Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Jhonny Severino, Lonnie White Jr. Stay Hot & More

Jhonny Severino continues his strong start with the FCL Pirates, Po-Yu Chen stays hot on the mound, and more Pittsburgh Pirates minor league action from Thursday

After falling in an early hole, the Indianapolis Indians were able to rally for a 7-4 victory over the Gwinnett Stripers. With the win, the Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates now owns a 50-54 record this season.

Miguel Andújar continues to rake for the Indians. Andújar went 3-for-6 with his 15th home run of the season, a RBI, and two runs scored. Andújar now owns a 1.012 OPS at Triple-A this season.

On a rehab assignment Ji Hwan Bae went 1-for-4. Mason Martin was 2-for-4 with a triple and two RBI. Domingo Leyba was 2-for-3 with a home run, two walks, a RBI, and two runs scored. Aaron Shackelford was 1-for-3 with a two walks, a RBI, and two runs.

Travis MacGregor started for Indy and allowed 3 runs on five hits, a walk, and three strikeouts in 2.2 innings pitched. John O'Reilly allowed a run on two hits, two walks, a solo home run, and three strikeouts in 3 innings pitched.

Lefty Braeden Ogle pitched 1.1 hitless, scoreless innings. Ogle walked a pair and struck a batter out. Hunter Stratton closed things out wiht 2 scoreless innings pitched. Stratton did not allow a hit, he walked a batter, and struck out five.

High-A Greensboro doubles up Asheville

Thursday night the High-A Greensboro Grasshoppers doubled up the Asheville Tourists by a score of 6-3. With the victory, the Grasshoppers are now 51-45 on the season. The win was spearheaded by a strong start from Po-Yu Chen.

Chen pitched 5 innings and allowed just one hit. The hit he allowed was a solo home run, leading to him allowing 1 run in his 5 innings pitched. Chen did not walk a batter, he hit a batter, and struck out seven. Dating back to the start of July, Chen owns a 3.21 ERA in 28 innings pitched across five starts.

Mitchell Miller walked a pair and struck a batter out in a scoreless 6th inning and Ryan Harbin struck out two while walking two in a scoreless 7th inning. Yunior Thibo started the 8th inning, but allowed two runs on a hit and a walk while only recording two outs. Valentin Linarez then got the final out of the 8th inning.

Dante Mendoza allowed a hit and walked a pair in the 9th inning. With the bases loaded and no one out Cy Nielson was summoned from the bullpen. Nielson got two pop outs and a ground out to clean up the inning without allowing a run to score.

Offensively, Sammy Siani and Malcolm Nuñez both doubled for the Grasshoppers. Siani finished 3-for-3 with a walk, two runs scored, and two RBI. Nuñez finished 2-for-2 with two walks, a run scored, and three RBI.

Josiah Sightler also had a multi-hit game for the Grasshoppers going 2-for-4. Tres Gonzalez was 1-for-4 with a run scored, and Maikol Escotto was 1-for-4 with a RBI.

Bradenton suffers loss against Tampa

The Tampa Tarpons took down the Bradenton Marauders 7-4. With the loss, the Low-A affilaite of the Pirates are now 57-41 on the season. Despite the loss, the Marauders still own the best record in the Pirate farm system.

Owen Kellington started for the Marauders and allowed 2 runs on two hits, three walks, and six strikeouts in 4 innings pitched. Miguel Fulgencio followed Kellington and struggled. Fulgencio allowed 2 runs on two hits and two walks in the 5th inning. Landon Tomkins allowed 2 runs while getting the first two outs of the 6th inning.

Jorge Ramos allowed two hits on two walks and two strikeouts in 1.1 scoreless innings pitched. Elijah Birdsong pitched the final 2 innings of the game, allowing a solo home run and striking out a pair of batters.

Lonnie White Jr. started at DH and stayed hot for the Marauders. White Jr. was 2-for-4 with his 4th home run with Bradenton, and 2nd in as many days, a double, a run scored, and two RBI. July draft pick Charles McAdoo also had a multi-hit game going 2-for-4. Juan Jerez also went 2-for-4 with a double and a RBI.

Errors burn FCL Pirates in 1-run loss

While the FCL Pirates have been the best team in the Florida Complex League this season, they played a sloppy game on Thursday afternoon that resulted in a loss. The FCL Pirates fell to the FCL Braves 5-4, with a pair of errors contributing to each of the Brave runs. With the loss, the Pirates are now 28-13 this season.

Recently acquired Jhonny Severino is off to a strong start with the FCL Pirates. That continued on Thursday afternoon when he drove in Eddy Rodriguez with an infield single in the 1st inning, giving the Pirates an early 1-0 lead. Severino finished the game 1-for-2 with a walk. Since joining the Pirates, Severino is 3-for-11 with a home run, a walk, two stolen bases, two RBI, and he's had a hit in each of his three games.

The FCL offense used their speed and being aggressive on the bases to add on in the 2nd inning. After drawing a walk, Jeral Toledo stole second base. Braylon Bishop also drew a walk, one of three on the day, and then stole second base as Toledo stole home as part of a double steal. This made the score 2-0 Pirates. Toledo finished the game 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles, two stolen bases, and a walk.

Luigi Hernandez started on the mound and pitched 3 scoreless innings. He allowed just two hits, threw two wild pitches, and struck out five. Antwone Kelly followed Hernandez, putting together an up-and-down outing.

Kelly started by pitching a scoreless 4th inning. Then, he was hurt by a Kelvin Diaz error in the 5th inning which led to 3 unearned runs scored before striking out a pair in a 1-2-3 6th inning. Kelly allowed back-to-back singles to start the 7th inning. After striking out the next batter, both runners on base advanced via an Axiel Plaz throwing error on a pick off attempt. After allowing a 2-run double to put the Braves in the lead, Kelly was pulled.

Overall, Kelly allowed seven hits, walked a pair, and struck out four in 3.1 innings pitched. He allowed 5 runs, but only 2 of the 5 were earned. Gilberto Alcala retired the final five Brave batters of the game in 1.2 perfect innings of relief.