Jack Brannigan showed some power tonight in Greensboro, as part of an 11-1 victory by the Pittsburgh Pirates High-A squad. Brannigan went 2-for-5, hitting...
Nick Gonzales keeps hitting.
The middle infielder, playing second base on Tuesday night for Indianapolis, went 2-for-4 with a walk. That extends his hitting streak...
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.
Valentin Linarez had one of the biggest recorded velocity jumps in minor league baseball last year.
Baseball America tracked the year-over-year four-seam velocity gainers from...
At the start of the 2023 international signing period, the Pittsburgh Pirates added David Matoma as their first signing out of Uganda. The right-handed...
LF Quincy Latimore started the 5th-inning rally for the Bite by being hit by a pitch, then scored when DH Ben Wigmore hit his second homer in two games. The Bite defeated Melbourne for the second time, again taking advantage of Melbourne's errors.
The Aces got out to a better start than in their first game, scoring 3 runs in the top of the 2nd, to take a 3-0 lead. A walk, a single, and a pair of doubles did the damage. But the Adelaide starting pitcher Darren Fidge chomped down after that inning, and did not allow another hit over his remaining 6 innings. He allowed only two batters to reach base, both on walks. One of those was thrown out trying to steal second base, and the other was picked off first by Fidge. He retired the last 10 batters he faced, and struck out the side in the 8th (7 total strikeouts). The Aces had two hits in the 9th, after Fidge was relieved -- a solo homer followed by a single.
The Bite got onto the scoreboard with a pair of runs in the 3rd inning. A fielding error and a sacrifice bunt put a runner on second base, then an RBI double brought in the first run. A wild pitch let the runner score from second base. In the 4th, Wigmore reached base on a fielding error, then two singles loaded the bases. A walk forced in Wigmore, and an RBI single plated two more runs, to give Adelaide the lead. Wigmore's homer in the 5th gave the Bite more insurance.
Latimore went 0-for-3 in his other plate appearances.
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Two other Pirates' players have been listed as "reassigned" by their Australian teams: pitcher Rinku Singh was "reassigned" by the Canberra Cavalry, and pitcher Jarryd Sullivan was reassigned by the Sydney Blue Sox. It sounds like "reassigned" might be a polite term for "cut". It's not like they have a big minor league system to reassign them to.
Jennifer Langosch reports today that, contrary to previous belief, Rudy Owens and Diego Moreno are not eligible for the upcoming Rule 5 draft. Langosch...
C Tony Sanchez blasted a pair of home runs for the Solar Sox in their loss to the Rafters on Thursday afternoon in the Arizona Fall League.
Sanchez's first home run gave Mesa the first lead in the game. 1B Matt Rizzotti (Phillies) led off the 2nd inning with a walk, and DH Josh Vitters (Cubs) followed with a single blooped into left field. Moments later, Sanchez brought both of them in with his 3-run home run. Rizzotti added another run in the 4th inning, when he drove in 3B Brandon Wood, who had singled, with an RBI single in the 3rd inning.
Tyson Brummett pitched 3 scoreless innings in his start for the Solar Sox. The Sox held their 4-run lead until the bottom of the 5th. Nicholas Carr (Mets) pitched a perfect 4th inning, but he began the bottom of the 5th with two walks and an RBI double, bringing in two runs. When the Rafters' runner stole third base, a throwing error by Sanchez let another run score, cutting the Solar Sox' lead to 4-3. Robert Fish (Angels) relieved Carr to finish the 5th inning without any more runs scoring. But Fish got into trouble in the 6th, giving up a pair of singles, then a balk, then a 2-RBI single, and the Rafters had the 5-4 lead.
Eric Niesen pitched a scoreless 7th inning for Mesa, working around back-to-back fielding errors by Wood at third and Rizzotti at first. The Rafters added an insurance run in the 8th inning, with Jacob Diekman on the mound. A single, a sacrifice bunt, a stolen base, and a sacrifice fly scored the run.
The Solar Sox threatened in the 6th inning, when Sanchez struck out, but reached second base on a throwing error by the Rafter's C Salvador Perez (Royals) after a wild pitch on strike three by pitcher Blake King (Cardinals). RF Tim Kennelly (Phillies) singled to second base, and Sanchez, who had rounded third base, was caught in a run-down between third and home, and was tagged out. The Solar Sox went down in order in the 7th and 8th innings, but Sanchez led off the top of the 9th with his second home run of the game. 2B Josh Satin (Mets) kept the rally going with a single following the home run, and he reached second base on a ground out. LF Ryan Flaherty (Cubs) walked, but the two were left on base when Wood struck out to end the game.
Sanchez was the only Pirates' farmhand to get into this game.
Cheering for Pirates' players and friends in Thursday's winter league action....
