Your daily Pittsburgh Pirates Prospect Watch article for recaps of all of today’s games. Be sure to pick up your copy of the latest Prospect Guide in our store, available as an ebook or a limited edition paperback.
The DSL Pirates Gold and Greensboro are slated to play two. The FCL Pirates Gold were slated to play two, but the makeup game appears to have been canceled.
The FCL Pirates Black were rained out. They’ve played only 36 games. Most FCL teams have played 40-45.
INDIANAPOLIS
(7:05pm)
Starting Pitcher: Beau Sulser 6 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
Notable Performances:
Tucupita Marcano 1-5
Diego Castillo 4-4, 2B, BB
Jared Oliva 2-4, HR (2)
Game Recap:
Indianapolis (50-54) beat Iowa, 6-2. Beau Sulser had a good start, giving up just two hits over six innings. The two runs he allowed were both unearned. Keury Mella, Joe Jacques and Shea Spitzbarth followed with a scoreless inning each. Diego Castillo had a big day in his second game at this level, reaching base five times while playing short. He went 4-for-4 with a double, a walk and three runs scored. Jared Oliva also had a good day, getting a single and his second home run of the year. Oliva is 10-for-21 in his last five games. He and Bligh Madris each drove in a pair.
ALTOONA
(6:35pm)
Starting Pitcher: Omar Cruz 4.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
Notable Performances:
Ji-Hwan Bae 1-4, SB
Cal Mitchell 0-4
Mason Martin 0-3, HBP
Matt Fraizer 0-4
Jack Suwinski 2-4, 2B
Game Recap:
Altoona’s (52-50) offense continued to struggle in a 5-0 loss to Akron. The Curve rested Oneil Cruz and Rodolfo Castro, who haven’t been doing anything lately anyway, and managed only five hits and a walk. Jack Suwinski had a single and a double. Omar Cruz had a pretty good start, giving up just one run, but he left with two outs in the fifth, having thrown 84 pitches. Cam Alldred gave up three runs and Cristofer Melendez the other one.
GREENSBORO
(5:00pm)
Starting Pitchers: Quinn Priester 6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 K and Domingo Gonzalez 5 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
Notable Performances:
Liover Peguero 3-6, 2B, BB
Nick Gonzales 2-7, 2B, 3B
Jared Triolo 2-5, BB, HBP
Lolo Sanchez 1-6, SF
Will Matthiessen 3-6, HR (13), BB
Aaron Shackelford 2-7, HR (20)
Blake Sabol 1-3
Game Recap:
Greensboro (67-38) won the first game of its doubleheader with Hudson Valley, 10-7. It was a matchup of the High A East league’s second (Greensboro) and third best teams. Whenever Pirate and Yankee affiliates get together, the dingerz seem to start flying. Domingo (Dominger?) Gonzalez ran into his usual trouble at the Grasshoppers’ home park. He gave up four runs on a pair of two-out, two-run bombs. He’s now allowed a dozen in four home starts. The two he allowed in this one was the fewest yet. He allowed no homers in his three road starts. The Hoppers got one run in the second on a Will Matthiessen single and a second in the fourth on Aaron Shackelford’s 20th homer of the year. They broke the game open with eight runs in the sixth. The inning featured a two-run shot by Jonah Davis, his sixth for Greensboro and fourth in the last five games; a two-run double by Nick Gonzalez; and a three-run shot by Matthiessen, his 13th for the Hoppers. Austin Roberts gave up a three-run bomb in the seventh to close out the scoring. Gonzalez stayed hot (by normal standards, anyway), getting a double and triple. Liover Peguero had a single and a double. Matthiessen’s four RBIs gave him 36 in his last 21 games.
The Hoppers finished the sweep in game two. Quinn Priester followed up his spectacular start the last time out with six more shutout innings. He wasn’t quite as dominant this time, allowing four hits and three walks, while striking out six. He had one tough jam, as a double and two walks loaded the bases with one out in the second. Priester, though, got Anthony Volpe to ground into a double play on a 3-1 pitch. He also got a break with a line drive double play after a leadoff double in the third. The Hoppers got only six hits in this one, all of them singles. The runs scored on a Yoyner Fajardo force out in the second and a Lolo Sanchez sacrifice fly in the third. Peguero, Jared Triolo and Andres Alvarez each had a single and a walk. Gonzales’ hot streak went on hold as he struck out all three times up.
