Monthly Archives: March, 2010

Indianapolis Indians 7, �Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs 5

Three home runs gave starter Daniel McCutchen plenty of run support, as the Indians won this afternoon's AAA level minor league game in Clearwater, Florida. �McCutchen pitched 4 scoreless innings and allowed just 3 hits and a walk. �He also struck out two batters. �It took him 61 pitches to get his business done. �Chris Jakubauskas pitched 2 more scoreless innings, with 2 hits and another 2 strikeouts. �The Iron Pigs runs all came in the final two innings of the game.

RF Jose Tabata got the fun started with a solo home run in the top of the 1st inning. �LF Jon Van Every added 2 more runs with his homer in the 4th. �SS Brian Friday homered in the 5th inning, another solo blast. �The Tribe added 3 more runs in the next two innings, piling up 10 hits.

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Because of yesterday's rainouts and the fact that the Pirates did not have a major league level Grapefruit League game scheduled for today, starter Kevin Hart pitched in an A level game in Bradenton. �Hart pitched 3.1 innings, and gave up 2 runs. �Three of the four hits he allowed were infield singles and the other was a line drive into center field. �He struck out two batters in the first inning and walked two in the second inning. �He made a total of 74 pitches, and was working on throwing off speed pitches to left-handed batters.

Octavio Dotel, who has been sidelined with a strained left oblique muscle, pitched one inning (18 pitches) in another game this afternoon. �He struck out three batters and was pleased with his performance.

The Pirates and Rays were rained out this afternoon, and the Indy Indians' game originally scheduled for today had already been cancelled. � So instead, we'll take a look at a couple more pitchers.

Danny Moskos was another first round pick for the Pirates, taken in the 2007 draft. �The southpaw pitcher had tried both starting and relief roles at Clemson University, and after he signed, Moskos began his pro career with 13 relief appearances in the lower levels of the Pirates' system. �He accumulated one save and a 3.55 ERA in 15.2 innings. �He advanced to A+ Lynchburg for the 2008 season, where he made 20 starts, which generally did not go well. �In 89.2 innings, he gave up too many hits (107) and runs (67), and did not strikeout out many. �In the last part of the season, Moskos was moved to the bullpen, where he did fare better. �In 9 relief outings, he pitched 20.2 innings, allowing 17 hits and 6 runs for a 2.61 ERA. �That all added up to a 7-7 record and a 5.95 ERA for 2008. � �The South Carolina native returned to the starting rotation for the Altoona Curve in 2009. �After a one-inning relief appearance in which he allowed one run on two hits, Moskos made 3 starts in April, and allowed 10 more runs on 20 more hits for a 5.94 ERA. �He was up and down in May. �There was a start with 6 shutout innings on May 8th, and two starts in which he allowed one run over 6 and 6.1 innings. �But then there was an ok start with 2 runs in 5 innings, and two poor starts -- 5 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks in 6 innings, and 4 runs on 9 hits and 2 walks in 6 innings. �His ERA for May wound up a 3.31. �Moskos was charged with the loss in his best start in June, on the 21st, when he gave up one run on 7 hits and 3 walks over 5 innings. �He allowed 11 runs on 29 hits and 9 walks over 24.1 innings for the rest of June, for a 3.68 ERA for the month.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees 3, �Indianapolis Indians 2

The Indians suffered their first loss in their spring training games this afternoon in Bradenton. �The Indians scored their runs in the 4th inning, courtesy of an RBI single by INF Miles Durham and a sacrifice fly by C Tony Sanchez. Tribe starter Donnie Veal pitched 2 scoreless innings and allowed just one hit and one walk, with 2 strikeouts. �The Indians' bullpen held the Yankees to 2 runs, and the game went into the 9th inning with a 2-2 tie. �Reliever Michael Dubee pitched the top of the 9th, and gave up two singles to account for the go-ahead run. �Dubee was charged with the loss.

The Indians announced that their game that had been scheduled for Sunday against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in Tampa has already been cancelled, as they are expecting severe thunderstorms most of the day.

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Orioles 5, �Pirates 2 � (box)

The Pirates out-hit the O's 9 to 6, but the Birds still came out on top this afternoon in Sarasota, Florida. �Starter Charlie Morton suffered the loss, as he gave up 3 runs (2 earned) on 4 hits and 2 walks in 4.2 innings. �Morton worked out of a jam in the 1st inning, with the help of a double play. �He gave up a solo home run to 1B Luke Scott in the 4th inning. �Then in the 5th, Morton began the inning with a walk, then gave up a double to former Indy Indian/Pirate (2004-05) Ty Wigginton. �An RBI ground out followed, and Morton was lifted in favor of reliever Jeremy Powell. Powell�got the next batter to ground to short, but SS Bobby Crosby's throw to first was low and it skipped past 1B Garrett Jones, allowing another run to score, giving the Orioles a 3-2 lead. �DJ Carrasco pitched 2 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk. �Chris Jakubauskas came on for the top of the 9th, and he gave up a double that plated 2 more runs.

