Yesterday, the Pittsburgh Pirates were in first place, half a game up over the Milwaukee Brewers.
After losing to the Brewers last night, the Pirates are now in second place, tied with the Reds with a .500 record. This Pirates team is streaky, but I don’t know if there’s a team in the NL Central that doesn’t fit that profile. Mitch Keller could very well pitch the Pirates back into first place with a win tonight.
On the minor league side, Kyle Nicolas and Anthony Solometo are each expected to make their debuts with their new teams. Nicolas was promoted to Indianapolis, and Solometo was promoted to Altoona earlier this week. Jun-Seok Shim started down in the FCL, but was removed early, according to Wilbur Miller.
Follow all of the game action below, and join the discussion in the comments.
With all of our game reports now going into this daily article, the Prospect Watch has been repurposed as a daily look at three prospects throughout the system. Check the site each day at noon for the latest edition. We’ll keep the archives updated here.
Ben Cherington had his first Pirates draft pick reach the majors with the recent promotion of Carmen Mlodzinski. Anthony Murphy wrote more about Mlodzinski today in P2Daily.
Check back at the end of the night for all of the daily results throughout the system, or, join the discussion in the comments if you’re following Live.
Final Score: Brewers 5, Pirates 0 Player of the Game: Roansy Contreras 2 IP, 1 K Recap:
Facing a familiar foe in Wade Miley felt it could have been a much needed boost for the offense, as he is a lefty and just coming off the injured list. Making it feel like the perfect recipe was also given the fact that Mitch Keller was opposing him.
As we enter the dog days of summer with temperatures rising, the Pirates unfortunately continue to cool off even further.
Pirates offense managed only two hits and two walks against Miley. A one out double in the first by Bryan Reynolds was the closest they would get against him.
Kolten Wong is no longer in Milwaukee. So as is customary, someone had to take his throne of consistently punishing the Pirates, and that role appears to have been taken over by Brewers’ rookie Joey Wiemer.
The day after hitting a home run for the would be deciding run on Friday, Wiemer got the scoring going in this game with a two-run home run in the bottom of the third.
Keller was mostly cruising through the game — outside of the third inning — but ran into trouble in the fifth as he tried to close the inning out. He had two on and two out, and fought his way back from a 3-0 count to Rowdy Tellez. Tellez then lined a ball to right field that Conner Joe misplayed and bounced to the wall for a two-run double. Keller closed out the inning, finishing with giving up four runs in five innings on five hits, three walks, and a HBP. He struck out seven in the game.
Pirates best opportunity came in the seventh, when they loaded the bases for Austin Hedges, who then popped up the second pitch he saw to end the threat.
Roansy Contreras pitched the sixth and seventh innings, and had a much better bounce back than his previous appearance. He sat down all six hitters he faced on only 17 pitches, with one strike out.
Jose Hernandez had a solid eighth inning, striking out three batters. Only blip was a solo home run to Blake Perkins.
The game ended 5-0, extending the Pirates losing streak to five.
PIRATES PROSPECT WATCH
By Wilbur Miller
TRIPLE-A: INDIANAPOLIS
Final Score: Iowa 6, Indianapolis 3 Player of the Game: Miguel Andujar 2-for-4, 2B Recap:
Kyle Nicolas had a rough debut as Indianapolis lost to Iowa, 6-3.
To some extent, Nicolas’ start was representative of the type of outing he’s often had. He struck out six in four innings, but he also allowed eight hits, two walks and five runs. He had some trouble throwing strikes, with 50 in 87 pitches.
Travis MacGregor also made his first appearance with Indy this year, although he pitched there part of last year. He threw one inning, giving up two hits, a walk and a run. Eli Villalobos worked one scoreless inning and Cody Bolton two.
The offense was mostly quiet, producing just six hits. Miguel Andujar had a single and a double, and Henry Davis had a double and a walk. Davis got thrown out by a lot at home on a delayed double something-or-other that started with Chris Owings striking out; evidently, Indy manager Miguel Perez didn’t watch Owings’ attempts to put the bat on the ball in similar situations with the Pirates. Endy Rodriguez was 0-for-4 and Nick Gonzalez 0-for-2 with a walk and a sacrifice fly.
DOUBLE-A: ALTOONA
Final Score:Somerset 8, Altoona 1 Player of the Game: Matt Fraizer 2-for-2, 2B, 2 BB Recap:
Anthony Solometo had a variable AA debut as Altoona got thrashed by Somerset, 8-1. Solometo lasted five innings, giving up six hits, a walk and four runs. Two were unearned, due to a Solometo error that prolonged an inning. He fanned seven, so there were positives.
Less so with the bullpen. Omar Cruz and Braeden Ogle combined to go the last three innings, giving up two runs each.
The offense didn’t show up, except for Matt Fraizer. He had a single, double and two walks, and scored the only run on a Matt Gorski triple in the first. Those three hits were the only ones.
HIGH-A: GREENSBORO
Final Score:Greenville 8, Greensboro 4 Player of the Game: Tres Gonzalez 3-for-4, 2B Recap:
Greensboro went with a bullpen game, which is generally a bad sign around the organization. Thanks in part to Ben Cherington blundering in the minor league phase of Rule 5, as well as his poor drafting, pitching depth is in short supply throughout the system. Mitchell Miller started this one and allowed five runs over an inning and a third. Yunior Thibo, Jack Carey and Eddy Yean each allowed a run. Thibo just got to the level recently, but Miller’s ERA is 6.75, Carey’s 7.02 and Yean’s 7.59, which is a pretty good indication of the Hoppers’ pitching depth. They did get two scoreless innings from Valentin Linarez and one, with three strikeouts, from Jake Stephenson.
