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

Shalin Polanco hit his 8th home run of the season, Jase Bowen launched a grand slam, Jared Triolo stays hot, and more Sunday action from the Pittsburgh Pirates farm system

Sunday afternoon the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians shutout the Toledo Mud Hens 7-0. With the win, the top farm club of the Pittsburgh Pirates are back to .500 on the season with a record of 28-28.

Lefty Kent Emanuel started for Indy and fired 6 scoreless inning. Emanuel allowed three hits, did not walk a batter, and struck out five. Carmen Mldozinski allowed a hit and struck a batter out in scoreless 7th inning. Eli Villalobos fired a scoreless 8th inning and Ryan Borucki struck a batter out in a scoreless 9th inning.

At the top of hte Indy lineup Nick Gonzales was 0-for-3 with a walk and a run scored. Travis Swaggerty was 0-for-4. Jared Triolo stayed hot at the plate going 1-for-2 with a pair of walks, a tirple, and three runs scored. Aaron Shackelford went 2-for-4 and drove in a pair, catcher Grant Koh was 1-for-4 with a double.

Altoona stays hot, defeats Binghamton again

In the past few weeks the Double-A Altoona Curve have played as well as any team in the Pirate farm system. That continued on Sunday as they defeated the Binghamton Rumble Ponies 6-4, to improve to 27-22 on the season.

Aaron Shortridge started for the Curve, allowing 3 runs on five hits, two walks, two home runs, and three strikeouts in 3.1 innings pitched. In relief of Shortridge, the Curve bullpen mostly pitched very well.

Nick Dombkowski struck a batter out and retired all five batters he faced in 1.2 scoreless innings pitched. Bear Bellomy retired all four batters he faced in 1.1 scoreless innings pitched, and Braeden Ogle allowed a hit while striking a batter out in 2/3 of a scoreless inning pitched.

Juan Minaya pitched a scoreless 8th inning, issuing a walk and striking a batter out. Lefty Tyler Samaniego took the ball in the 9th. While Samaniego allowed a run, he did close the door for his 3rd save of the season.

Matt Gorski hit a solo home run in the 1st inning, his 7th of the season to give Altoona a 1-0 lead. With the Curve trailing 3-1, they then put up a 5 spot in the bottom of the 6th inning to take control of the game.

Dylan Shockley singled with one out in the inning before three straight Curve batters drew a walk, cutting the score to 3-2. Mason Martin then singled and Andres Alvarez doubled, making the score 6-3 Curve.

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.