Getting back to looking at some of the minor league players moving up in the Pirates' organization. �These are in no particular order, though we've generally been working our way from the lower levels to the upper levels. �Today we'll look at a couple of first-round draft pitchers.

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Brad Lincoln is the top pitching prospect in the Pirates' organization.

The nearly-25-year-old �was the Pirates' first round pick in the 2006 draft after an outstanding season at the University of Houston -- a 12-2 record and a 1.69 ERA in 17 starts. �After signing, Lincoln reported to the GCL Pirates for two starts, where he allowed only one unearned run in 7.2 innings. �Then he was bumped up to A level Hickory, where he made 4 more starts before being shut down with an oblique strain. �He'd already pitched a whopping 151.1 innings that year, so the Pirates were not disappointed to have him sit. �They were disappointed when a muscle strain in his right arm during spring training 2007 turned out to be a ligament problem �Lincoln had Tommy John surgery in April and missed the entire season.

Unlike many pitchers who have a rocky rehab course, Lincoln's rehab period went well. �He was able to return to the mound again at Hickory in May 2008, and made 11 starts for the Crawdads, earning a 5-5 record and a 4.65 ERA. �In 62 innings, he gave up a lot of hits (72) but only 6 walks, with 46 strikeouts. �He was promoted to A+ Lynchburg, where he made 8 more starts for another 41.2 innings. �He gave up proportionally fewer hits with the Hillcats (42) but more walks (11). �His strikeout rate was about the same: �29 K for a 6.3 K/9 Inning rate. �He won only one game while losing 5 for the Hillcats, and earned a 4.75 ERA.

Indy Indians 1, �Las Vegas 51's 1 �(tie)

The Indians and the 51's (Blue Jays) played to a 1-1 tie this afternoon in Dunedan, Florida. �The Indians' pitchers were the stars of the show, allowing the 51's only 6 hits in the game. �Starter Brad Lincoln pitched 3 shutout innings, and gave up 2 hits, while striking out 5 batters. �Reliever Ronald Uviedo pitched a perfect inning of relief, with 2 strikeouts. �Las Vegas's only run came in the 8th inning, on a single, a stolen base, a throwing error, and an RBI single.

The Tribe scored in the 4th inning. �DH Brandon Jones blasted a triple, then scored on SS Brian Friday's sacrifice fly.

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In big league camp:

Pirates 9, �Red Sox 7 �(box)

Neil Walker made his debut as an outfielder in this afternoon's Grapefruit League game, as the Pirates clubbed 3 homers to beat the Red Sox. �Walker was a late-inning defensive replacement for RF Delwyn Young. Walker had a single in two plate appearances, and is 5-for-11 at the plate in spring training.

Twins 5, �Pirates 4 �(box)

Three Pirates homered this afternoon, but it wasn't enough to beat the Twins at Fort Myers, Florida. �C Jason Jaramillo got the Pirates started with a solo blast over the right field wall in the 3rd inning. �2B Delwyn Young had the next shot, which came with SS Ronny Cedeno on base in the 6th inning to add 2 runs. �Moments later, 1B Jeff Clement contributed his own solo homer, for the Pirates' 4th run. �Young's homer was his fourth in five games. �Unfortunately, those four hits (three homers plus Cedeno's double) were the only hits the Pirates had in the game. � 1b Steve Pearce was the only Pirate to reach base on a walk.

The Twins scored their runs one at a time, on 9 hits. �Pirates' starter Ross Ohlendorf gave up 2 runs on 4 hits in 4 innings of work. �The first run came in the 2nd inning, on an RBI ground out with runners on second and third bases. �After Jaramillo tied the score in the top of the 3rd, DH Jim Thome un-tied it with a home run off Ohlendorf in the 4th. �The Bucs' 3-run top of the 6th game them a 4-2 lead. �Chris Jakubauskas and Javier Lopez each pitched a scoreless inning, with Lopez picking up two strikeouts. �Jack Taschner took the mound in the 7th, and gave up a homer to 3B Brendan Harris, to cut the Pirates' lead to one run. �Brian Bass pitched the 8th inning and was charged with a Blown Save when he gave up a run on a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 4-4. �Then in the bottom of the 9th, a hit and a walk-off RBI double by 3B Luke Hughes gave the Twins the win.

Also in the game: �SS Jordy Mercer was the lucky minor leaguer who got to join the big club for the day. �2B Doug Bernier, RF Jose Tabata, 1B Steve Pearce, LF Jon Van Every, PH/DH Brian Myrow, 3B Pedro Alvarez, 3B�Neil Walker, and C Erik Kratz all got to play too.

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In minor league camp, Octavio Dotel threw 24 pitches in a minor league game, but it was not a AAA game. �The Indy Indians did not have a game today.

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