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.

Altoona falls in a 1st inning hole and never recovers

After the 1st inning on Friday night the Double-A Altoona Curve were trailing the Richmond Flying Squirrels 2-0. While not a big hole, this early hole is one the Curve never pulled out of in a 3-1 loss that dropped them to 12-11 on the season.

Aaron Shrotridge started for Altoona and pitched 5.2 innings. Shortridge allowed 3 runs on five hits, four walks, and three strikeouts. He uncorked a wild pitch, threw 57 of 91 pitches for a strike, and induced five gorund ball outs to go with seven fly ball outs.

Cam Junker pitched the final 2.1 innings for the Curve. Junked allowed a hit and walked a pair in his 2.1 scoreless innings pitched. He filled the strike zone throwing 23 of 32 pitches for a strikes, to go with a 2:1 groundout:fly out ratio.

As is often the case when you only score 1 run it was a poor night for the Curve offense. Liover Peguero was 0-for-3 with a walk at the top of the lineup, while Lolo Sanchez and Domingo Leyba were a combined 0-for-6 with two walks in the two and three spots. Matt Gorski, Mason Martin, and Matt Fraizer each had one hit, recording the only three hits of the night for Altoona.

Furious 9th inning rally falls short for Greensboro

Friday night the High-A Greensboro Grasshoppers fell to the Winston Salem Dash 8-7. With the loss, the Grasshoppers fell to 15-10 on the season. This loss came after the team allowed 3 runs in the bottom of the 8th, and then nearly completed a furious comeback in the 9th inning.

After pitching a scoreless 7th inning, Michell Miliano returned to the mound in the 8th inning for Greensboro. After a walk, a catchers intereference, and a pair of singles, the Dash scored 3 times in the inning to extend their lead to 8-3.

Entering the 9th inning the game appeared ot be well in the bag for the Dash, however, Greensboro batters had another idea.

Tres Gonzales drew a walk to start hte 9th inning. After back-to-back one out singles loaded the bases, Jackson Glenn launched a grand slam. His 5th home run of the season quickly made the score 8-7 Dash with just one out in the inning. Unfortunately, this is where the rally ended. Jase Bowen popped out, Mike Jarvis flew out, and the game was over.

Po-Yu Chen started for Greensboro and allowed 4 runs in just 3.1 innings pitched. Chen allowed five hits, a home run, he walked five batters, and struck out a pair. He threw a wild pitched and threw just 41 of his 75 pitches for strikes.