Thomas Harrington pitched five shutout innings for the Altoona Curve on Sunday, bouncing back from a few rough outings in the process. Harrington allowed just one hit, with no walks and five strikeouts.
Harrington opened this month allowing six runs, five earned, in five innings of work. His next outing was another five inning start, with six runs allowed, but only one earned. He allowed a combined 18 hits in those ten innings.
The start on Sunday showed the best of Harrington when he’s on his game. There were zero free passes, and he was also difficult to hit. He doesn’t have overpowering stuff like a lot of the best pitchers in the system, but he knows how to mix his stuff up well to get swing and miss results.
On the season, Harrington has a 3.13 ERA in 31.2 innings for Altoona, with 33 strikeouts and two walks.
TRIPLE-A: INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS
INDIANAPOLIS lost 5-0
- DH Joshua Palacios: 2-for-4
- CF Gilberto Celestino: 1-for-4
- C Dylan Shockley: 1-for-3
- LHP Nick Dombkowski: 3.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
- RHP Ryder Ryan: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 HR
On the same day that the Pirates won a bullpen game in Pittsburgh, they lost a bullpen game in Indianapolis. If there was any question as to why the Pirates needed a bullpen game in Pittsburgh on Sunday, it’s simply that they didn’t have a starting pitcher available at the top two levels. Joshua Palacios picked up two of the four Indianapolis hits, with zero walks on the day for the team.
STATCAST HEROES
Connor Sadzeck pitched the final two innings, allowing on run. His fastballs both sat around 96 MPH, touching 97.6. Nick Dombkowski picked up four whiffs on 15 swings against his sinker, with five more called strikes for a 35% CSW.
DOUBLE-A: ALTOONA CURVE
ALTOONA won 6-2, led by Thomas Harrington’s five shutout innings.
- DH Yoyner Fajardo: 2-for-4, 2B, BB, SB
- CF Sammy Siani: 1-for-4, 3B, RBI
- RF Tres Gonzales: 2-for-4
- 3B Joe Perez: 1-for-3, BB
- RHP Eddy Yean: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
Altoona was down 2-0 in the bottom of the sixth inning, before putting together a rally completed by a Sammy Siani RBI triple to tie the score. They scored four runs in the seventh inning, led by RBI singles from Yoyner Fajardo and Joe Perez. Eddy Yean is having a great season out of the bullpen. After 2.1 scoreless innings in relief during this contest, which led to his fifth win, he has a 2.72 ERA in 36.1 innings.
HIGH-A: GREENSBORO GRASSHOPPERS
GREENSBORO won 12-4
- CF Lonnie White Jr.: 3-for-4, HR, 2 RBI
- C Shawn Ross: 3-for-5, HR, 3 RBI, SB
- 3B Charles McAdoo: 2-for-4, 2B, 3B, BB, 2 RBI
- DH Termarr Johnson: 1-for-4, 2B, BB, 2 RBI
- LHP Hunter Barco: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
Lonnie White hit his tenth homer of the year, a two run shot in a five run second inning for Greensboro. Shawn Ross capped off the scoring with a three run shot in the ninth inning, his 12th homer of the year. Charles McAdoo picked up his 14th double and his fourth triple of the year. Termarr Johnson hit his tenth double. Alessandro Ercolani got the start, allowing two runs in 3.1 innings. Hunter Barco, normally a starter, pitched a single inning of relief, after a few recent rough outings in the rotation.
SINGLE-A: BRADENTON MARAUDERS
BRADENTON won 4-3
- LHP Connor Oliver: 4.0 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
- C Axiel Plaz: 2-for-4, HR, RBI
- SS Keiner Delgado: 2-for-2, 3B, 2 BB
- 1B Omar Alfonzo: 2-for-5
- 3B Javier Rivas: 1-for-4, 2B
Connor Oliver is having a good month for Bradenton. After being acquired in a minor trade for Colin Selby at the start of the season, Oliver has a 1.74 ERA in 10.1 innings this month. He’s struck out 14, with seven walks. Axiel Plaz hit his fifth homer of the year for Bradenton. The solo shot tied the score in the ninth inning. Javier Rivas hit his tenth double, and scored the eventual winning run on a Jeral Toledo double. Keiner Delgado had his second triple, which started the scoring in the third inning.
STATCAST HEROES
Oliver led with his curveball, picking up six whiffs on nine swings against the pitch. He also picked up two whiffs on three swings against his sinker. A single from Omar Alfonzo was the hardest hit ball of the game at 111.5 MPH. The home run from Plaz traveled 449 feet at 105.9 MPH. The double from Rivas went 411 feet at 109 MPH.
MONDAY’S SCHEDULE
- The full-season teams are off on Monday.
- Rookie: FCL Pirates, 12:00 PM – TBD
- Rookie: DSL Pirates Black, 11:00 AM – TBD
- Rookie: DSL Pirates Gold, 11:00 AM – TBD
