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Monthly Archives: May, 2010

Donnie Veal to disabled list

Triple-A starter Donnie Veal has been placed on the minor league disabled list.

Presley Homers Twice, Alderson And Baker Dominate In Starts

Altoona Curve �11, �Akron Aeros �1 (box)

LF Alex Presley missed hitting for the cycle on Monday night in Akron, because he lacked a single. �He probably doesn't mind, though, because what he substituted for the missing single was his second home run of the night, as he went 4-for-5 and set a new Curve record with 8 RBI in the game. �Presley, who is having a break-out year for the Curve, is now leading the Eastern League with a .379 average (number two is hitting "only" .341) and 58 hits. �He's second in the league in total bases with 89, and in OPS with .996.

The Curve jumped out to a big start with 4 runs in the top of the 1st. �CF Gorkys Hernandez singled, moved to second base on a balk, then scored on DH Josh Harrison's single. �A walk to 1B Matt Hague and a single by RF Miles Durham loaded the bases. �Presley cleared the load with a triple, and the Curve were up 4-0. �Hague doubled and 3B Jordy Mercer was hit by a pitch in the 3rd inning, setting up Presley for his first homer of the game, a 3-run blast over the center field wall.

The Curve scored without Presley's help in the 4th inning. on a single by SS Chase d'Arnaud, a double by Hernandez, and an RBI grounder by Harrison, to give the Curve an 8-0 lead. �All 8 runs were charged to Akron starter Scott Barnes -- nice revenge after Barnes pitched 5.1 no-hit innings against the Curve last week, on his way to being named the Eastern League's pitcher of the week.

Presley homered again in the 5th inning, driving in Durham, who had singled again. �After the homer, C Kris Watts singled, d'Arnaud walked, and a fielding error on a ball off the bat of Hernandez let Watts score the Curve's 11th run.

Not to be lost in the offensive outpouring was some excellent pitching by Curve starter Tim Alderson. Alderson won his 3rd game of the season with 7 shut-out innings. �He scattered 4 hits, no walks, and one hit batter over those 7 innings. �There was only one inning, the 5th, when Alderson had to deal with 2 runners on base at once (after 2 singles), and he got out of that inning with a double play.

Diego Moreno made his AA debut with the Curve in the 8th. �He gave up a lead-off single, then got a fly out, and struck out the next two batters to end the inning. �Corey Hamman pitched the 9th for the Curve. �He gave up a double, a single, and an RBI ground out for the only Akron run of the game.

Walker joining the Pirates?

Apparently, 93.7 The Fan reported this morning that Neil Walker has been recalled from Triple-A, and that Steve Pearce would likely be placed on the DL with a sprained ankle. I haven’t seen this reported anywhere else, so take it with a grain of salt for now. it may have just been speculation.

Game 45: Bucs Done In by Five Run Fourth

Aaron Harang's bat was the key to the game. Strange but true. Harang's two out RBI single in the fourth kept the inning going and helped the Reds blow the game open with a five run outburst.

Indians’ 9th-Inning Rally Falls Short

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Gwinnett Braves �6, �Indianapolis Indians �5 (box)

IMG_3210A 9th-inning rally, sparked by a pair of Gwinnett errors, put the Indians within one run of tying the game. �The rally fell short, though, and the Braves held on to take the win at Victory Field on Monday night.

The Indians were trailing 6-3 going into the bottom of the 9th. �With Braves' reliever Michael Dunn on the mound to begin his second inning, pinch-hitter Luke Carlin grounded to short, but SS Brandon Hick's throw to first was low and short, and Carlin was safe at first on the error. �Dunn was removed, and reliever Stephen Marek came in from the bullpen to take care of the Indians. �CF Jose Tabata greeted Marek with a line drive into center field, moving Carlin to second base. �2B Neil Walker was next, and he had the crowd holding its breath for a moment with a long fly ball to left-center, but it turned out to be only a long out. �1B Brian Myrow did what he does best -- get on base, somehow, some way. �This time it was by working the count full, fouling off another pitch, and taking a walk to load the bases.

That brought up 3B Pedro Alvarez (photo).�Alvarez bounced the 1-0 pitch to first base, for what should have been an easy out at first. �But Braves' 1B Freddie Freeman charged the slow roller and missed. �It looked like he was already thinking about how he was going to throw to the plate before he actually had the ball in his glove. �The ball went under his glove and skipped down the line about 12 - 15 feet behind first base. �Carlin scored easily from third, and Tabata also scored as Freeman had to reverse and chase down the ball. �Both runs were unearned, and Alvarez was credited with one RBI.

IMG_3262Now the Indians were with in one run, 6-5, and C Erik Kratz came to the plate. �Kratz already had a single in the game, and he'd walked twice. �But this time, he grounded a 0-2 pitch to short, and SS Brandon Hicks began a 6-4-3 double play that ended the rally and the game.

The Indians had scored first, back in the bottom of the 1st inning. �Jose Tabata led off by slipping a grounder through the right side of the infield for a single. �Neil Walker lined a double into right field, sending Tabata to third base. �1B Brian Myrow (photo) grounded to first base, and the Braves conceded the run to get the out, as Tabata scored from third. �Pedro Alvarez brought in Walker, who had advanced to third base on Myrow's play, with a sacrifice fly. �The throw from Gwinnett's CF Jordan Schafer came in high and up the third base line, and Walker scored easily. �The Indians had a 2-0 lead.

