Just three Pittsburgh Pirates saw action last night in winter ball, but there was a pretty big game going on in Tokyo worth mentioning.
In the bronze medal game of the Premier12 tournament, Cody Ponce made his third start for Team USA. He came up big in the most important game, throwing five shutout innings on three hits and a walk, with six strikeouts. Ponce was showing some solid control, throwing 45 of 64 pitches for strikes. He debuted in the tournament with five shutout innings on two hits and a walk against Netherlands. In the first game of the Super Round, he allowed three runs over 3.1 innings versus Korea.
Unfortunately for Ponce and Team USA, they lost last night to Mexico. They were winning 2-1 going into the bottom of the ninth, but lost 3-2 in the tenth. Former Pirates prospect Eduardo Vera came up big late with 2.2 shutout innings, giving him one run over 11.2 innings in the tournament.
In the Dominican, Pablo Reyes went 0-for-2 with two strikeouts before leaving for a pinch-hitter. He is batting .200/.238/.450 in 11 games.
In Mexico, Fabricio Macias came off the bench in the fifth and went 0-for-2 with two strikeouts while playing the final four innings in center field. He’s hitting .219/.292/.297 in 25 games.
