Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Jase Bowen Homers Again in AFL Loss

A busy night for Pittsburgh Pirates prospects in the Arizona Fall League was highlighted by Jase Bowen's 3rd home run of the AFL season

Saturday was a busy night for Pittsburgh Pirates prospects in the Arizona Fall League. Three Pirate prospects were in the lineup for the Salt River Rafters, and a pair of Pirate pitching prospects toed the rubber in a 3-2 loss against the Scottsdale Scorpions. With the loss, the Rafters are now 9-9 on the season.

Jase Bowen continues to swing a strong bat for the Rafters. Playing in right field and batting leadoff, Bowen went 1-for-4 wit ha 2-run home run. Bowen's 3rd home run of the AFL season gives him a .359 average and 1.048 OPS so far this fall.

Carter Bins and Jack Brannigan were both in the lineup for the Rafters as well. Bins served as the team's designated hitter, going 1-for-4 with a double. In 25 plate appearances in the AFL, Bins is hitting .304 with a 1.012 OPS in the AFL.

As for Brannigan, he started at shortstop and went 0-for-3 with a walk. This dropped Brannigan's average to .188 and OPS to .708 through his first 55 PAs this fall. Outside of a few good games, Brannigan has struggled mightily this fall.

A pair of Pirate pitching prospects also toed the rubber for the Rafters. Lefty J.C. Flowers pitched a scoreless 7th inning, but it did not come easy. Flowers threw just 8 of 23 pitches for a strike on his way to walking three batters. However, he did strike a batter out on his way to posting a zero.

Fellow lefty Tyler Samaniego pitched the 8th inning and also struggled. Unlike Flowers, Samaniego did not manage to pitch out of trouble. Samaniego pitched the 8th inning and threw just 12 of 29 pitches for strikes. Samaniego allowed what proved to be the game-winning run a hit, two walks, and a strikeout.