The Pirates have signed top Mexican prospect Luis Heredia for $2.6 million, the highest international bonus in team history.

I'd like to give Ross Ohlendorf a do over for 2010. He was injured. He was hit in the head by a line drive. The Pirates have given him minimal run support in his 10 losses (four shutouts and just one game with more than three runs scored). It happened again against Florida.

Indianapolis Indians� 4,� Toledo MudHens� 1 (box)

Indians' starter Brad Lincoln (photo) had no problems with the Mud Hens tonight at Fifth Third Field in Toledo, Ohio.� Lincoln beat the Mud Hens for the first time in his career, earning his 7th win of the season with the Indians.� After the game, Lincoln said that he felt great tonight.� "I was able to just get out there and pitch my game today... I felt that I could go out there and dominate."

Dominate is what Lincoln did.� He pitched 7 innings and allowed just one run on 6 hits and a walk.� He also struck out 6 batters.� It all took him 97 pitches, of which 72 were strikes.� Lincoln did not get a 3-strike count on any batter until the 6th inning, when he walked SS Scott Sizemore -- the only walk he allowed.� He also had a 2-ball count on only 2 batters, and a 3-ball count on one other batter after Sizemore.

The 7th inning was the only one in which Lincoln allowed more than one Mud Hen batter on base, and it was the only inning in which Toledo scored.� LF Jeff Frazier led off with a line drive single into left field.� RF Casper Wells followed with a double into center field, and Frazier was off and running.� He was rounding third as Wells was heading for second base, but he was not counting on Tribe CF Alex Presley and 2B Brian Friday. Presley got to the ball quickly in center field, and fired it in to relay man Friday in short center field.� Friday whirled and sent the ball on a rope to C Erik Kratz, who held on to the ball as Frazier barreled into him, even holding up the ball, still in his hand, as the dust settled.� Lincoln struck out the next batter, DH Ben Guez, but 1B Michael Bertram lined a single up the middle, and Wells scored from second base.

Lincoln allowed only 3 other hits, scattered over the first 6 innings.� Guez singled in both the 2nd and the 5th innings and was left on base both times.� Former Indy Indian C Robinzon Diaz singled in the 3rd inning, but he was doubled up when 3B Justin Henry flied out to center field.� Alex Presley had to run back to get to the ball, and Diaz must not have thought Presley had any chance at all to make the catch, so he took off.� When Presley made the back-handed catch and turned around, he saw that Diaz was not even close to first base.� It was an easy throw over to 1B Jonathan Van Every to double off Diaz.

It is a question that many Pirates fans want answered. When, exactly, will the front office sink some significant resources into the major league product? The Pirates’ best players in 2010 are mostly in their pre-arbitration years, which naturally keeps the payroll low. But for now, there is some financial flexibility. Should the Pirates start spending in the upcoming offseason?

A full day of action for the Pirates' minor league affiliates on Wednesday

Altoona Curve� 1,� Portland Sea Dogs� 0 (box)

Jeff Locke pitched 7 shut-out innings and struck out 8 batters to earn his 2nd win with the Curve.� Locke scattered 3 hits and one walk in those 7 innings.� All three of the hits were doubles.� Two of the runners were left on base, and the other was thrown out trying to stretch the double into a triple.� Locke never had more than one base runner on at a time.� Mike Dubee completed the shutout with 2 perfect innings in relief, including two strikeouts.

The Curve batters were not hitting a lot either, but they were the ones who put together a series of hits to score a run.� In the 8th, C Hector Gimenez doubled, and DH Yung Chi Chen and CF Anthony Norman followed with back-to-back singles.� Norman's single drove in Gimenez with the only run of the game.� The only other hits the Curve posted were back-to-back singles by LF Jim Negrych and 1B Matt Hague in the first inning.� Both were left on base.� After those two hits, the next 20 Curve batters were retired in order, until the 3 hits in the 8th.

�

Pirates general manager Neal Huntington was on The Fan morning show on Tuesday, discussing Monday night’s draft signing deadline. He talked about Jameson Taillon, Stetson Allie, a few 2009 draftees and some issues involving the major league team. For some reason, he made people angry.

The Pirates’ 2010 draft signings changed the profile of their farm system in a hurry.  Earlier in the season, the system had graduated several...

Ricky Nolasco pitched shutout baseball for six innings and also knocked in two runs with two hits. Zach Duke was undone by a bad inning. The Pirates winning streak is over at one.

Dejan Kovacevic reports that outfield prospect Andrew Lambo, acquired in the Octavio Dotel trade, has a sprained AC joint in his shoulder.

Tuesday:� The Indianapolis Indians have a scheduled day off.� The State College Spikes are on their All-Star break, with three of their players, Jhonathan Ramos, Matt Curry, and Adalberto Santos chosen to participate in the game.

�

NY-P All-Star Game:

AL Affiliate All-Stars 4,� NL Affiliate All-Stars� 3 (box)

A 3-run rally in the bottom of the 8th gave the host AL All-Stars the win in Staten Island tonight.� The NL Stars threatened in the top of the 1st, when 2B Cesar Hernandez (Williamsport/Phillies) tripled, but he was thrown out at home on a fielder's choice.� Spikes' 1B Matt Curry grounded out in that inning.� The NL Stars did get onto the scoreboard in the 2nd inning, with a solo home run by LF Miguel Alvarez (Williamsport/Phillies).

