Indianapolis Indians �3, �Columbus Clippers � 2 (box)

The Clippers and the Indians are in the middle of a rain delay in Columbus, Ohio. �The Indians have a slim 3-2 lead, on the strength of a solo home run by DH Jeff Clement (photo) in the 5th inning.

The Clippers got the game going in the bottom of the 1st inning, when Tribe starter Brian Burres gave up a 2-out walk to SS Luis Valbuena, followed by a 2-run home run, a no-doubter, to 3B Jared Goedert. �Burres settled in after that, allowing only one single over the next two innings. �He worked out of a jam in the 4th inning. �With one out, RF Jordan Brown and 1B Wes Hodges smacked back-to-back line drive singles into right field. �A walk to former Indy Indian LF Brian Bixler loaded the bases. �Pitching coach Dean Treanor made a visit to the mound, and Burres responded by striking out C Chris Gimenez, then getting 2B Cord Phelps to fly out to end the inning.

2B Jim Negrych was responsible for the only Indians' hit over the first two innings. �After fouling a pitch off his right shin, Negrych slipped a single through the right side of the infield. �He was left stranded on base when CF Alex Presley's ground out ended the inning.

The 3rd inning began with five Indians' batter reaching base safely. �LF Jonathan Van Every led off with a single that just edged past the diving Clippers' 1B Hodges. �SS Argenis Diaz lined a single into center field. �When RF Kevin Melillo drove the first pitch he saw over RF Jordan Brown's head and off the upper section of the right field wall, both Van Every and Diaz advanced one base -- but just one base, and Van Every was held at third instead of waved around to try to score. �Diaz stopped at second, and Melillo rounded first and started for second -- until he looked up and saw Diaz already standing there. �Melillo scrambled back to the first base bag, just in time to avoid being tagged out. �3B Akinori Iwamura was next, and he also singled, taking a low line drive through the hole at short and into left field. �Van Every scored on that hit, and the bases were still loaded. �1B Brian Myrow worked the count full, and took a walk, and Diaz trotted home from third base to tie the score.

At that point, Clippers' pitcher Josh Tomlin suddenly got his act together again. �With the bases still loaded, he struck out�Jeff Clement and C Erik Kratz on 6 straight pitches. �Jim Negrych ran the count full and fouled off another ball, but then struck out to end the inning and leave the three runners on base.

The Tribe took the lead in the top of the 5th, courtesy of Jeff Clement. �He blasted a towering home run over the right field wall, and even over the building behind the right field wall, and into a net -- the net the Clippers had hung up there after former Indian Garrett Jones had lofted a homer over the building and into the street beyond. �Seems they aren't fond of baseballs falling out of the sky in Columbus.

Thursdays' action in the Pirates lower minor league organization:

Binghamton Mets �4, �Altoona Curve �3 (box)

It only took two innings to get all the scoring done in this game, as Bryan Morris suffered his 4th loss with the Curve in what will be his last start before the All-Star break and his participation in the Futures Game. �Morris didn't get past the 2nd inning, as he gave up all 4 Mets' runs on 6 hits. �Morris got the first batter he faced to ground out, but then immediately got into trouble with a single and a ground-rule double, putting two runners in scoring position. �A ground out allowed the runner from third base to score. �A hit batter put runners on the corners, and two singles followed, with a second run scoring. �Morris struck out the last batter of the 1st inning and the first batter of the 2nd inning. �Then he gave up a solo home run, and the Mets had a 4-0 lead. �A walk, a single, and a wild pitch followed the home run, but Morris was able to leave them on base as the inning ended. �I suspect he had run into problems with his pitch count as well, because Derek Hankins came out to pitch the 3rd inning.

The Curve batters came back with 3 runs of their own in the bottom of the 2nd. �2B Jordy Mercer led off with a line drive double, and he scored when 1B Miles Durham and LF Anthony Norman hit back-to-back singles. �Bryan Morris sacrifice bunted Durham and Norman into scoring position, and both of them scored on SS Chase d'Arnaud's RBI single. �The Curve were behind by just one run, 4-3.

But the Curve couldn't erase that narrow margin. �They put runners on base in all but one of the remaining innings, but none of them could come around to score. �Nine base runners were left stranded. �Two runners were left on base in the 3rd, when 3B Josh Harrison singled and RF Brandon Jones walked. �Mercer doubled again in the 6th, and Norman walked, again leaving two runners on. �In the top of the 9th, the Curve's final effort, CF Gorkys Hernandez singled with two outs, but a fly out ended the game.

Derek Hankins pitched 6 scoreless innings after Morris hit the showers. �He retired the first 6 batters he faced in order, including striking out the side in the 4th. �He hit a batter in the 5th, but immediately erased him with a double play. �Another double play got Hankins out of a walk-and-single jam in the 7th. �Anthony Claggett pitched the final inning. �He gave up a single, but that runner was thrown out trying to steal second base.

In the scheme of things, this won't matter. This game, this series. The Pirates were swept by a team wallowing in mediocrity. They scored only five runs in three games. They got just one hit off Roy Oswatl in the finale on Thursday afternoon. But in a way, this series is a microcosm of the year to date.

Houston went deep four times and it was the difference in the game.

The State College Spikes have a scheduled day off today, and the GCL Pirates were washed out again.

Binghamton Mets �9, �Altoona Curve �6 (box)

Three runs in the top of the 10th broke a 6-6 tie and gave the Mets the extra-inning win. �Ramon Aguero took the mound for the Curve to begin the inning, and he began by giving up a single. �The next batter dropped down a bunt, but C Kris Watts grabbed it fast enough to make the force out at second base, leaving a runner on first. �Aguero walked the next batter, then gave up a double that brought in both runners. �Moments later, another double drove in the third run of the inning.

