Your daily Pittsburgh Pirates Prospect Watch article for recaps of all of today’s games. Be sure to pick up your copy of the latest Prospect Guide in our store, available as an ebook or a limited edition paperback.
INDIANAPOLIS
Starting Pitcher: Beau Sulser 4 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO
Notable Performances:
Tucupita Marcano 1-for-4, BB
Cole Tucker 2-for-5, SB
Jared Oliva 2-for-5, RBI, SB
Michael Chavis 2-for-4
Game Recap: Beau Sulser got the Sunday start and gave up one run over the first three innings before Iowa broke out for a four-spot in the fourth to knock him out of the game. He allowed five runs (four earned) on seven hits, one walk and three strikeouts. He now has a 4.41 ERA in 79.2 innings, with 74 strikeouts. Tanner Anderson replaced him in the fifth inning and tossed two shutout innings on one hit and one walk. Matt Eckelman, Tyler Bashlor and Keury Mella each tossed a scoreless inning in the 8-5 win.
Ethan Paul and Bligh Madris had the big hits in this game. Paul hit a three-run homer in the second, his first in Triple-A. Madris hit a three-run homer in the eighth, his sixth in Triple-A. Michael Chavis, Cole Tucker and Jared Oliva all had two singles in the game. Tucker stole his seventh base. Oliva stole his fourth.
ALTOONA
Starting Pitcher: Osvaldo Bido 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO
Notable Performances:
Ji-Hwan Bae 3-for-6, 2 2B, HR, RBI
Diego Castillo 2-for-4, HR, RBI, 2 BB
Jack Suwinski 2-for-5, 2 RBI, SB
Mason Martin 0-for-2, RBI, 2 BB
Carter Bins 2-for-4, RBI
Matt Fraizer 2-for-5, 3B
Cal Mitchell 0-for-5
Game Recap: Osvaldo Bido got the start on Sunday and tossed four shutout innings on one hit, one walk and three strikeouts. He threw 58 pitches, 37 going for strikes. Bido now has a 4.82 ERA in 61.2 innings, with 58 strikeouts. Steven Jennings followed and he allowed two runs in his two innings of work. Nathan Kirby took over in the seventh and he gave up three runs over 1.1 innings. Will Gardner followed and walked two batters, while recording one out. Cam Alldred was the third pitcher in the eighth and he gave up a bases loaded double that tied the score, with one run charged to Kirby and two to Gardner. Alldred stayed on to the end, going 2.1 innings with one unearned run, as Altoona took this game 9-8.
Ji-Hwan Bae had a big game and the big hit in the game. He doubled twice early on, then hit his fifth homer of the season in the tenth inning. He scored three runs. Diego Castillo reached base four times, including his 13th home run of the season. Jack Suwinski had two hits, drove in a pair of runs and he stole a base. Matt Fraizer and Carter Bins each had two hits. The Curve had four sacrifice flies in this game. Connor Kaiser drove in a pair of runs.
GREENSBORO
Starting Pitcher: Tahnaj Thomas 4 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO
Notable Performances:
Nick Gonzales 3-for-3, 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 2 BB
Lolo Sanchez 2-for-4, 2B
Eli Wilson 0-for-3
Game Recap: Tahnaj Thomas got the Sunday start and began the day well with two shutout innings. He then gave up a run in the third and two more in the fourth, finishing the inning with 77 pitches (45 strikes), which ended his day. Thomas allowed four hits, one walk, one hit batter and he had four strikeouts. He now has a 4.85 ERA in 42.2 innings, with 46 strikeouts. Michell Miliano took over in the fifth and gave up one run over two innings. Colin Selby took over in the seventh and threw the last three innings for the save. He allowed three runs in the ninth, but stopped it there, for the 8-7 victory.
Nick Gonzales had his best game as a pro, going 3-for-3 with two walks and three runs scored. He hit his 12th double, drove in a run with his eighth homer, then added a grand slam in the sixth to break a 4-4 tie. Jared Triolo left the game early after reaching on a single. Liover Peguero also left early, though it may not have been an issue. He struck out looking to end the sixth, then was replaced on defense. Eli Wilson went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts. He batted .328 in 39 games for Bradenton and he’s 0-for-11 with eight strikeouts with Greensboro. The Grasshoppers struck out 19 times in the game without batting in the ninth inning.
BRADENTON
Starting Pitcher: Jared Jones 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 7 SO
Notable Performances:
Maikol Escotto 2-for-6, 2 2B, RBI, SB
Hudson Head 2-for-4, 2 RBI, BB
Jack Herman 3-for-6, RBI
Endy Rodriguez 3-for-5, HR, 3 RBI, BB
Daniel Rivero 2-for-4, 3 RBI, 2 BB
Jase Bowen 2-for-3, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 3 BB, SB
Game Recap: Jared Jones had a strong five-inning outing on Sunday, throwing shutout ball on two hits, three walks and seven strikeouts. He was out for the sixth inning, but ran up his pitch count on two walks to start the inning and left the game. Jones now has a 3.33 ERA in 46 innings, with 70 strikeouts. He handed the ball off the Carlos Campos, who recorded the final three outs of the sixth, without allowing an inherited runner to cross the plate. Campos threw a scoreless seventh as well, then Alex Roth and Ryan Troutman each threw a scoreless inning for the 14-0 win.
I have to note that Bradenton was playing a Clearwater team that had their roster absolutely decimated by a COVID outbreak, so these were basically FCL vs Low-A games this series. With that in mind, the bats were outstanding in this game, collecting those 14 runs on ten walks and 15 hits, including seven hits that went for extra bases. Maikol Escotto had two doubles, giving him nine on the year. He also stole his 13th base. Jase Bowen also had two doubles (seven on the year) and he stole his tenth base. Bowen reached five times total, adding three walks to his two doubles. Endy Rodriguez hit his tenth home run of the year, a two-run shot. He also had a single and a walk. Daniel Rivero had two singles, two runs scored, three RBIs and two walks. Yoyner Fajardo had the highest batting average in the lineup (.309), but he was the only player not to reach base at least two times.
***The four short-season teams are all off on Sunday
