Nick Gonzales keeps hitting.
The middle infielder, playing second base on Tuesday night for Indianapolis, went 2-for-4 with a walk. That extends his hitting streak to 13 games, and continues his streak of reaching base in all 20 games this season.
Gonzales extended his streak immediately tonight, picking up a single on a line drive in his first at-bat, putting runners on first and second with no outs in the first inning. That set up an eventual run.
The next hit came in the seventh inning. Gonzales led off the frame with another soft line drive single to center field. In both cases, Yasmani Grandal followed by grounding into a double play.
Grandal, who went 2-for-5 with a double at the plate, will join the Pirates soon, as he nears the end of his rehab assignment. Gonzales is playing like a guy who deserves to be joining Grandal in the big leagues.
PIRATES PROSPECT WATCH
INDIANAPOLIS lost 7-4 to Omaha.
- CF Ji Hwan Bae went 1-for-4 with a walk.
- 1B Jake Lamb picked up three hits on a 3-for-3 day, with a double and a walk.
- DH Canaan Smith-Njigba went 1-for-3 with a walk.
- LHP Jose Hernandez pitched a perfect inning with one strikeout.
- RHP Carmen Mlodzinski pitched two innings, allowing one run on three hits, with two walks and two strikeouts.
ALTOONA lost 4-0 to Akron, with two hits from the offense.
- 1B Aaron Shackelford had both of the hits, going 2-for-4 with a double and a stolen base.
- RHP Brad Case pitched three shutout innings, walking one and striking out three.
- 3B Joe Perez went 0-for-1 with three walks and a strikeout.
- DH Jackson Glenn went 0-for-2 with two walks.
- LHP Nick Dombkowski pitched a perfect inning with one strikeout.
GREENSBORO lost 8-0 to Greenville.
- RHP Alessandro Ercolani got the start, allowing one unearned run on three hits, with two walks and a strikeout. I wrote about Ercolani’s stuff last week.
- 3B Charles McAdoo had two of the team’s five hits, going 2-for-4. He also stole a base.
- LF Rodolfo Nolasco had the only extra base hit, going 1-for-4 with a double.
- CF Sammy Siani went 1-for-4.
- RF Hudson Head went 1-for-2.
BRADENTON lost to Clearwater 2-1.
- C Omar Alfonzo went 1-for-2 with two walks, scoring the game’s only run. I wrote about Alfonzo in this week’s premium article drop.
- RHP Carlos Jimenez had control issues tonight, walking five batters in two innings. This led to two runs on one hit, limited by his four strikeouts.
- RHP Elijah Birdsong pitched two shutout innings, allowing a walk and a hit, and striking out one.
- LHP Hunter Furtado threw two shutout innings, allowing one hit with two strikeouts.
- RHP Landon Tomkins pitched two shutout innings, walking two and striking out two.
STATCAST HEROES
The double from Yasmani Grandal traveled 394 feet at 104.8 MPH, which wasn’t his hardest hit of the game STATS
The latest weekly Statcast Heroes gets released tomorrow, but I can already tell you that Omar Alfonzo had six of the ten hardest hit balls for Bradenton over the last seven days. STATS
TOMORROW’S SCHEDULE
- RHP Paul Skenes makes his next start for Indianapolis at 12:05 PM EST at Omaha.
- RHP Bubba Chandler remains paired up with Skenes, and will start for Altoona at 11:00 AM.
- Greensboro will start LHP Hunter Barco at 7:05 PM. Barco has a 0.82 ERA in 11 innings this season. I wrote about Barco last week, before his latest impressive outing.
- Bradenton sends RHP Hung-Leng Chang to the mound at 6:30 PM. Chang has a 1.17 ERA in two starts this year.