Watts led off the bottom of the 10th with a double, and SS Chase d'Arnaud walked, but two ground outs ended the inning before either of them could score, and the Mets had the win.

Curve starter Rudy Owens could not get through the 5th inning tonight, as he gave up 5 runs on 13 hits, though he also struck out 6 batters. �The Mets got going right away in the top of the 1st, on two doubles and three singles, scoring 3 runs off Owens. �A double play got Owens out of a jam in the 2nd inning, after he'd given up another double and single pair. �Back-to-back doubles brought in a run for the Mets in the 3rd inning. �Owens did retire the side in order in the 4th, but got right back into trouble in the 5th. �A lead-off home run, followed by a strikeout and 3 consecutive singles to load the bases, and that was all for Owens. �Dustin Molleken came on in relief and left the bases loaded when he struck out the next two batters to end the inning.

The Curve began their comeback in the bottom of the inning. �They had put at least one runner on base in each of the first 4 innings, but could not get any of them around to score. �With one out in the bottom of the 5th, CF Gorkys Hernandez and 3B Josh Harrison hit back-to-back singles, with Hernandez going to third on Harrison's hit. �1B Hector Gimenez's sacrifice fly brought in Hernandez. �Three consecutive singles by 2B Jordy Mercer, LF Brandon Jones, and RF Miles Durham brought in two more runs, and the Curve had come within 2 runs of the Mets.

Dustin Molleken reached base on a throwing error to begin the 6th inning. �He moved to second base on Chase d'Arnaud's single and then to third on Hernandez's ground out. �Josh Harrison's sacrifice fly brought Molleken in to score, and the Curve crept closer. �They took the lead in the bottom of the 8th. �Kris Watts led off with a single, and he was bunted to second by LF Anthony Norman, who entered the game in a double-switch. �D'Arnaud walked, and a ground out by Hernandez moved both runners into scoring position. �Harrison obliged with a single lined into center field, scoring both Watts and d'Arnaud, to give the Curve a 6-5 lead.

Binghamton tied the score again in the top of the 9th, on back-to-back doubles off reliever Diego Moreno. That took the game into extra innings, when the Mets got the win.

The two teams combined for 33 hits in the game -- 19 for the Mets and 14 for the Curve. �Gorkys Hernandez, Josh Harrison, and Kris Watts had 3 hits each.

Curve starter Bryan Morris has been selected to play in the Futures' Game on the US team. �He will be facing teammate Gorkys Hernandez, who will be on the World team. �Bradenton's Tony Sanchez was also named to the US team, but will have to miss the game due to his fractured jaw.

Louisville Bats �6, �Indianapolis Indians �1 (box)

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Another hot and humid night, and another loss for the Indians at the hands of the Bats at Slugger Field in Louisville, Kentucky tonight. �Starter Hayden Penn (photo) lost his second start in a row, after four consecutive wins, as he allowed all 6 of the Bats' runs on 12 hits and 3 walks, with 3 strikeouts. �The Indians were held to just 2 hits, and barely squeaked out one run.

The Indians just couldn't get much going for the first 7 innings, and never had a runner reach second base safely. �RF Brandon Moss smacked a fly ball into left field in the 2nd inning, which bounced into the corner, but the carom went right to Bats' LF Todd Frazier. �Moss rounded first and headed for second, but Frazier's throw back to second base was right on target, and Moss was tagged out. �2B�Jim Negrych was walked on four pitches with two outs in the 4th, but he was picked off base. �Two runners reached base in the 6th -- but not at the same time. �C Erik Kratz was hit by a pitch but was immediately erased when SS Doug Bernier bounced into a double play. �Pinch-hitter Alex Presley walked after the double play, but he was left stranded on base. �1B Jeff Clement had two close calls -- he took a long fly ball to the warning track in right field in the 5th. �With one out in the 9th, he was robbed of a hit when CF Michael Griffin made a diving catch in right-center field.

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Finally in the 8th inning, the Indians found some offense. � Reds' prospect Aroldis Chapman took the mound for the Bats, and he began by striking out Brandon Moss. �He got a full count on CF Jonathan Van Every, and then put him on first base with a walk. �Chapman struck out Erik Kratz, and the inning looked like it was going to be just like the earlier ones. �Things changed when Chapman threw a wild pitch, and Van Every advanced to second base. �Doug Bernier (photo) singled up the middle, and Van Every raced around third and scored the Indians' only run of the game. �With pinch-hitter Brian Myrow at the plate,�Bernier moved to second base on defensive indifference. �Myrow was hit by a pitch on ball four, and LF Kevin Melillo also walked. �That was three walks in the inning for Chapman, and he was relieved by Daniel Ray Herrera. �With the bases loaded, Herrera got Aki Iwamura to fly out to left field, ending the inning and leaving everyone stranded.

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Immediately following his start Wednesday night, Daniel McCutchen was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis. The move opens a roster spot for newly acquired Sean Gallagher.

After a brief exchange on Twitter this afternoon, my interest was piqued. Jose Tabata has a history of producing ground balls on close to 60% of his balls in play. How many times would he hit into a double play over a full season if he batted second in the lineup, behind Andrew McCutchen?

Unfortunately, due to real life responsibilities, I have been unable to watch either of Brad Lincoln's past two starts. However, I wanted to share a quick nugget of Pitch f/x data that I noticed this morning. Click here to see a pitch location comparison between Lincoln's start last night and his June 30th start in which he threw seven shutout innings.

According to Tim Williams at BuccoFans.com, the Pirates have signed 27th round draft pick Kevin Kleis.

In seven innings, the Pirates offense managed two walks, three singles and a double off Wandy Rodriguez as he continued his streak of effective pitching.

The Pirates have acquired pitcher Sean Gallagher from the Padres in exchange for cash.