BRADENTON
(6:05pm)
Starting Pitcher: Adrian Florencio 4 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
Notable Performances:
Jackson Glenn 1-3, 2 BB
Endy Rodriguez 1-4, HR (12), BB
Dariel Lopez 1-3, BB, HBP
Jase Bowen 0-4
Hudson Head 0-4
Alexander Mojica 1-3, 2B, BB
Maikol Escotto 0-4
Ernny Ordonez 3-4, 2 HR (6)
Christian Charle 2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
Tyler Samaniego 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K
Oliver Mateo 1 IP, 3 K
Game Recap:
Ernny Ordonez hit a pair of home runs as Bradenton (64-38) beat Tampa, 9-6. The Marauders pulled to within three games of the Tarpons, who have the league’s best record. They got plenty of help, as Tampa had its second consecutive meltdown on defense, committing five errors. Bradenton took a 5-3 lead with four runs in the fourth, the last two on Endy Rodriguez’ 12th longball of the year. Tampa took the lead back, 6-5, with three runs in the sixth off Christian Charle, who was making his first appearance at this level. The Marauders came back in the eighth with four runs. Ordonez hit his second homer of the day after the first two batters reached on errors. The fourth run of the inning scored on a passed ball. Tyler Samaniego followed Charle on the mound and threw two scoreless innings for the win in his first pro game. Oliver Mateo fanned three in a scoreless ninth, although one of them reached on a wild pitch. Ordonez finished the game with three hits, three runs and four RBIs. The dingerz were his fifth and sixth of the year. Jackson Glenn reached base three times.
FCL PIRATES BLACK
(Noon)
Boxscore
Starting Pitcher: TBD
Notable Performances:
Game Recap:
Canceled.
FCL PIRATES GOLD
(Noon)
Boxscore
Starting Pitcher: Valentin Linarez 3 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
Notable Performances:
Luke Brown 1-4, SB
Mike Jarvis 2-4, HR (1)
Rodolfo Nolasco 0-2, 2 BB
Brenden Dixon 3-4, HR (2)
Geovanny Planchart 1-3, 2B
Game Recap:
Brenden Dixon gave the Gold team (26-12) a 7-5 win over the Braves with a two-run, walkoff home run in the bottom of the seventh. The Pirates trailed, 5-4, going into the inning, but tied the game on a walk and three wild pitches. Another walk preceded Dixon’s second pro longball. Dixon had a big day, going 3-for-4. Sixth-round pick Mike Jarvis added his first career homer, along with a single. Randy Romero also had two hits. Valentin Linares had a good start, giving up a run and striking out four in three innings. Alessandro Ercolani gave up four runs, three earned, in two and two-thirds innings. Johan Montero retired the last four batters to get the win.
DSL PIRATES BLACK
(10:30am)
Starting Pitcher: Joaquin Tejada 4.2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K
Notable Performances:
Enmanuel Terrero 1-5
Shalin Polanco 1-3, BB
Ronny Sanchez 3-4, 2B, 3B
Ewry Espinal 0-1, 3 BB
Game Recap:
The Black team (22-13) came from behind with two runs in the bottom of the eighth to beat the Red Sox Blue, 6-5. Joaquin Tejeda had a good start, striking out six over four and two-thirds innings. The Pirates took a 4-2 lead into the eighth, but the bullpen gave up three runs in the top half. The Bucs got two runs in the bottom half in an RBI ground out by Jesus Castillo and an error. Ronny Sanchez had a big day at the plate, with a single, double and triple, and two RBIs.
DSL PIRATES GOLD
(10:30am)
Starting Pitcher: Roelmy Garcia 1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 0 K and Luigi Hernandez 2 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 1 K
Notable Performances:
Jeral Toledo 1-6, BB
Gustavo Armas 0-4, 2 BB, HBP
Esmerlyn Valdez 1-4, BB, HBP
Jauri Custodio 1-3, 3B, BB, SB
Game Recap:
The Gold team (10-25) lost the first game of their doubleheader with the Giants Orange, 7-6, on a walkoff hit in the bottom of the eighth. They had taken a 6-3 lead in the top of the seventh, but gave it up in the bottom half, with the tying runs scoring on a two-out error. The Pirates then missed a chance in the top of the eighth when they bunted the free runner to third, but he got thrown out trying to score on a ball that got away from the catcher. Jauri Custodio then tripled but didn’t score, and the Giants got their free runner home in the bottom half. Roelmy Garcia started, but pitched only an inning, giving up two runs. Patricio Ress allowed just an unearned run over four innings. Rafael Mendez gave up the tying runs. The Bucs managed six runs despite getting only three hits, but they had help from six walks, two hit batsmen and two errors. Wesley Zapata had a single and a walk, and scored twice.
The Pirates also lost the second game, 9-1. Luigi Hernandez had a rough start, walking three and allowing four runs in two innings. Argenys Dominguez and Eduardo Zapata gave up the other five runs over three innings. Delfin Ramirez had two of the team’s six hits, including a double.