The hitters did little until the ninth, when they scored three times to make the final a little respectable. Tres Gonzalez had three hits, including a double. Tsung-Che Cheng had a two-run triple in the ninth.
SINGLE-A: BRADENTON
Final Score:Bradenton 3, Fort Myers 0 Players of the Game: Derek Diamond 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K and Shalin Polanco 3-for-3, 2B, HR (11), BB, SB Recap:
Bradenton got big games from Derek Diamond and Shalin Polanco, and blanked Fort Myers, 3-0.
Diamond threw five shutout innings, allowing four hits and a walk. He struck out four and threw 56 of 81 pitches for strikes. Elijah Birdsong and Ryan Harbin contributed two scoreless innings apiece. Harbin gave up two hits and two walks, but he fanned five. He now has a 1.04 ERA, to go with 36 strikeouts in 26 innings.
Polanco had half of the Marauders’ six hits. Those included his 12th double and 11th home run. He also walked and stole his 10th base. After putting up a .597 OPS with no home runs in April, Polanco is now tied for second in the league in longballs, fourth in RBIs, third in slugging and 12th in OPS.
Bradenton’s other two runs came in the seventh on Geovanny Planchart‘s second home run of the year. Termarr Johnson went 0-for-3 with a walk.
ROOKIE: FCL PIRATES
Final Score:Pirates 9, Orioles 5 Player of the Game: Omar Alfonzo 2-for-4, 2B, HR (1), 4 RBI Recap:
Jun-Seok Shim left with an apparent injury as the Pirates beat the Orioles, 9-5.
After Shim got the first batter in the bottom of the second on a long fly, the pitching coach and trainer came out. Shim didn’t look distressed in any way, but after a few moments he indicated his right pectoral area, then left. He seemed fine sitting in the bullpen later, not that that means much, but hopefully it was a precautionary thing.
Jun-Seok Shim
Shim gave up a home run to the second batter of the game and was having some control issues. His fastball was consistently riding high and away to the arm side, so maybe he wasn’t comfortable from the start.
Gilberto Alcala relieved and gave up a lot of hard contact, including a three-run bomb in the fourth that put the Orioles ahead, 4-1. He went two and two-thirds in the seven-inning game, Andy Maldonado threw one scoreless inning, and Jorge Ramos threw two innings, giving up a solo home run in the ninth.
The hitters had a terrible time with Luis De Léon, a lefty who’s not a prospect of note. Through three innings he fanned eight. The only contact was a Yordany De Los Santos ground out; the only runner was Josiah Sightler, who drew one of his three walks on the game. In the fourth, De Léon’s last inning, two walks set up a Lonnie White, Jr., RBI single. White had two hits on the day.
Once the starter was gone, the Pirates piled up eight runs over the last three innings. A dropped fly ball let in two runs in the fifth. In the sixth, Omar Alfonzo belted a three-run home run, his first longball of the year, including his time with Bradenton. Braylon Bishop doubled in a run later in the inning. In the seventh, White stole home on the trailing end of a delayed double steal, and Alfonzo doubled in the final run, his fourth RBI of the day.
ROOKIE: DSL PIRATES BLACK
Final Score: Astros Blue 10, Pirates Black 2 Player of the Game: Angel Rodriguez 3-for-4, 2B Recap:
The Pirates Black went hitless through the first five innings and lost to the Astros Blue 10-2.
Bladimir Pichardo started. He got a $750,000 bonus earlier this year and this was his second start. He went just two innings, walking four, but he allowed only one run. Angel Camacho followed with two scoreless innings, fanning four, and Keuri Almonte gave up a run in two innings.
The pitching side of things went downhill after that. Nicolas Carreno let all three of the batters he faced reach, and they all scored after Yoerys Hernandez came in. Hernandez gave up three runs of his own and Eduardo Zapata gave up two of his own.
Angel Rodriguez got the first Pirates’ hit of the game, a leadoff double in the sixth. He finished with three hits on the day. Rodriguez scored on a bases-loaded walk to Angel Perez. The other run scored on a ground out in the ninth. The Pirates failed to score after getting runners to second and third with no outs in the first, and twice got only one run after loading the bases with nobody out.
ROOKIE: DSL PIRATES GOLD
Final Score: Tigers 2 9, Pirates Gold 4 Player of the Game: Victor Cabreja 4 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K Recap:
The Pirates Gold were undone by an eight-run sixth inning, in a seven-inning game, and lost to the Tigers 2, 9-4.
Victor Cabreja had a good start, allowing just two hits and one run over four innings, with no walks and four strikeouts. Jose Regalado threw a scoreless fifth, but he and Luis C. Gonzalez blew up in the sixth, combining to allow the eight runs, six earned. Regalado left with two out, a run in and two on, but Gonzalez let the first five hitters he faced reach base.
The offense got most of its runs with the help of errors. Juan Machado hit his first home run of the year for one run. Carlos Tirado had the only other RBI.
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Tim is the owner, producer, editor, and lead writer of PiratesProspects.com. He has been running Pirates Prospects since 2009, becoming the first new media reporter and outlet covering the Pirates at the MLB level in 2011 and 2012. His work can also be found in Baseball America, where he has been a contributor since 2014 and the Pirates' correspondent since 2019.