Pearce leaves game with ankle injury

Steve Pearce left Monday's game with a sprained ankle. He will have an MRI on Tuesday.

When should the children arrive?

Brad LincolnOn Monday, Dejan reported that we might start seeing some Triple-A players arriving in Pittsburgh. So when should each player be promoted? Click here to find out when Pedro Alvarez, Jose Tabata, Brad Lincoln and Neil Walker should arrive in Pittsburgh.

Adcock Is Pitcher Of The Week; Roster Moves

Nate Adcock, who earned his 5th win in last night's Marauders' game, has been named the Florida State League's Pitcher of the Week for May 17th - 23rd. �Adcock made two starts during the week, going a total of �12 innings (6 each), and allowing just one run, for an ERA of 0.75 during the week. �He also gave up 5 hits, 2 walks, and struck out 12 batters. �Adcock's record is now 5-2, and his ERA stands at 2.50. �He has pitched 50.1 innings and allowed 42 hits, 14 earned runs, 9 walks, with 54 strikeouts.

Some roster moves over the past few days:

INF Jim Negrych has been placed on Altoona's temporarily inactive list, due to a family illness.

P Diego Moreno has been promoted from Bradenton to Altoona. �He earned a 3-0 record and a 1.37 ERA in 16 relief appearances for the Marauders.

P Melkin Laureano has been promoted from West Virginia to Bradenton. �In 10 games (5 starts) for the Power, Laureano earned a 2-3 record and a 2.83 ERA.

P Mike Williams has been promoted from State College to West Virginia. �The Spikes have not started their season yet, so Williams has really not been there, but in extended spring training in Bradenton.

INF Adenson Chourio and OF Wes Freeman have been reassigned from West Virginia to State College, which means they are going to Bradenton for a few weeks. �Chourio was hitting .217 with 4 RBI in 15 games for the Power. �Freeman had appeared in 24 games for the Power, but was hitting .155, with 5 doubles, a triple, 6 RBI, and 44 strikeouts.

LaRoche out again with back issues

Third baseman Andy LaRoche will miss his third consecutive game with back stiffness tonight.

Diego Moreno promoted to Altoona

The Pirates promoted Bradenton reliever Diego Moreno to Double-A Altoona today. The 23-year-old Moreno struck out 39 batters in 26.1 High-A innings, while handing out only two walks.

Three Hits Can Be Good Or Bad

Two games, each with one team collecting only 3 hits... which can be good or bad

Bradenton Marauders �2, �Clearwater Threshers �0 (box)

In this game, "only 3 hits" was good, because it was the Marauders' pitching staff who held the Threshers to just 3 hits. �Nate Adcock made the start and pitched 6 shutout one-hit innings, with 2 walks and 8 strikeouts. �He worked around a walk in the 1st and worked around a hit batter in the 2nd. �The single and another walk came in the 4th, with the lead runner reaching 3rd base on a throwing error by C Eric Fryer. That was the only time in the game that the Threshers had a runner get as far as third base. �Adcock retired the next 7 batters, to finish his day's work.

Mike Colla relieved Adcock to begin the 7th inning, and he also gave up just one hit, but left that batter on first base. �Colla retired the side in order in the 8th, and began the 9th with a line out and a walk. �Tyler Cox replaced Colla on the mound, and he gave up a single to the first batter he faced, then got a double play to end the threat and the game.

The Marauders themselves put up just 6 hits, but they put their hits to good use. �In the top of the 7th, LF Quincy Latimore singled with two outs, and then scored on DH Tony Sanchez's RBI double. �In the 8th, 1B Calvin Anderson blasted a solo home run to give the Marauders some insurance. �It was Anderson's second homer in two days. �2B James Skelton also doubled in that same inning, but was left on base. �The other two Bradenton hits were a single by SS Brock Holt to open the game, and a lead-off single by Sanchez in the 2nd inning.

Lakewood Blue Claws �3, �West Virginia Power �0 (box)

This was the game where "only 3 hits" was not good -- those three were all the Power could muster up. �RF David Rubinstein and 3B Jose Brito each had a single, and C Ramon Cabrera hit a triple. �1B Aaron Baker and SS Benji Gonzalez each walked, but 4 of those base runners were left on base, and the other was erased in a double play. �CF Evan Chambers reached base on a throwing error, and got as far as second, but he too was left on.

Brandon Holden made his second start (7th appearance overall) for the Power. �He pitched 5 innings, allowing one run on 6 hits and 2 walks, with 4 strikeouts. �That run came on back-to-back doubles by Lakewood in the bottom of the 1st inning. �Holden had to work around runners on base in each of his remaining innings, but did not let the Blue Claws score again. �Gabriel Alvarado pitched the last 3 innings of the game. �He gave up 2 more runs, on a walk followed by back-to-back doubles, in the bottom of the 8th inning. �Alvarado also struck out 4 batters.

Game 44: Doumit’s Walk Off HR Wins It

It was a beautiful day in baseball and Aki Iwamura ended a long streak of futility. I was on hand to witness the historic event.

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