Starling Marte missed his second straight game on Monday night in the Dominican. Without him and Gregory Polanco, their Escogido team lost last night, dropping them to 6-3 in the 18 game round robin tournament. Several sources listed Marte as day-to-day with a minor back injury, while others said it was just rest. Either way, he should return to the lineup when he team resumes play on Wednesday. Polanco is in Bradenton now attending mini-camp with the Pirates and should rejoin Escogido as early as Wednesday.
That Escogido loss had a couple Pittsburgh Pirates farmhands in it that are still currently free agents. Graham Godfrey started the game and went 4.1 innings, allowing three runs on five hits, no walks and he had one strikeout. He threw five shutout innings in his first playoff start.
Atahualpa Severino threw 1.1 scoreless innings for the opposition. He allowed one hit, one walk and struck out two batters. Severino ended the regular season with 14 straight scoreless outings.
From other action in the Dominican, Elvin Ramirez made his second playoff appearance. He walked the only batter he faced on Monday. In his first playoff game, which was also his first appearance since signing with the Pirates, Ramirez faced three batters, walking one and retiring the other two.
Carlos Paulino got his first start of the playoffs and went 0-for-2 before being pinch-hit for in the seventh inning. He finished the regular season in the Dominican hitting .206 with a .501 OPS in 26 games.
From Colombia on Sunday, Harold Ramirez had an RBI double and Tito Polo went 1-for-4 in their team’s 8-2 loss. Ramirez is hitting .323 through 36 games. He has a .433 slugging percentage, with five doubles, three triples and a homer. Polo is hitting .241 through 23 games, though he has just 54 at-bats.
From Nicaragua, Adolfo Flores made his 19th appearance, retiring the only two batters he faced. He had pitched a total of 15 innings, allowing eight runs on 20 hits and three walks.
