Nick Gonzales returned to action on Friday night. He didn’t have any rust, picking up three hits in his first game back. Altoona lost a snoozefest. Bradenton had multiple prospects help overcome a shaky start by Thomas Harrington to pick up the win. Po-Yu Chen had a rough night for Greensboro, in a game that included some ninth inning excitement.
YESTERDAY’S RESULTS
Prospect Watch: Quinn Priester Throws Six Shutout Innings as the Affiliates All Win
TRIPLE-A: INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS
INDIANAPOLIS @ TOLEDO
Final Score: Indianapolis 6, Toledo 3
Indianapolis Starter: Luis Ortiz (2-1, 2.45)
Pitching Line: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO
Box Score
Top Performers:
- Nick Gonzales 3-for-5, SB
- Canaan Smith-Njigba 0-for-4, BB
- Endy Rodriguez 3-for-4, BB, 2 SB
- Ryan Vilade 1-for-5, 2B
- Malcom Nunez 1-for-4, 2B, BB
- Cal Mitchell 0-for-5
Game Recap:
Luis Ortiz pitched three scoreless innings in what may have been a shortened outing due to the Pirates needing a starter next Tuesday. That would be short rest under normal circumstances, but he only threw 42 pitches in this game. That’s something to watch.
Cam Alldred followed with one run over three innings, while striking out five batters. Yerry De Los Santos took over in the seventh and struck out two over a scoreless inning. Hunter Stratton came out next and gave up a run in his lone inning. Daniel Zamora was called on to finish it off. He allowed a run, but still finished off the 6-3 victory.
Endy Rodriguez caught for the first time in over two weeks, after suffering a forearm strain back in mid-April. He had three hits and a walk, along with two steals, yet he got overshadowed by two players.
Nick Gonzales returned from a trip to the Injured List for a sore shoulder. He picked up three hits and a stolen base in his first game back. Josh Palacious actually had the big night in this game, going 3-for-5 with a double, four RBIs and two steals. He has a 1.341 OPS in limited time with Indianapolis.
Ryan Vilade, Malcom Nunez and Vinny Capra each added a double for the offense, which had 17 at-bats with runners in scoring position.
DOUBLE-A: ALTOONA CURVE
ALTOONA @ RICHMOND
Final Score: Richmond 3, Altoona 1
Altoona Starter: Aaron Shortridge (2-1, 4.95)
Pitching Line: 5.2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 3 SO
Box Score
Top Performers:
- Liover Peguero 0-for-3, BB
- Matt Gorski 1-for-4
- Matt Fraizer 1-for-3
Game Recap:
Aaron Shortridge allowed three runs on five hits and four walks over 5.2 innings on Friday night. He improved slightly to a 4.91 ERA through 25.2 innings. Cameron Junker threw 2.1 scoreless to finish out the 3-1 loss.
There’s not much to talk about here. Altoona had three hits, three walks and they went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position. Their only run scored on a wild pitch. With his two walks, Lolo Sanchez was the only batter to reach base twice.
HIGH-A: GREENSBORO GRASSHOPPERS
GREENSBORO @ WINSTON-SALEM
Final Score: Winston-Salem 8, Greensboro 7
Greensboro Starter: Po-Yu Chen (0-2, 7.31)
Pitching Line: 3.1 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 5 BB, 2 SO
Box Score
Top Performers:
- Tsung-Che Cheng 2-for-4, 2B, BB
- Jase Bowen 1-for-4, BB
- Hudson Head 1-for-4, 2B
- Sammy Siani 0-for-4
Game Recap:
Po-Yu Chen got the start and it did not go well. He allowed four runs over 3.1 innings, while allowing five hits and five walks. He threw 41 of his 75 pitches for strikes. It could have been worse, as Grant Ford recorded the final two outs of the fourth, while stranding three inherited runners. He went 1.2 scoreless, with no hits.
Oliver Mateo followed with one run over one inning, while striking out three batters. Michell Miliano had his first rough outing, giving up two runs over two innings. Greensboro pitched walked a total of ten batters.
Jackson Glenn hit the rally-killing grand slam in the top of the ninth, as Greensboro fell one run short of tying the game. It was his fifth homer of the year. Tsung-Che Cheng had a double, single and a walk. He’s has a .300 average and a .986 OPS. Tres Gonzalez had a single, walk, stolen base and two runs scored.
Eli Wilson was plunked in his first plate appearance and had to leave the game. Greensboro was already short one catcher with Abrahan Gutierrez out. He was replaced by Luis Hernandez, who went 2-for-2, with a walk, two runs and two RBIs.
LOW-A: BRADENTON MARAUDERS
BRADENTON @ TAMPA
Final Score: Bradenton 7, Tampa 6
Bradenton Starter: Thomas Harrington (3-0, 2.89)
Pitching Line: 6 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO
Box Score
Top Performers:
- Enmanuel Terrero 2-for-4, BB
- Jared Triolo 2-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI
- Termarr Johnson 0-for-3, 2 BB
- Rodolfo Nolasco 1-for-4, 2B, RBI
- Shalin Polanco 2-for-4, 2B, HR, 3 RBI
- Javier Rivas 0-for-4
Game Recap:
Thomas Harrington has been strong in three of his starts, as you would expect a first round pick to be in Low-A. They resulted in 16 shutout innings. His other two didn’t go so well, with ten earned runs over 8.2 innings. He was able to go six innings tonight, while pounding the zone by throwing 60 strikes on 83 pitches. However, he got touched up four runs on seven hits, two walks and a hit batter, while picking up five strikeouts. He now has a 3.65 ERA over 24.2 innings, with 24 strikeouts.
Miguel Fulgencio threw a scoreless seventh. Julian Bosnic got the save, though he made it interesting, allowing two ninth inning runs in the 7-6 victory.
Shalin Polanco had a big night, collecting his third double and his third homer, while driving in three runs. Alexander Mojica hit his second homer. Enmanuel Terrero had two hits, a walk and an outfield assist. Rodolfo Nolasco hit his sixth double, despite missing most of April.
Jared Triolo continued his rehab work from hamate surgery by going 2-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.
Termarr Johnson continues to have a rough start to the season, dropping down to a .167 average, with a 50% strikeout rate in his first eight games. That’s nearly double his rate from last year.
Javier Rivas is down to a .497 OPS in 22 games, with a 43.3% strikeout rate.
