Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Strong Roansy Contreras Start, Paul Skenes Struggles, & More

Roansy Contreras pitched well at Triple-A, Paul Skenes struggled in his Double-A debut, and more Pittsburgh Pirates minor league action

The Triple-A Indianapolis Indians fell to the Iowa Cubs 4-3. With the loss, the top farm club of the Pittsburgh Pirates is now 58-65 on the season.

Roansy Contreras started for Indy and pitched 5 strong innings. Contreras allowed 2 runs on six hits, no walks, a home run, and six strikeouts. He threw 45 of 71 pitches for strikes and now has a 2.81 ERA with 15 strikeouts in 16 innings pitched since joining Triple-A Indy. If Contreras continues to pitch well he should see time back in the majors in September.

Lefty J.C. Flowers followed Contreras and pitched a 1-2-3 6th inning. John O'Reilly pitched the 7th inning, allowing 2 runs on two hits, two walks, and a strikeout. Wil Crowe pitched the final 2 innings for Indy, allowing two hits, walking a pair, and striking out three.

At the top of the lineup Nick Gonzales went 1-for-4 with a walk and a solo home run. Miguel Andújar was 1-for-4 with a double and a run scored, Malcolm Nuñez went 1-for-4, and Ryan Vilade was 2-for-4 with a RBI.

Paul Skenes struggles in Double-A debut

Despite falling in an early hole, the Double-A Altoona Curve were able to rally to defeat the Akron RubberDucks 9-8 in walk off fashion. With the walk off victory, the Curve are now 56-60 on the season.

Even the best pitchers are going to struggle at times. This was on display on Saturday night in Altoona when Paul Skenes, who had dominated in his first three professional outings, struggled in his first start at Double-A.

Skenes recorded just two outs in the 1st inning, allowing 4 runs on three hits, two walks, and two strikeouts. Despite his struggles, Skenes will be just fine. It was just one of those days for the top pitching prospect in baseball.

A trio of three-hit games led the way for the Altoona offense. Designated hitter Joe Perez went 3-for-3 with two walks, a home run, two runs scored, and a pair of RBI. Matt Gorski was 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles and three runs scored. Catcher Carter Bins also had three hits, including a double while driving in a run and scoring a run.

Going to the bottom of the 9th the Curve were trailing 8-7. Tsung-Che Cheng and Gorski hit back-to-back doubles to start the inning and tie the game. Then with two outs, Bins singled home Gorski to walk it off for the Curve.

Early deficit leads to loss for High-A Greensboro

On Saturday, the High-A Greensboro Grasshoppers fell in an early hole against the Rome Braves. The Grasshoppers trailed 2-0 after the 1st inning and 4-0 after the 3rd inning, leading to a 4-2 loss dropping the Grasshoppers to 63-53 on the season.

Greensboro's offense was held to just five hits in the loss. Francisco Acuna, Jack Brannigan, and Jase Bowen all went 1-for-4, with Brannigan's hit being a double. Sammy Siani was 1-for-3 and Luke Brown went 1-for-3 with a double, driving in both Grasshopper runs. Brown also drew the lone walk of the night for Greensboro.

Po-Yu Chen started for Greensboro but lasted just 3 innings. Chen allowed 4 runs on six hits, two walks, a home run, and two strikeouts in 3 innings pitched. Chen also hit a batter. Santiago Florez followed with 2 scoreless innings, allowing two hits, issuing a walk, and striking out three.

Jake Stevenson pitched 2 scoreless innings. Stevenson struck out a pair, allowing a hit and walking three. Julian Bosnic pitched a 1-2-3 8th inning, striking out all three batters he faced. The lefty now has eight strikeouts in 6.1 innings pitched with Greensboro.