PUERTO RICAN LEAGUE
Gigantes de Carolina 5, Senadores de San Juan 4 -- Los Gigantes plated a run in the bottom of the 11th inning for the walk-off win. Carolina posted 15 hits, and 3 of those were by LF/RF Luis Matos. Benji Gonzalez came into the game to pinch-hit in the 8th inning, when he put down a sacrifice bunt in the rally that tied the game and eventually sent it into extra innings. Gonzalez remained in the game to play second base. He struck out in his only other plate appearance.
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VENEZUELAN LEAGUE
Bravos de Margarita 2, Tigres de Aragua 1 -- A solo home run by Margarita's DH Frank Diaz in the bottom of the 9th gave the win to Los Bravos. Los Tigres scored their only run in the 6th inning, when C Raul Chavez singled and came around to score on an RBI double. Margarita tied the score in the 7th with an RBI single. Chavez had a pair of singles in the game. LF Lastings Milledge and CF Jorge Cortes each had a single in the game. 1B Hector Gimenez was 0-for-4. Ronny Cedeno came in to pinch-run for Chavez after his single in the 8th, but did not score. Miguel Perez took over behind the plate for the rest of the game. Margarita's Andy LaRoche did not get into the game.
Pirates' farmhand LF Quincy Latimore singled twice, doubled twice, and scored twice as Adelaide chomped on Melbourne in their Australian Baseball League season opener.� Former Altoona Curve pitcher Paul Mildren made the start for the Bite, pitching 7 shut-out innings to earn his team's first win.� Mildren worked around 6 hits and a walk, and a couple of errors (each team committed 4 errors), and he also picked a runner off base.� In the last three innings he pitched, only one batter reached base, on a single.� Melbourne's only run came in the 8th, off reliever Chris Lawson, and that one was unearned, coming on a throwing error, a single, and a double play.
The Bite were able to take advantage of the Aces' errors.�� They scored one run in the 2nd inning on a walk, a fielding erorr, and a single.� In the 4-run 4th inning, two errors made the Bite's job easier.� Two lead-off walks and a single brought in the first run.� A throwing error and an RBI single plated 2 more runs.� A fielding error and another RBI single added the fourth run of the inning.
Latimore singled in the 1st inning and walked in the 3rd inning for Adelaide, but did not score.� In the 4th, Latimore struck out -- his only plate appearance when he did not reach base.� In the 6th, Latimore started the Bite's rally with a single, then stole second base and scored on an RBI double by DH Ben Wigmore.� A single, a double, and an RBI ground out gave Adelaide their seventh run in the 7th inning.� Latimore led off the 8th with a walk, then scored on Wigmore's 2-run homer.
The Bite's roster page lists pitcher Mitch Fienemann as being "reassigned", and C Dylan Child (and infielder Dayle Child) as being "reserve".�� I can understand the "reserve" part, but I'm not sure what or where Fienemann might have been reassigned to.
All four Pirates hitting prospects started, but the Mesa Solar Sox lost 9-6:
-Andrew Lambo (.299) started in right field, batting sixth. Lambo went 0-for-2...
The Mesa Solar Sox caught up to the Desert Dogs two times in Wednesday night's Arizona Fall League game, but they couldn't do it a third time.
The Desert Dogs took the early lead, scoring a total of 4 runs (3 earned) off Solar Sox starter Jake Muyco (Cubs) in the first 4 innings. Reliever Eddie McKiernan (Angels) finished off the 4th for Muyco, then pitched a scoreless top of the 5th.
The Solar Sox tied the game in the bottom of the 6th with a 4-run inning. 2B Josh Harrison walked and scored, as both C Tony Sanchez and SS Jordy Mercer each drove in a run. 3B Josh Vitters (Cubs) drove in one run in the 5th, and another in the 7th. RF Andrew Lambo was hit by a pitch in the 5th, and was later removed from the game, though it's not clear whether or not it was due to being hit. In the shuffling of players that occurred when Lambo came out, Harrison was moved to left field.
With Chris Carpenter on the mound for Mesa in the top of the 7th, the Desert Dogs broke the tie. Two runs scored on a double, two singles, and a walk. The Solar Sox answered right back with 2 more runs in the bottom of the 7th, to tie the score at 6-6. They took advantage of 3 walks, including one to Sanchez, and Vitter's RBI.
Kyle Smit (Cubs) relieved Carpenter to finish the 7th inning, but he suffered the loss when he gave up a solo home run to Phoenix's DH Matt Wallach (Dodgers) in the top of the 8th. Four more hits, including a 2-RBI double gave Phoenix 3 runs in the 8th, and the Solar Sox could not answer. Steven Geltz (Angels) finished the game for Mesa with a scoreless 9th, though he made it a little interesting by giving up a hit and two walks, then striking out two batters.
