The three short-season affiliates and Altoona all played early. Other than nice starts by Alessandro Ercolani and Jonathan Salazar, not much good happened. The three affiliates playing late all blew late leads and lost, leaving the Cherington organization 0-for-8 on the day.
YESTERDAY’S RESULTS
TRIPLE-A: INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS
Game Time: 7:05pm
Box Score: LINK
Starting Pitcher: Jerad Eickhoff
- Final Line: 5 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
Notable Performances:
- Tucupita Marcano 1-5, 2B
- Rodolfo Castro 2-5, 2B
- Jack Suwinski 0-3, 2 BB
- Travis Swaggerty 2-4, 2B, 3B
- Mason Martin 1-4, 2B
Game Recap:
Indianapolis (44-49) blew a ninth-inning lead and lost to Toledo, 7-6. Starter Jerad Eickhoff gave up two runs and fanned six over five innings. Zach Matson and Cam Alldred each tossed a scoreless frame, but in between Travis MacGregor gave up three runs, two earned, in his one inning. That put Indy behind, 5-2, but they scored four in the eighth to take a 6-5 lead. Two scored on a double by Travis Swaggerty, who also tripled in the game and drove in three altogether. Two more scored when the left fielder lost Mason Martin’s routine fly, which went for a double. In the bottom of the ninth, though, a two-out error by Swaggerty put runners at second and third, and a walkoff single ended it. Rodolfo Castro had a single and double, and Jared Oliva had two hits. Tucupita Marcano hit a double. Marcano is batting .311 in AAA, which is 225 points higher than Pirates’ regular Josh VanMeter is hitting in the month of July. Jack Suwinski went 0-for-3 with two walks.
DOUBLE-A: ALTOONA CURVE
Game Time: 12:05pm
Box Score: LINK
Starting Pitcher: Luis Ortiz
- Final Line: 3.1 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
Notable Performances:
- Jared Triolo 3-4, 2 2B, BB
- Andres Alvarez 1-4, HR (15)
- Liover Peguero 1-4, HR (7)
- Tahnaj Thomas 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
Game Recap:
Altoona (46-47) got blasted by Bowie, 13-4. The Curve have now allowed 36 runs in their last three games. Luis Ortiz gave up six of the runs. Brad Case and Enmanuel Mejia gave up the other seven. Tahnaj Thomas bucked the trend by throwing two scoreless innings. Altoona got one run on Liover Peguero’s seventh home run, two more on Andres Alvarez’ 15th. Jared Triolo had two doubles, a single and a walk, and scored twice.
HIGH-A: GREENSBORO GRASSHOPPERS
Game Time: 6:30pm
Box Score: LINK
Starting Pitcher: Sean Sullivan
- Final Line: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
Notable Performances:
- Dariel Lopez 1-5, 2B
- Jacob Gonzalez 2-5, HR (7)
- Endy Rodriguez 2-5, HR (15)
Game Recap:
Greensboro (40-51) blew a ninth-inning lead and lost to Winston-Salem, 7-5, in 11 innings. Sean Sullivan returned from the IL to pitch the first inning. He fanned three but also gave up a run. Adrian Florencio allowed one run over three and a third. Santiago Florez stranded three runners and threw an inning and two-thirds without allowing a run. The Hoppers took a 3-2 lead into the top of the ninth. They got one run on Jacob Gonzalez’ seventh home run of the year, and the others on RBI singles by Gonzalez and Endy Rodriguez. In the ninth, though, Eddy Yean gave up a run to tie the game. Cam Junker escaped a first-and-third, no-out situation in the top of the tenth. In the bottom half, the Hoppers got runners to second and third with one out, but Dariel Lopez followed the Pirate Way and looked at a third strike, and Gonzalez grounded out. Dante Mendoza then got bombed for four runs in the top of the tenth. Rodriguez led off the bottom half with his 15th home run to make it 7-5 and Greensboro got the tying run to the plate, but Eli Wilson bounced into a double play to end the game.
LOW-A: BRADENTON MARAUDERS
Game Time: 6:30pm
Box Score: LINK
Starting Pitcher: Luis Peralta
- Final Line: 4 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
Notable Performances:
- Tsung-Che Cheng 1-4, BB
- Jase Bowen 3-4, BB
- Juan Jerez 2-5, 2B, SB
- Bubba Chandler 0-4, BB
- Deivis Nadal 2-4, SB
Game Recap:
Bradenton (46-46) blew a six-run lead and lost to Lakeland, 10-9. Luis Peralta had decent start. He gave up two runs in the second inning, but worked two scoreless innings after that. He fanned six. The Marauders took a 9-3 lead into the seventh, but Jack Hartman and Yunior Thibo combined to allow seven runs, all unearned. Hartman retired only two of the seven batters he faced, although there was one error. Thibo came on with the bases loaded and two outs, and proceeded to walk the next three batters. An error by Juan Jerez then let in two runs to put Lakeland ahead. The Marauders were unable to score after that. Jase Bowen had three hits on the day and also drew a walk. Jerez had a single and double, and Deivis Nadal, who committed the other seventh-inning error, had two hits. Jerez and Nadal each had a steal.
RK: FCL PIRATES
Game Time: Noon
Box Score: LINK
Starting Pitcher: Alessandro Ercolani
- Final Line: 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K
Notable Performances:
- Javier Rivas 1-4, 2B, BB
- Shalin Polanco 2-4
Game Recap:
The FCL Pirates (21-15) lost to the Rays, 4-2. Alessandro Ercolani had an impressive start, working four scoreless innings on three hits and no walks. He fanned six. Enmanuel De Los Santos came on for the fifth and gave up all four of the Rays’ runs, most of it not his fault. He allowed a broken bat bloop double, an infield hit on which the batter appeared to be out, and a flyball on which Shalin Polanco made a clean running catch, as I described in the comments, only to have the umpire incomprehensibly rule it no catch. It went for an error instead. De Los Santos than gave up a three-run bomb. He recovered to throw two scoreless innings after that. The offense was a double by Javier Rivas, six singles and four walks. The Pirates went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Polanco was the only player with two hits. Braylon Bishop had an infield hit and three strikeouts, and stranded seven runners.
RK: DSL PIRATES BLACK
Game Time: 11:00am
Box Score: LINK
Starting Pitcher: Jonathan Salazar
- Final Line: 4 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K
Notable Performances:
- Other than Salazar, there weren’t any.
Game Recap:
The Black team (17-21) lost to the Mets 2, 7-1. Jonathan Salazar had a strong start, allowing just a hit, a walk and a run over four innings. He struck out seven. Things went south after that, as three relievers allowed two runs each. The offense managed just two hits, singles by Rodolfo De La Cruz and Pedro Figuereo. The Pirates did draw six walks, but they went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
RK: DSL PIRATES GOLD
Game Time: 11:00am
Box Score: LINK
Starting Pitcher: Keneth Quintanilla
- Final Line: 1.2 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
Notable Performances:
- Roinny Aguiar 2-3, 2B, BB, SB
- Yordany De Los Santos 1-4, SB
- Luis C. Gonzalez 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K
- Luis Faringthon 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
Game Recap:
The Gold team (26-12) scored twice in the first, then allowed four in the second, and that was all the scoring in a 4-2 loss to the Cardinals. Starter Keneth Quintanilla got knocked out in that second inning, allowing all the runs. Luis C. Gonzalez and Luis Faringthon covered the last four and a third innings without allowing a run. The Pirates had only four hits, two of them by Roinny Aguiar. That included a double, and he also drew a walk and stole a base. Yordany De Los Santos had a single and a steal.
