In the Dominican on Monday night, Gregory Polanco went 1-for-4 with a single, walk and RBI. He picked up the RBI on a 6th inning ground out with his team down 6-0 at the time. They came back to tie the score, but lost 7-6 in 11 innings. Polanco has now reached base in 22 of 23 games. Earlier in the day, Baseball America named Polanco their top prospect in the Pirates farm system.
On the other side of that 7-6 game, Oscar Tejeda and Carlos Paulino each got some playing time. Tejeda started the game and went 2-for-4 with a walk and run scored before being replaced in left field on defense in the tenth inning. Paulino came into the game as a pinch-runner in the fourth inning for former Pirate Robinzon Diaz, who left after being hit by a pitch. Paulino finished the game going 0-for-2 with a walk and run scored.
In Puerto Rico, Jerry Sands connected for his third home run of the season. He finished the game 1-for-4 with one RBI. Sands is hitting .286 in 35 at-bats, with five walks and six RBI’s
Ivan De Jesus went 0-for-3 with a walk and strikeout. He is hitting .318 through 13 games.
In other news in the Puerto Rican League, Eliecer Navarro will join the Indios de Mayaguez team next week. He will be teammates with Jerry Sands. Navarro went 5-17, 3.72 in 25 starts and three relief appearances in 2013, splitting his time between Bradenton and Altoona. He has been in the Pirates organization since 2007.
In Mexico, Ali Solis went 0-for-3 with a walk, run scored and two strikeouts. Solis has now batted more times in the off-season than he did during the regular season, when he missed most of the year with a back injury.
In Colombia from Sunday, Tito Polo went 1-for-5 with a double in his team’s 10-3 win. Harold Ramirez did not play. In six games, Polo is 5-for-19 at the plate with two doubles and a triple.
In Nicaragua over the weekend, Adolfo Flores made two appearances, allowing his first run of the season. In 7.2 innings over eight appearances, he has allowed one run on six hits and two walks.
The Venezuelan League was off Monday except for a make-up game, which didn’t involve any Pirates players. Andrew Lambo arrived in Venezuela over the weekend and will make his debut this week with the Cardenales de Lara.
