Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Shalin Polanco Home Run, 3 Scoreless From Luis Ortiz & More

Shalin Polanco hits his 3rd home run of the season, Luis Ortiz fires 3 scoreless innings, and more Pittsburgh Pirates minor league action

Friday night saw the Pittsburgh Pirates top farm club, the Triple-A Indianapolis Indias, defeat the Toldeo Mud Hens 6-3. The victory came after Indianapolis allowed a run in each of the final two innings, but they were able to hold on to improve to 13-17 on the season.

In what may have been his final appearance with Triple-A Indy before replacing the injured Vince Velasquez in the Pirate starting rotation, Luis Ortiz fired 3 scoreless innings. Ortiz fired 29 of his 42 pitches for strikes and struck out three batters. He kept the ball on the ground with four ground ball outs and retired nine of the 10 batters he faced.

If Ortiz was to join the Pirate rotation it would likely be for Tuesday's game against the Colorado Rockies. Although that would be on just three days rest, Ortiz being limited to 42 pitches on Friday night could indicate that this is the plan. The Pirates likely would not want Ortiz to go as long as he would have between outings without getting some work in on Friday.

Lefty Cam Alldred followed Ortiz. In 3 innings of his own, Alldred allowed a run on two hits, no walks, and five strikeouts. Yerry De Los Santos allowed a hit and struck out a pair in a scoreless 7th inning. Hunter Stratton pitched the 8th inning and Daniel Zamora the 9th. They each allowed a run on a hit and a walk, but their work was enough to close out the victory.

Second baseman Nick Gonzlaes was 3-for-5 with a run scored at the top of the Indy lineup. Endy Rodriguez was 3-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored, Rodriguez is now hitting for a .279/.363/.441 slash line this season. Unfortunately, in the eyes of Pirate brass that is nowhere near good enough to unseat Austin Hedges and all that awesome veteran leadership.

Outfielder Josh Palacios continues to do nothing but hit and turn heads. He was 3-for-5 with his 4th Triple-A double and four RBI. Vinny Capra was 1-for-4 and drove in a pair, Malcolm Nuñez hit a double in the win.