PIRATES PROSPECTSPITTSBURGH PIRATES MINOR LEAGUE NEWS, TRANSACTIONS, AND ARTICLES

This is the fourth in a series of 5 articles that will try to get Pirate fans inside the organizations of the Pirates' NL Central opponents. This article will look at the gold standard of the NL Central in recent years: the St. Louis Cardinals. While the Cubs may have the most supportive fans, perhaps no city in all of MLB has more knowledgeable fans than the Cardinals.

The Bradenton Marauders took game one of a best of three game series against the Charlotte Stone Crabs in the first round of the...

INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS (AAA) Indianapolis lost to Louisville 6-3.  Brad Lincoln (L, 7-5, 4.12) pitched 2.1 innings, allowing five runs, four earned, on five hits, with...

Today I capped off my season ending minor league tour with a trip to see the West Virginia Power take on the Hagerstown Suns...

With the AAA regular season ending this afternoon, the Pittsburgh Pirates added eight players from Indianapolis today as part of their September callups.  Shortstop...

As expected, shortly after the Indianapolis Indians' season ended, the Pirates made the phone call to bring up seven players to the big league club.� Some of the call-ups were expected, but there were surprises too.

Pitchers Brad Lincoln and Justin Thomas, who are already on the Pirates' 40-man roster and have spent time with the Pirates already this season, were both recalled.� Catcher Jason Jaramillo and shortstop Pedro Ciriaco are also on the 40-man roster, and both were expected to be brought up.� Jaramillo spent the first half of the season with the Pirates, while Ciriaco came to the Pirates' organization in a trade from the Diamondbacks at the end of July.� It's the first trip to the majors for Ciricao.

The other four players were not on the 40-man roster and have to be added.� Outfielders Brandon Moss and Alex Presley (photo) did not expect the call up for just that reason -- they didn't think the Pirates would want to bother adding them to the roster and pay them to spend a lot of time on the bench.� But Presley was going to need to be added to the 40-man roster after the season in order to prevent him from being eligible to be taken in the Rule 5 Draft.� The Pirates' outfield is going to be crowded with outfielders looking for a chance to play and hit.� Pitchers Brian Bass and Steven Jackson have both pitched for the Pirates at some point this season, but were removed from the 40-man roster.� Now they are being addd back on, to help bolster the Pirates' bullpen.

In order to make room on the 40-man roster, the Pirates had to make other moves.� Pitcher Ross Ohlendorf and Jeff Clement were both moved to the 60-day disabled list.� Infielder Akinori Iwamura and catcher Erik Kratz were both removed from the 40-man roster and designated for assignment.� The Pirates had been trying to find a spot for Iwamura with another team, but have been unsuccessful.� Kratz was the feel-good story of the summer with his call-up during the All-Star game, but he lost out in the numbers game.

Earlier in the season, I took a stab at breaking down the Pirates’ unusual outfield alignments. About a week after writing that article, I set out to gather some additional data. I went to PNC Park, snapped some photos, forgot about them and moved on to something else. It is time to revisit that information.

This is the third in a series of 5 articles that will try to get Pirate fans inside the organizations of the Pirates' NL Central opponents. This article will look at the Milwaukee Brewers, a team that the Pirates get compared to the most (along with the Cincinnati Reds) in terms of what our market can bear payroll-wise.

Louisville Bats� 6,� Indianapolis Indians 3 ..�� (box)

The Indianapolis Indians wrapped up the 2010 season at Slugger Field in Louisville, Kentucky this afternoon with a loss to the Bats.� The Tribe finished the season just below .500 with a 71-73 record, and they finished the season series against Louisville with the Bats having a 12-10 game advantage.� The Bats' win, combined with Columbus' 5-2 loss to Toledo, gives the Bats the International League Western Division title.� The Clippers had been in first place in the Western Division for most of the season, but Louisville had a second-half surge and slipped up behind the Clippers for the win at the finish line.� The Clippers will be the Wild Card team in the International League Playoffs, which begin on Wednesday.

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The Indians begin the 2011 season on Thursday April 7th, at home at Victory Field, against the Columbus Clippers.� That's just 7 months from tomorrow, and 213 days away.

Go Tribe!

(photos by Nancy)

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Just two more games on Labor Day...� The Marauders have the day off today, then begin the first round of the playoffs tomorrow.

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West Virginia Power� 7,� Hagerstown Suns� 3 ....�� (box)

The Power wrapped up their season with a win over the Suns.� Everyone finished the season with hits, as the Power posted 16 hits, and each memeber of the batting order had at least one hit.� CF Evan Chambers and SS Elevys Gonzalez had 3 hits each.

The Power threatened in the bottom of the 1st, when RF David Rubinstein led off with a double into left field, and Chambers made it runners on the corners with a single.� Chambers stole second base, but both runners were left stranded after a strikeout and a flyout.� They did get onto the scoreboard in the 4th inning.� With one out, 1B Kyle Morgan walked, and LF Rogelios Noris blasted his 15th homer of the season for 2 runs.� After the home run, C Jairo Marquez doubled, and singles by Gonzalez and Rubinstein brought in Marquez, giving the Power a 3-0 lead.

Starter Brett Lorin pitched 4 scoreless innings, allowing only a single and a walk in the 2nd, and a lead-off single in the 4th.� He was relieved by Justin Ennis, who retired the side in order in the 5th.� Ennis did give up a run in the 6th, on a triple and a single, to cut the Power lead to 3-1.� The Power came right back in the bottom of that inning, though, adding 2 runs on 4 singles:� by 3B Andy Vasquez, Gonzalez, 2B Jarek Cunningham (RBI), and Chambers (RBI).

With the score at 5-1, neither team scored in the 7th, but both teams added 2 runs in the 8th.� Marc Baca took the mound to begin the inning, and he gave up a single, followed by two stolen bases (2nd and 3rd).� Then a 2-run homer got the Suns a little closer, 5-3.� The Power answered with their two in the bottom of the 8th, with a triple by Marquez and their own 2-run homer, by Gonzalez.� Baca retired the Suns in order in the 9th, ending the game and the season.

Pitchers Gabriel Alvarado and Phillip Irwin were both promoted to the A+ Marauders, where they will assist in the Marauders' playoff run.

The Power finished the first half of the season in 7th (last) place in the South Atlantic League's Northern Division, 11 games back, with a 31-39 record.� They did better in the second half, finishing tied for 3rd and 8 games back, with a 34-35 record.� That gives them an overall 65-74 record for the season.

The Pirates used a total of four hits to score three runs and got stellar pitching from Brian Burres to win against Atlanta. The bullpen lived on the edge but got the job done.

By continuing to hit baseballs very hard, Neil Walker has made a case for some Rookie of the Year consideration. When FanHouse baseball writer Ed Price posted some interesting rookie stats on his Twitter feed this afternoon, I thought it might be a good idea to take a closer look at Walker’s chances.