Andújar were 0-for-3, Rodriguez was 0-for-2 with a walk, Vilade was 1-for-2 with a walk, and Triolo as 1-for-3 with a double. Catcher Grant Koch was 1-for-3 with a 2-run home run.

Double-A Altoona picks up two victories

Double-A Altoona was able to go 2-for-2 on Wednesday. They won their originally scheduled game over the Bowie Baysox 3-2 and then won their postponed game from April 1-0. These victories improved the Curve to 33-31 on the season.

In the first game of the day Liover Peguero was 1-for-3 with his 18th double of the season and a run scored. Lolo Sanchez was 1-for-3 with a run scored and two RBI, Abrahan Gutierrez was 1-for-2, Matt Gorski was 0-for-2 with a walk, and Jacob Gonzalez was 0-for-2 with a sacrifice fly and a RBI.

Braxton Ashcraft's terrific comeback story continued with his first start at the Double-A level. Ashcraft pitched 3 innings, allowing an unearend run on two hits, no walks, and four strikeouts. Justin Meis pitched 3 innings, striking out three while allowing a solo home run. Tyler Samaniego struck out a pair in a 1-2-3 9th inning to finish off the game.

In game two the Curve had just one base runner. This base runner was Peguero who led off the bottom of the 1st inning with his 9th home run of the season. Due to the performance of the Curve pitching staff, one base runner was all they needed.

Nick Dombkowski started for Altoona. He allowed two hits while both walking and striking out a pair in 4 scoreless innings pitched. Omar Cruz allowed a hit, walked two, and struck a batter out in 1.2 scoreless innings of work. Oliver Garcia struck a batter out while pitching 1.1 scoreless innings to finish the game.

Three big innings carry High-A Greensboro to victory

High-A Greensboro defeated the Winston-Salem Dash 11-2. With the win, the Grasshoppers improved to 35-28 on the season. A 3-run 1st inning, 4-run 5th inning, and a 4-run 8th inning are what carried the Grasshoppers to victory.

Tsung-Che Cheng drew a one-out walk in the 1st inning and Mike Jarvis singled with two outs, scoring Cheng to make the score 1-0. Jase Bowen then hit a 2-run home run, his 13th of the season, to make the score 3-0 Grasshoppers.

The 5th inning saw Maikol Escotto single to start the inning ahead of a Tres Gonzalez walk. Will Matthiessen singled, Jarvis tripled, and Bowen hit a sacrifice fly, running the score to 7-0 Grasshoppers.

The 4-run 8th inning started when Bowen struck out with one out but reached second base on a throwing error by Winston-Salem catcher Ivan Gonzalez. Eli Wilson doubled home Bowen, Brenden Dixon walked, and Escotto with a 3-run home run.

Making his first start at the High-A level, J.P. Massey picked up where he left off at in Low-A. Massey allowed three hits in 5 scoreless innings pitched. While he issued four walks, he also struck out four batters.

Mitchell Miller allowed 2 runs on two hits and a strikeout in 1.1 innings pitched. Santiago Florez allowed a hit and struck out a pair while getting the final two outs of the 7th inning. Yunior Thibo pitched a scoreless 8th inning and Eddy Yean a scoreless 9th.

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