Francisco Liriano will get the start tonight for Indianapolis, making his third rehab appearance, as he works his way towards the majors. Altoona is off today. Bradenton was off yesterday. For a look at the possible starters over the next few weeks, please check out our Probable Pitchers Chart. We have added a Recent Transactions section to the bottom of this page, for all Pirates minor league transactions. A full recap of yesterday’s action can be found here.
AAA: Indianapolis (14-7) VS Lehigh Valley (8-11) 7:05pm
Probable starter: Francisco Liriano (NR)
Yesterday’s Result: Indianapolis 4, Lehigh Valley 1 (game one) Lehigh Valley 6, Indianapolis 3 (game two)
Francisco Liriano will make his third rehab start of the season tonight. He made one start for Bradenton in which he threw three perfect innings, picking up six strikeouts. On 4/20, he made a start for Altoona on the road against Harrisburg. He threw 2.2 innings, allowing four runs on four hits, three walks and he struck out four. Liriano threw 67 pitches that night, 38 went for strikes.
AA: Altoona (8-11) VS Erie (10-8) 6:30pm 4/26
Probable starter: TBD
Yesterday’s Result: Altoona 6, Richmond 2
Altoona has off today. They resume play on Friday night at home against Erie, the first of seven straight games at home. The Curve are in fifth place in their division, trailing first place Erie by two games in the standings. Among regulars, Andrew Lambo leads the team with a .333 average, which places him 12th in the Eastern League. Lambo also leads the team in RBI’s with 16, the fifth highest total in the EL. Stolmy Pimentel’s 0.39 ERA in the best in the league.
High-A: Bradenton (6-13) @ St Lucie (12-7) 6:30pm
Probable starter: Adrian Sampson (0-0, 6.00)
Yesterday’s Result: Bradenton was off yesterday
Adrian Sampson will make his fourth start of the season tonight. He has gone further into the game in each start. In his opener, Sampson went 2.2 innings, allowing six runs(three earned) on seven hits and a walk. In his next outing, he lasted 4.1 innings, giving up two runs on four hits and a walk. Sampson went five innings in his last game, putting up a final line of three runs on six hits and two walks, while picking up seven strikeouts. Tim Williams had an article on Sampson’s early struggles in each game, which can be read here.
Low-A: West Virginia (8-11) @ Charleston (9-9) 7:05pm
Probable starter: Joely Rodriguez (0-2, 5.95)
Yesterday’s Result: Charleston 6, West Virginia 5
Joely Rodriguez will make his fifth start of the season tonight. He has pitched a total of 19.2 innings, allowing 26 hits, three homers, nine walks and he has 16 strikeouts. Rodriguez has an excellent 2.91 GO/AO ratio, but hitters are batting .313 against him. In his last start, he allowed nine runs(three earned) on eight hits and two walks in 4.2 innings. Against Charleston in his second start, Rodriguez went four innings, giving up four runs(three earned) on five hits and two walks. In his first game, he struck out a season high eight batters.
Recent Transactions
4/24 Traded Roman Colon to the Atlanta Braves
4/24 Placed Tyler Waldron and Jason Townsend on the disabled list. Added Justin Howard and Ethan Hollingsworth to Altoona roster
4/24 Assigned Jonathan Schwind to West Virginia roster. Reassigned Lance Breedlove to Extended Spring Training
4/23 Brandon Inge promoted to majors. Alex Presley sent down to Indianapolis. Oscar Tejeda sent to Altoona
4/23 Assigned Charlie Morton to the Altoona roster
4/20 Assigned Francisco Liriano and Jose Contreras to the Altoona roster
4/19 Released Alex Valdez
4/19 Bradenton added Junior Sosa to their roster. Sent Daniel Grovatt to Extended Spring Training
4/18 Added Barrett Barnes to West Virginia roster
