All of Thursday’s action for the Pittsburgh Pirates was in Colombia.
Andres Alvarez went 1-for-3 with a double and a walk. He has a .357 average and a 1.023 OPS in 38 games. He has dropped off in the Triple Crown chase with just two games left in the season. He still ranks top five in average, homers and RBIs.
Francisco Acuna went 2-for-5 with a double and a run scored. He has a .240 average and a .780 OPS in 37 games.
Puerto Rico
The regular season ended in Puerto Rico on Wednesday. The teams with Tsung-Che Cheng, Duane Underwood Jr. and Josh Palacios all made the playoffs, which begin tomorrow.
Cheng finished with a .182/.270/.242 slash line in 19 games. He had two doubles, a triple, two steals and a 7:12 BB/SO ratio in 74 plate appearances. His 16.2% strikeout rate was better than the 20.7% strikeout rate he had during the regular season.
Cheng will continue to see action in the playoffs, then he will join fellow Bradenton teammate Po-Yu Chen on team Taiwan in the World Baseball Classic.
Palacios hit .214/.291/.329 in 81 plate appearances over 20 games.
Underwood Jr. made three scoreless appearances, throwing one inning each time. He struck out six batters in his three innings.
