The Pirates have Gold Glove third basemen in Ke'Bryan Hayes and Jared Triolo. They've got another candidate in the system in power hitter Jack Brannigan.
James McDonald tossed six plus innings of shutout baseball and the Pirates offense got just enough as the Pirates blanked San Francisco 2-0.
It wasn't...
The Indianapolis Indians pulled out another come-from-behind win over the Norfolk Tides this afternoon at Victory Field, and once again the Max Schumacher Victory Bell rang out at the end of the game. Justin Thomas earned his first win for the Indians, and Tim Wood earned his third save, while 1B Matt Hague (photo) went 3-for-4 at the plate. Three Indians hit solo home runs: Hague, LF Alex Presley, and C Dusty Brown.
The game did not start out well for the Indians. Lead-off batter 3B Josh Harrison opened the bottom of the 1st with a line drive single into left-center field, but as he took a few steps out of the batters' box, he began to limp. He limped his way down to first base (ordinarily, he might have made it to second on this hit), then called for time out. After a brief discussion with trainer Bryan Housand and manager Dean Treanor, Harrison came out of the game. Chase d'Arnaud came in as a pinch runner, then stayed in the game to play second base, while Brian Friday moved from second over to third base. There was no further word by the end of the game about Harrison's condition.
Unfortunately, before anything else could happen, d'Arnaud was picked off first base and caught stealing. The reason that it was so unfortunate for the Indians was that one out later, Presley rocketed a home run over the right field wall for his third home run of the season. It was a solo homer, but it could have been a 2-run homer. Hague slapped a sharp grounder up the middle after the home run, but he was left on base.
Wednesday evening with the Pirates' lower minor league affiliates:
West Virginia Power 7, Hagerstown Suns 1...... suspended in the 2nd inning (box)
Jameson Taillon made his pro debut tonight in West Virginia, but Mother Nature made it shorter than might have been planned. Taillon's first pitch was a strike, and the first batter singled to short. He got a ground out, which moved the runner to second, then he walked the other phenom in the game -- Suns' RF Bryce Harper. A double lined to right field brought in the lead runner and put Harper on third base. Harper walked the next batter to load the bases, but a grounder to SS Drew Maggi started a double play, and Taillon was out of the inning, with only one run in.
Maggi began the bottom of the inning with a walk, and a passed ball put him on second base. 2B Gift Ngoepe reached base on a throwing error, giving the Power runners on the corners. DH Matt Curry's single up the middle plated Maggi. 1B Justin Howard moved both the runners into scoring position with a grounder to second, and RF Dan Grovatt brought both in with a double lined into left field.
With rain falling, Taillon returned to the mound for the second inning. He gave up a lead-off single, then got two consecutive force outs at second base. A fly out ended that inning, giving Taillon one run on 3 hits and 2 walks over 2 innings, with no strikeouts.
The Power added to their lead with 4 more runs in the 2nd. LF Andy Vasquez and Maggi began the frame with back-to-back walks, and both scored on Curry's double. Howard brought in Curry with a 2-run homer over the right field wall. The Suns brought in a new pitcher, who gave up a walk to Gravatt and a double to CF Mel Rojas. That's when the rain got crazy, and the game was delayed, then suspended. The two teams will try to resume the game tomorrow at 6 pm, and that will be followed by a 7-inning game.
CHARLESTON -- 15 minutes to first pitch ...
Game: West Virginia Power vs Hagerstown Suns, 7:05 p.m.
Site: Appalachian Power Park.
Pitching: RHP Jameson Taillon vs....
Jameson Taillon makes his professional debut today, weather permitting, with the West Virginia Power, going up against Bryce Harper and the Hagerstown Suns. I...
Yesterday I posted the first part of my interview with Pittsburgh Pirates Minor League Pitching Coordinator Jim Benedict. Part one focused on his job...