For a season preview of the Pittsburgh Pirates two Dominican Summer League teams, check out our article here. For a recap of the DSL All-Star game, check out our article here. Throughout the year, we will provide the recaps of both teams, as well as highlight one player each day. 
PIRATES1
Box Score (game one)
Result: Phillies 2, Pirates 1
Starting Pitcher: Christian Henriquez, LHP (2.13) – 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 0 HR
Top Hitter: Yomifer Polanco, RF (.274) – 2-for-4
Other Notable Performers:
Julio de la Cruz, 3B (.213) – 1-for-4
Adderly Ceballo, RHP (3-1, 1.56) – 3.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 0 HR
Johan De Jesus, SS (.149) – 1-for-3
Game Notes: The Pirates1 lost 2-1 to the Phillies on Friday in game one of a doubleheader. The game lasted eight innings. Starter Christian Henriquez threw five scoreless innings. He has given up one earned run in his last three starts, all five inning outings. The Pirates scored their only run in the sixth inning, getting a sacrifice fly from catcher Deybi Garcia that scored Julio de la Cruz. The Phillies came back and scored solo runs in both the seventh and eight innings to take the lead.
Box Score (game two)
Result: Pirates 8, Phillies 1
Starting Pitcher: Andres Mendoza, RHP (3.76) – 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 0 HR
Top Hitter: Pablo Reyes, 2B (.316) – 3-for-4, 2B, RBI
Other Notable Performers:
Julio de la Cruz, 3B (.209) – 0-for-3, RBI
Arquimedes Lorenzo, RHP (3-0, 4.15) – 3.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 0 HR
Johan De Jesus, SS (.163) – 2-for-3
Game Notes: The Pirates1 split a doubleheader with the Phillies today, scoring eight runs in the second game. Andres Mendoza got the spot start and threw 2.1 scoreless innings. Arquimedes Lorenzo followed him and picked up the win, allowing one run over three innings. Yomier Polanco had two hits and two RBI’s, while Sandy Santos hit his second homer of the season. Pablo Reyes and Ramses Pena each scored two runs. Johan De Jesus had his first multi-hit game of the month and scored his first run in 18 games. The high priced signing from last July is still a week short of his 17th birthday.
PIRATES2
Result: Pirates 14, Braves 9
Starting Pitcher: Dario Agrazal Jr, RHP (2.61) – 5.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 1 HR
Top Hitter: Jhoan Herrera, 3B (.243) – 1-for-5, HR, 4 RBI, BB
Other Notable Performers:
Carlos Munoz, 1B (.364) – 1-for-3, 2 RBI, 3 BB
Michael de la Cruz, CF (.336) – 1-for-3, RBI, 2B, 2 BB
Luylli Miranda, RHP (1-0, 3.45) – 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 0 HR
Yoel Gonzalez, C (.143) – 1-for-4, BB
Game Notes: The Pirates2 scored 14 runs on ten hits and 17 walks, defeating the Braves in the first game of a two game series. All-Star pitcher Dario Agrazal Jr gave up two earned runs over five innings and struck out a career high seven batters. The Pirates went into the ninth inning down 9-8 and ended up scoring six runs, all of them coming with two outs. The last four runs scored on a grand slam from Jhoan Herrera, the first homer of his career. Michael de la Cruz scored three runs. In 39 games, he has 37 runs scored, 46 hits and 40 walks. He leads the entire DSL with his .486 OBP. Teammate Carlos Munoz is second in the league in OBP, just .001 behind de la Cruz.
Player Of The Day
Today’s player of the day is Carlos Marquez, a fourth year player out of Venezuela. Despite being in his last season in the DSL, he is still just twenty years old. Even though he is in the middle of his fourth season, the first two spent in the Venezuelan Summer League, Marquez has played just 75 games total. He has been a backup catcher his entire career, never getting more than 54 AB’s in a season. As a rookie, he batted just .114 in 17 games. Marquez raised his average to .211 in his second year, then looked much better last year in 26 games, though he did get only 43 AB’s. He had a .256 average, drew 13 walks and had a .741 OPS. His time has been very limited this year(15 AB’s), so there is a good chance this will be the end of his career. Foreign leagues allow players to play up to four seasons before they either have to be released or sent to the U.S. to continue their career.
