Po-Yu Chen pitched eight strong innings for the Altoona Curve on Friday, picking up his first win of the season in the 3-1 victory. Chen allowed one run on four hits in his eight frames, with the lone run being a solo homer.
It’s rare for a minor league player to throw eight innings, so it’s not a surprise that this is a career high for Chen. The 22-year-old, signed out of Taiwan in late 2020, has been known for extended outings. He’s thrown seven innings five different times in his career, with the first being on September 12, 2021. Chen pitched seven innings three times last year in High-A Greensboro, and pitched into the seventh a fourth time. His previous high this year was six innings, most recently accomplished in his last outing, where he allowed one run in six frames.
Chen excels due to his secondary mix of pitches, plus his control. He doesn’t have overpowering stuff, but he knows how to pitch. When he’s on, he’s on, but he rarely dominates opposing lineups. That wasn’t the case on Friday. Chen struck out nine batters. This wasn’t his career high — he struck out 12 in 4.2 innings on August 9th last year — but it was his second best strikeout performance in four seasons.
In two starts this month, Chen has a 1.29 ERA in 14 innings, with a 14:3 K/BB ratio.
TRIPLE-A: INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS
INDIANAPOLIS lost 7-3
- LHP Nick Dombkowski: 4.2 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
- 1B Jake Lamb: 2-for-3, HR, 2B, BB, 2 RBI
- LF Gilberto Celestino: 2-for-4, HR
- RF Canaan Smith-Njigba: 1-for-4, SB
- 3B Malcom Nunez: 1-for-4
Jake Lamb hit his fourth homer and 13th double of the season. Gilberto Celestino hit his second homer of the year. Indianapolis is short on starters, so they turned to Nick Dombkowski, who gave them one out shy of five strong innings.
STATCAST HEROES
Dombkowski saw results with his slider and cutter leading the way. He threw those two a combined 44 times, leading to nine whiffs on 22 swings. The slider averages 80-81 MPH, while the cutter is in the 86-87 MPH range. His fastballs are anywhere from 89-92, and he threw 31 combined four-seams and sinkers on Friday.
DOUBLE-A: ALTOONA CURVE
ALTOONA won 3-1, led by eight innings from Po-Yu Chen.
- 3B Joe Perez: 2-for-4, RBI
- C Carter Bins: 1-for-2, 2 BB
- LF Tres Gonzales: 1-for-3, BB
- 2B Kalae Harrison: 1-for-4
- CF Sammy Siani: 1-for-4
Altoona’s offense played small ball, picking up three runs on six walks and six hits, with no extra base hits. Joe Perez led the way with two singles, plus a run and an RBI. Tyler Samaniego closed out the game with a scoreless inning in relief. It was his second scoreless inning since coming off the injured list on June 4th. He previously only made two appearances this year, before going on the IL following his April 13th appearance.
HIGH-A: GREENSBORO GRASSHOPPERS
GREENSBORO lost 8-4
- 3B Charles McAdoo: 1-for-4, HR
- RF Lonnie White Jr.: 1-for-4, 2B
- 1B Maikol Escotto: 1-for-4, HR, 3 RBI
- SS Termarr Johnson: 1-for-4
- C Geovany Planchart: 1-for-2, 2 BB
Charles McAdoo led off the game with his eighth home run of the season. McAdoo has been the most productive and most consistent hitter in Greensboro this year. This was the second game in a row that he homered, and the eighth start in a row where he’s recorded a hit. I feel like I say this daily, but McAdoo looks like a guy who should move up to Altoona this summer.
SINGLE-A: BRADENTON MARAUDERS
BRADENTON lost 7-3
- LHP Michael Kennedy: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 HR
- SS Keiner Delgado: 1-for-3, HR, 2 RBI
- RF Enamnuel Terrero: 1-for-5, 2B
- 2B Wesley Zapata: 0-for-1, 3 BB, SB
- RHP Landon Tompkins: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K
Keiner Delgado hit his fourth homer of the year for Bradenton, giving the offense two of their three runs on the day. The final run was scored in the eighth inning, after the game was already out of hand. Michael Kennedy didn’t have his best results, but had some good stuff.
STATCAST HEROES
Kennedy picked up 12 whiffs on the day. Eight of those came from his changeup, which induced 16 swings. He also went 3-for-6 with the slider. His four-seam fastball wasn’t effective on Friday, with one whiff in 15 swings, and only five called strikes out of 33 total pitches. The home run from Delgado traveled 397 feet at 101 MPH.
ROOKIE: FCL PIRATES
FCL PIRATES won 12-4
- RHP Brennan Malone: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
- RHP David Matoma: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K
- 1B Richard Ramirez: 2-for-5, HR, 3 RBI
- 2B Yerry De Los Santos: 2-for-3, 2B, 3B, BB, 3 RBI, SB
- SS Jhonny Severino: 2-for-4, 2B, BB, SB
Richard Ramirez fueled the 12-run game for the FCL Pirates with his third homer of the year. It was a two run shot that led to a four run first inning. Yerry De Los Santos hit a double and a triple, while stealing his 15th base of the season. Jhonny Severino hit his sixth double and stole his eighth base. Brennan Malone had his first clean inning of work in four rehab appearances. Prior to this season, Malone hadn’t pitched in a game since June 2022, and only had 27 innings in his career since being drafted 33rd overall in 2019.
ROOKIE: DSL PIRATES GOLD
DSL Pirates Gold won game one 12-1
- 1B Edward Florentino: 1-for-3, HR, 2 BB, 3 RBI
- CF Cristian Jauregui: 1-for-3, 3B, 3 BB, 2 SB
- SS Christopher Orelin: 1-for-3, 2B, BB
The Pirates signed Edward Florentino this January, and the 6′ 4″, 200 pound 17-year-old hit his first homer on Friday night. Cristian Jauregui, one of the more notable signings last year out of Cuba, had a triple, three walks, and two stolen bases at the top of the lineup to lead the offense.
DSL Pirates Gold lost game two 3-0
- LF Ruben Vizcaya: 2-for-2, BB
- RHP Brandison Polanco: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K
- RHP Diego Chiquillo: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K
Two of the four hits in this game came from Ruben Vizcaya, who is in his fourth season in the DSL. Fellow DSL veterans Brandison Polanco and Diego Chiquillo combined for 4.1 shutout frames in the shortened makeup game.
SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE
- Triple-A: Indianapolis, 7:05 PM – TBD
- Double-A: Altoona, 6:05 PM – RHP Sean Sullivan (1-5, 3.12)
- High-A: Greensboro, 6:30 PM – RHP J.P. Massey (3-4, 5.97)
- Single-A: Bradenton, 6:30 PM – RHP Khristian Curtis (0-3, 4.93)
- Rookie: FCL Pirates, 10:00 AM – TBD
- Rookie: DSL Pirates Black vs DSL Pirates Gold, 10:00 AM – TBD
