The FCL Pirates won a single-game semi-final on Saturday, defeating the FCL Yankees 4-3 to advance to the FCL finals.
The Pirates went down early, giving up a run in the first inning, followed by two more in the second. The only offense through the first three innings was Roinny Aguiar getting hit with a pitch and stealing second base with one out. He was stranded after two strikeouts.
Yerry De Los Santos got things started in the fourth. He reached on a one-out single, and moved to second on a walk. De Los Santos stole third, drawing a throwing error from the opposing catcher, and scored on the error.
Luke Scherrer added a run in the sixth inning, knocking in De Los Santos from second, after he previously reached on a fielder’s choice.
The Pirates took the lead in the seventh inning. Aguiar drew a walk, followed by a walk from Juan Machado to put two on with no outs. Jhonny Severino then ripped a double to right field, scoring Aguiar to tie the game, and putting Machado on third. After an infield ground out and a pop out, Carlos Tirado came up big with a single to third, scoring Machado for the go-ahead run.
The Pirates had good pitching in relief, after three runs in the first two innings. Victor Cabreja came on in the third inning and pitched three shutout frames, striking out four. David Matoma pitched a scoreless inning, and picked up the win as the pitcher in the game in the seventh. Noah Takacs pitched two scoreless innings, and Greiber Mendez closed it out with a scoreless ninth.
The Pirates will take on the Tigers in the Florida Complex League championship series, which is a best-of-three that begins on Sunday.
TRIPLE-A: INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS
INDIANAPOLIS won 8-5
- C Henry Davis: 2-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI, SB
- RF-1B Jake Lamb: 3-for-5, 2 2B, RBI
- 1B-3B Malcom Nunez: 2-for-5, 2B, SB
- SS Liover Peguero: 1-for-4, HR, 3 RBI
- 3B-2B Alika Williams: 1-for-4, BB
Henry Davis picked up a hit in his eighth game in a row. Alika Williams extended his hitting streak to nine games. Liover Peguero hit his eighth homer of the year, tying the score in the fifth inning. With the Pirates quiet on the trade front for hitters, these are the most likely reserves for the offense for the remainder of the season.
STATCAST HEROES
Peguero’s home run was hit 413 feet at 104.7 MPH.
DOUBLE-A: ALTOONA CURVE
ALTOONA lost 5-1
- RHP Bubba Chandler: 4.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 7 K
- RF Charles McAdoo: 1-for-4, 2B
- 1B Nick Cimillo: 1-for-3, BB
- 2B Kervin Pichardo: 1-for-4, 2B, RBI
- SS Tsung-Che Cheng: 1-for-4
Bubba Chandler had a rough first inning, allowing three runs to start the game. He settled down, pitching 3.2 innings and only allowing his final run in the final frame. He continued showing better control, with one walk, while striking out seven. It wasn’t a good overall start, but it was a good recovery. Charles McAdoo played his fifth game in right field at the Double-A level. He’s mostly played third base this year, with right field being his most common secondary position.
HIGH-A: GREENSBORO GRASSHOPPERS
GREENSBORO lost 5-3
- RHP J.P. Massey: 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K
- C Shawn Ross: 2-for-4, HR, 2B, RBI
- LF Luke Brown: 2-for-4, RBI
- SS Mitch Jebb: 1-for-3, BB, 2 SB
- RF P.J. Hilson: 1-for-4, 2B
J.P. Massey made his first start since May 28th, after leaving the rotation with a 5.97 ERA. He has made just three appearances since then, and was limited to 2.2 innings in this start. He has allowed one run in 5.2 innings across three appearances this month. Shawn Ross hit his 19th homer of the year. Mitch Jebb stole two bases, giving him 28 on the season.
SINGLE-A: BRADENTON MARAUDERS
BRADENTON lost 2-1
- RHP Hung-Leng Chang: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 1 HR
- 2B Jeral Toledo: 2-for-4
- 3B Garret Forrester: 1-for-2, 2 BB, RBI
- 1B Esmerlyn Valdez: 1-for-3, BB
- LHP Connor Oliver: 3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
Bradenton’s offense only had four hits, but reached base six times via walk. They had good pitching from Hung-Leng Chang and Connor Oliver, who combined to allow two runs, one earned, across the full nine innings.
STATCAST HEROES
Chang had six whiffs from his cutter, using a four-seam/cutter mix for 51 of his 75 pitches. Oliver had two whiffs on his curveball, with one on his changeup and one on the cutter. He used the curveball and changeup most frequently, for 19 of his 36 pitches.
ROOKIE: FCL PIRATES
FCL PIRATES won 4-3, advancing to the FCL Championship series.
- SS Yerry De Los Santos: 2-for-5, SB
- 3B Jhonny Severino: 1-for-5, 2B, RBI
- DH Roinny Aguiar: 1-for-2, BB, 3 SB
- RHP David Matoma: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K
- LHP Victor Cabreja: 3.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K
ROOKIE: DSL PIRATES BLACK
DSL PIRATES BLACK won 2-0
- RHP Marlon Quintana: 4.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K
- LF Angel Villafane: 1-for-3, RBI
- RHP Wali Pierre: 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
Marlon Quintana was signed by the Pirates in April out of Cuba. The 18-year-old has a 5.40 ERA on the season, but this is the third time he’s thrown 3+ shutout innings in an appearance over the last month.
ROOKIE: DSL PIRATES GOLD
DSL PIRATES GOLD lost 8-7
- C Samuel Escudero: 2-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI
- 3B Antonio Pimentel: 1-for-2, 3B, 3 BB, SB
- CF-1B Edward Florentino: 2-for-4, BB, SB
Samuel Escudero and Edward Florentino have been two of the best hitters on the team, with a .968 OPS for Edcudero and a .973 OPS for Florentino.
SUNDAY’S SCHEDULE
- Triple-A: Indianapolis, 2:08 PM – TBD
- Double-A: Altoona, 1:35 PM – LHP Hunter Barco (0-0, 0.00)
- High-A: Greensboro, 2:00 PM – RHP J.P. Massey (3-4, 5.87)
- Single-A: Bradenton, 12:00 PM – RHP Garrett McMillan (3-3, 2.40)
- Rookie: FCL Pirates, TBD – TBD
