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Prospect Watch: Blake Sabol and Nick Gonzales Have Big Days in Altoona Rout

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Some good pitching performances from Cody Bolton, Kyle Nicolas and Luis Peralta.  And Jacob Gonzalez keeps hitting.

TRIPLE-A: INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS

Minor League Season Preview: 2022 Indianapolis Indians

Game Time: 6:35pm

Box Score

Starting Pitcher: Osvaldo Bido

  • Final Line: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K

Notable Performances:

  • Oneil Cruz 1-5, SB
  • Kevin Newman 0-2, BB
  • Ji-Hwan Bae 2-4
  • Mason Martin 2-3, 2B, BB, SB
  • Cal Mitchell 2-4, 3 RBI
  • Canaan Smith-Njigba 1-3, 2B, BB, SB
  • Travis Swaggerty 1-3, BB
  • Carter Bins 2-4
  • Cody Bolton 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K
  • Hunter Stratton 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K
  • Yerry De Los Santos, 1 IP, 1 K

Game Recap:

Five Indianapolis (18-17) pitchers combined for a two-hitter in a 7-0 win over Toledo.  Cody Bolton was the listed starter, but Osvaldo Bido threw the first inning.  Bolton then threw the next four.  (This practice is making the “today’s starting pitcher” routine an exercise in futility.)  Bolton had an excellent outing, allowing just a hit and two walks, and fanning six.  Cam Vieaux followed with a scoreless inning and Hunter Stratton with two.  Stratton fanned four; in six innings in May, he’s allowed no earned runs and struck out ten.  Yerry De Los Santos pitched a scoreless ninth.  Most of the offense came from the 3-5 hitters, Ji-Hwan Bae, Mason Martin and Cal Mitchell.  They each had two hits, with Martin getting a double and Mitchell driving in three.  Canaan Smith-Njigba had a double, and Carter Bins contributed two hits and two RBIs.  He has an .878 OPS since he moved up to AAA.  Kevin Newman began his rehab, playing short and going 0-for-2 with a walk before departing.

DOUBLE-A: ALTOONA CURVE

Minor League Season Preview: 2022 Altoona Curve

Game Time: 6:00pm

Box Score

Starting Pitcher: Kyle Nicolas

  • Final Line: 4 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K

Notable Performances:

  • Jared Triolo 1-3, 2 BB
  • Nick Gonzales 3-4, 2 2B, HR (3), SF, 3 R, 3 RBI
  • Liover Peguero 0-5
  • Blake Sabol 2-3, 2 HR (4), 2 BB, 4 RBI
  • Andres Alvarez 1-4, HR (5)
  • Connor Scott 2-4, 2B
  • Tucupita Marcano 1-2, BB
  • Tahnaj Thomas 1 IP, 1 H

Game Recap:

Altoona (15-19) got a strong start from Kyle Nicolas and two bombs from Blake Sabol as the Curve pummeled Richmond, 12-2.  Nicolas fanned eight over four innings, allowing one run.  He now has 35 Ks over 28.2 IP, with a 1.08 WHIP.  Sabol and Nick Gonzales had big days.  Sabol hit his third and fourth home runs of the year, walked twice and drove in four.  Gonzales had two doubles, his third homer, and a sacrifice fly, along with three runs and three RBIs.  The mysterious Andres Alvarez hit his fifth longball and Connor Scott had two hits, including a double.  Alvarez is now slugging .627.  Travis MacGregor scuffled through two and two-thirds innings, but allowed only one run.  Zach Matson and Tahnaj Thomas combined to go two and a third scoreless innings.

HIGH-A: GREENSBORO GRASSHOPPERS

Minor League Season Preview: 2022 Greensboro Grasshoppers

Game Time: 11:00am

Box Score

Starting Pitcher: Jared Jones

  • Final Line: 5 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K

Notable Performances:

  • Maikol Escotto 0-4, BB
  • Endy Rodriguez 0-4
  • Matt Gorski 2-4, HR (10)
  • Jacob Gonzalez 3-4, HR (4)

Game Recap:

Greensboro (14-19) lost to Bowling Green, 6-2.  Jared Jones had a pretty good start, but his defense was a hindrance.  He allowed just three hits and two walks over five innings, but two runs came in due to errors.  A solo home run accounted for a third run.  Santiago Florez allowed a run in two innings of relief and Garrett Leonard gave up the other two.  The offense came on a pair of solo home runs, one by Matt Gorski and the other by Jacob Gonzalez.  Gorski’s was his tenth and Gonzalez’ was his fourth since moving up to Greensboro a week ago.  The Hoppers had seven hits, three by Gonzalez and two by Gorski.  Gonzalez is batting 652/680/1304 since his promotion.  Hudson Head and Jack Herman each had a single and a walk.  The Hoppers whiffed 14 times and went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.

LOW-A: BRADENTON MARAUDERS

Minor League Season Preview: 2022 Bradenton Marauders

Game Time: 6:30pm

Box Score

Starting Pitcher: Luis Peralta

  • Final Line: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K

Notable Performances:

  • Tsung-Che Cheng 2-4, 2B
  • Rodolfo Nolasco 0-2, 2 BB
  • Jase Bowen 2-4, 2B

Game Recap:

Bradenton (16-18) continued to struggle at the plate and lost to Palm Beach, 4-0.  Luis Peralta has been alternating starts in which he’s been outstanding with complete meltdowns, but for once just had a good outing.  He gave up two runs in five innings, with no walks, which has been an issue.  On the year now, in 20.1 IP he’s walked 16 and fanned 39.  The hitters got just six hits and went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position.  Tsung-Che Cheng and Jase Bowen each had a single and a double.

Wilbur Miller
Wilbur Miller
Having followed the Pirates fanatically since 1965, Wilbur Miller is one of the fast-dwindling number of fans who’ve actually seen good Pirate teams. He’s even seen Hall-of-Fame Pirates who didn’t get traded mid-career, if you can imagine such a thing. His first in-person game was a 5-4, 11-inning win at Forbes Field over Milwaukee (no, not that one). He’s been writing about the Pirates at various locations online for over 20 years. It has its frustrations, but it’s certainly more cathartic than writing legal stuff. Wilbur is retired and now lives in Bradenton with his wife and three temperamental cats.

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