Winter league action has slowed down, at least for news concerning the Pittsburgh Pirates, so we have results from the last four days here.
Monday
In Colombia, shortstop Francisco Acuna saw his first action in the playoffs, coming off the bench to go 0-for-2 in a one-sided loss. Acuna lost his starting spot when the regular season ended and his team was able to add reinforcements for the playoffs. One of the players added to his roster was Harold Ramirez.
The only player to see action on Monday was Anderson Feliz, who went 1-for-3 with a single before leaving for a pinch-hitter.
Tuesday
Francisco Acuna got his first playoff start and went 0-or-3 with a walk, while handling nine chances in the field cleanly.
In Venezuela, Engelb Vielma went 1-for-4 with an RBI single, as his team dropped a 4-3 decision.
In the Dominican, Richard Rodriguez had a shaky inning of work, but he extended his streak of appearances without an earned run to 17 games. He gave up a single and two walks, but recorded two strikeouts to get out of the inning. Rodriguez had a total of three walks this winter (regular season and playoffs) prior to this contest.
Anderson Feliz went 1-for-4 with a single and a stolen base.
Wednesday
Engelb Vielma went 1-for-4 with a run scored and his third double of the playoffs. His team’s season is over now, though he was eligible for the draft, but did not get picked as a reinforcement for the next round. Vielma went 7-for-24 (.292) with a walk, four runs scored and two RBIs in seven playoff games.
Anderson Feliz went 1-for-3 with two walks, giving him a .268 average through 11 playoff games.
Thursday
In Australia, Robbie Glendinning continued his hot start as his third week began with a big game. He went 3-for-4 with his second home run, driving in three runs. He also scored twice, walked and stole his third base. Glendinning is hitting .389/.500/.583 through his first nine games. He has scored 13 runs and picked up 11 RBIs.
Michael Suchy was in the lineup, which is good news after he left Sunday’s game following a beaning. Suchy went 2-for-5 with his eighth double on Thursday, extending his on base streak to 16 games. He also scored a run and picked up an RBI. The beaning on Sunday looked bad, with Suchy down on the ground for about three minutes, then still looking the worse for wear when he was shown sitting on the bench a few minutes later. Suchy is now hitting .279/.364/.490 through 28 games. He has been playing center field recently, a position he has played seven times over four season with the Pirates.
In Venezuela, the second round of the playoffs started with Elvis Escobar as the lone remaining player from the Pirates. He ended the first round on a hot streak, and it carried over into game one, where he went 2-for-4 with a double, run scored and an RBI in a 6-1 victory.
In the Dominican, Anderson Feliz came into the game as a defensive replacement at second base in the top of the 11th and hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the 12th, for the 6-5 win.
