Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Jase Bowen Grand Slam, Shalin Polanco Hits Another Bomb & More

Big 3rd inning carries Greensboro to victory

The High-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Greensboro Grasshoppers, rode a big 3rd inning and a strong starting pitching performance to a victory on Sunday. Following a 5-4 victory over the WInston Salem Dash, the Grasshoppers are now 26-23 on the season.

Po-Yu Chen started for the Grassshoppers and turned in a strong start. In 5 innings pitched, Chen allowed a run on three hits, three walks, a solo home run, and four strikeouts. Chen started the season slow but has pitched better of late. In 46.1 innings pitched in 10 outings this season, Chen now owns a 4.66 ERA and a 16:45 BB:K ratio.

After Grant Ford pitching a scoreless 6th inning, the Grasshopper bullpen started to run into trouble. Dante Mendoza pitched 2 innings and allowed a run. Eddy Yean took the ball to start the 9th inning and only got one out.

Yean started the 9th inning, allowing 2 runs while recording just one out. Cy Nielson was summoned to relieve Yean and retired both batters he faced. This continued Neilson's strong season, now owning a 2.42 ERA and a 9:27 BB:K ratio in 22.1 innings pitched this season.

As for the Greensboro offense, most of it came in the 3rd inning.

Brenden Dixon singled to start the inning, then Tres Gonzalez was hit by a pitch and Tsung-Che Cheng walked with one out to load the bases. Jase Bowen than launched a grand slam, his 10th home run of the season, to make the score 4-0 Grasshoppers.