After having gone down in order in the first two innings, the AL side tied it up in the 3rd inning on three singles, by 3B Adam Gaylord (Aberdeen/Orioles),� SS Jose Mojica (Staten Island/Yankees), and CF Felix Sanchez (Lowell/Red Sox).� The NL Stars came right back in the next inning with two runs.� RF Cory Vaughn (Brooklyn/Mets) led off with a single.� After a pop out by Matt Curry, Alvarez lined a single into center, pushing Vaughn to third base, then Alvarez moved up to second base on the throw in from center.� 3B Joe Bonfe (Brooklyn/Mets) grounded to short, where AL SS Jose Garcia (Lowell/Red Sox) made a throwing error, allowing both Vaughn and Alvarez to score to give the NL a 3-1 lead.

That score held for the next four innings.� Matt Curry left the game after 4.5 innings, and LF Adalberto Santos came into the game at the same time.� Santos walked in the 6th -- one of only a few batters to reach base in the middle innings.� Santos stole second base, then advanced to third when the throw from AL C Julio Rodriguez (Connecticut/Tigers) went wild.� Jhonathan Ramos came on to pitch the bottom of the 6th for the NL team.� He quickly got the first two outs, then gave up two ground ball singles, but struck out PH/RF Trent Mummey (Aberdeen/Orioles) to end the inning.

Chase Johnson (Williamsport/Phillies) was on the mound for the NL Stars in the bottom of the 8th.� The AL Stars rallied with a double by 1B James Robbins (Connecticut/Tigers) and a single by Julio Rodriguez to open the inning.� Robbins scored on a ground out, then Rodriguez stole third base.� After a walk to Mummey, Chase Johnson was relieved by Ryan Fraser (Brooklyn/Mets).� But Fraser walked the first batter he faced, 3B Matt Perry (Connecticut/Tigers) to load the bases.� That set up for a sacrifice fly by DH Ryan Enos (Connecticut/Tigers), which brought in Rodriguez with the tying run.� SS Jose Garcia (Lowell/Red Sox) lined a single into left field, scoring Mummey with the go-ahead run, before a strikeout ended the inning.

Santos led off the top of the 9th with a ground out, and despite a walk, two more strikeouts ended the game.

Newcomer James McDonald tossed his second effective outing in three tries and the Pirates offense woke up to some extent, snapping a seven game losing streak. McDonald allowed just three hits, two walks and a run in seven innings.

�

�

�

�

Pedro Ciriaco, airborne over Brian Bixler

�

�

�

�

�

�

Syracuse Chiefs� 11,� Indianapolis Indians� 4 (box)

Six stolen bases by the Chiefs, wild pitches, and double plays that weren't turned made the difference as Syracuse defeated the Indianapolis Indians at Victory Field tonight.� Starter Joe Martinez (photo) made his second start for the Indians, giving up 8 of the Chiefs' 17 hits.� The Indians were held to 6 hits, including two home runs, by LF Kevin Melillo and 1B John Bowker.

�

Lead-off batter Kevin Melillo got the Indians off on the right foot, by taking the second pitch thrown by Syracuse starter Erik Arnesen down the right field line and over the fence just inside the foul pole for a solo home run.� The Indians went on to score one run in four of the first five innings.

�

RF Brandon Moss nearly had a double moments after Melillo's homer.� Moss lifted a long fly to the deep part of left-center field, with both Syracuse LF Leonard Davis and CF Michael Martinez chasing after it.� Martinez called off Davis and had slowed, reaching up for the ball -- when the ball bounced into and out of his glove and dropped to the ground for a two-base error.� John Bowker worked a walk, putting two Tribe runners on base, but a strikeout ended the inning.

�

C Jason Jaramillo led off the bottom of the 2nd inning with a single grounded off Arnesen's glove and up the middle, and 2B Brian Friday lined a single into left field, again giving the Indians two base runners.� Joe Martinez did what every good pitcher should be able to do in this situation:� he dropped down a perfect sacrifice bunt (photo).� But the Chiefs put on the wheel play, with 3B Seth Bynum charging in to field the bunt.� Bynum fired the ball to former Indy Indian SS Brian Bixler, who was covering third base, forcing out the lead runner Jaramillo.� Friday was safe at second base, and Martinez safe at first.� Kevin Melillo grounded to second, which also resulted in a force out.� Martinez was out at second base, but Bixler took a tick too long getting the ball out of his glove after he fielded it, and there was no time for 2B Danny Espinosa to get Melillo out at first.� Friday advanced to third on the play, and when Arnesen hit 3B Mitch Jones with a pitch, the Indians had the bases loaded with two outs and Alex Presley at the plate.� The first pitch from Arnesen to Presley hit the dirt about 3 feet in front of home plate and bounced all the way to the backstop, and Friday was easily able to score from third base, to give the Indians a 2-0 lead.

.

