Both Altoona and Bradenton were rained out yesterday. Each team will play a doubleheader today with each game consisting of seven innings apiece. The Dominican Summer League starts up today with both Pirates affiliates in action. The league doesn’t announce starting pitchers ahead of time, so the posts for them will be limited to schedule/record/team notes. Including the two double-headers, there are eight games on the schedule today. A full recap of yesterday’s games can be found here.
Triple-A: Indianapolis (31-23) VS Syracuse (26-28) 7:05pm
Probable starter: Jeff Locke (3-3 3.17)
Yesterday’s Result: Indianapolis 5 Durham 7 (game story)
Jeff Locke will make his tenth start of the season tonight. He has pitched a total of 54 innings, allowing 52 hits, ten walks and he has struck out 47 batters. In his last start on 5/27, he went 6.1 innings, allowing three runs on four hits and he recorded a season high of eleven strikeouts. In was his first start since returning to Indy from a brief stint with the Pirates in which he failed to make an appearance before being sent back down. Jeff is 3-1 2.55 in four home starts this season.
Double-A: Altoona (23-28) VS Portland (22-31) 6:00pm DH
Probable starter: Nate Baker (3-5 5.17) and Phil Irwin (0-3 5.01)
Yesterday’s Result: Altoona was rained out
Nate Baker will make his tenth start of the season tonight. He has also made one relief appearance. He has pitched a total of 47 innings, allowing 43 hits, 27 walks and he’s struck out 25 batters. In his last start, Nate gave up four runs in three innings against a Bowie team that had three major leaguers on rehab in their lineup. He allowed three hits and a season high of five walks. This will be his first appearance of the season against Portland. Baker has a 2.95 ERA at home this year in 21.1 innings. Phil Irwin will pitch the other game today, making his fifth start for Altoona and sixth overall start on the year. He has pitched a total of 28.1 innings on the year, giving up 31 hits, just three walks and recording 18 strikeouts. In his last start on 5/28, he gave up nine hits and three runs in six innings.
High-A: Bradenton (24-29) @ Brevard County (21-31) 5:05pm DH
Probable starter: Jameson Taillon (3-4 3.29) and Casey Sadler (0-1 3.60)
Yesterday’s Result: Bradenton was rained out
Jameson Taillon will make his 11th start of the season tonight. He has pitched a total of 52 innings, allowing 41 hits and 15 walks while striking out 48 batters. He has struggled in two of his last three starts, allowing a combined eleven runs over 9.1 innings during those games. After posting a 1.46 ERA in five April starts, Jameson posted a 4.94 ERA in five May starts. He also saw his K rate go from 28 in 24.2 innings during April, down to 20 in 27.1 innings in May. Batters are hitting .214 against him on the season. Casey Sadler is the likely starter for game two today, as he was originally listed as the probable starter before the rainout. It will be just his second start of the year. He has made 13 relief appearances, pitching a total of 35 innings on the season, allowing 37 hits, six walks and he has 26 strikeouts. In his only start, he went 4 innings, allowing two runs on three hits with no walks or strikeouts.
Low-A: West Virginia (18-37) @ Hickory (28-25) 6:00pm
Probable starter: Zack Dodson (1-4 5.36)
Yesterday’s Result: West Virginia 6 Hickory 9
Zack Dodson will make his 11th start of the season tonight. He has pitched a total of 43.2 innings, allowing 49 hits, five homers, 18 walks and he has struck out 34 batters. In his last start, Dodson allowed one earned run on five hits and three walks in 4.2 innings. In his two starts on 5/13 and 5/22, Zack gave up just one hit in each game. In his six road starts this year, he has gone 0-4 7.23 in 23.2 innings.
DSL: Pirates1 (0-0) VS Rangers (0-0) 10:30am
DSL: Pirates2 (0-0) VS Cubs2 (0-0) 10:30am
