PIRATES PROSPECTSPITTSBURGH PIRATES MINOR LEAGUE NEWS, TRANSACTIONS, AND ARTICLES

USA starter Todd Redmond pitched into the 9th inning and held Puerto Rico to just 4 hits and a walk, while striking out 4 batters. �CF Buck Coats (Blue Jays) went 3-for-3 for Team USA, and the three outfielders -- Coats, RF Ike Davis (Mets), and LF Jon Weber (Rays) -- all hit solo homers, accounting for the USA's 3 runs.

Two of the hits Redmond allowed, in the 1st and in the 4th, were quickly erased by double plays. �From the 4th through the 7th innings, Redmond retired 11 of Puerto Rico's batters in order. �Then in the 8th, Redmond got the first out, then allowed a fourth single. �That put him at 91 pitches (69 strikes), and that was the end of his night. �Former Indy Indian Jason Childers (Rays) relieved Redmond, and ended the inning with a strikeout and a fly out. �

The USA batters recorded a total of 8 hits, and worked 5 walks, but left 8 runners on base. �They got onto the scoreboard in the 2nd inning on Ike Davis's home run to right center. �Three walks followed the home run, but two strikeouts ended the inning. �The USA went down in order in the 3rd and 4th. �Then in the 5th with one out, Coats blasted his homer over the right field wall. �

Both Jon Weber and 3B Pedro Alvarez�singled in the 6th inning. �Weber had advanced to second on a ground out, and tried to score on Alvarez's 2-out single, but the throw in from right field was on-target and Weber was out at the plate, ending the inning. �Weber did score on his own home run in the 8th inning. �

Pirate farmhand RJ Rodriguez came on to pitch for Puerto Rico in the 9th inning. �Rodriguez gave up a 2-out walk to Buck Coats, then threw two wild pitches, allowing Coats to move to third base. �The inning ended with Coats still on third, when Rodriguez struck out SS Trevor Plouffe (Twins) to end the inning. �

Team USA remains on top in Pool 2 standings with a 5-0 record. �Canada is second in Pool 2 (3-2). �Cuba leads Pool 1 with a 4-1 record, and the Netherlands is second (3-2). �

In other games:

Team Canada scored 4 runs in the 2nd inning, sparked by 2B Brett Lawrie's triple. �Homers by LF Adam Loewen and 3B Shawn Bowman, and a triple by RF Rene Tosoni added to Canada's runs. � Venezuela's only scoring came in the 7th inning on a 2-run homer by RF Rene Reyes. �Pirates' farmhand Dustin Molleken�did not get to pitch for Canada in the game. �

The starting pitchers dominated for the first 5.5 innings. �Australia's Liam Hendriks scattered 2 hits, no walks, over 6 scoreless innings, while Netherlands' tom Stuifbergen held the Aussies to 2 hits over 5 innings. �

Australia broke through in the bottom of the 6th. �Former Indy Indian LF Chris Snelling�started the inning with a walk off reliever David Bergman, and 3B Luke Hughes homered, to give Australia a 2-0 lead. �

Another former Pirates' farmhand, Paul Mildren, took the mound for Australia to begin the 7th inning, but faced only one batter and gave up a single to another former Pirate, 1B Randall Simon. �Mildren was replaced by Brendan Wise, who gave up a walk, then got a strikeout, before he was in turn replaced by Adam Bright. �A fielder's choice and a throwing error allowed Simon to score, cutting Australia's lead in half. �

The Netherlands scored again in the 8th, on a walk and singles by former Pirate farmhand 3B Yurendell de Caster and Randall Simon (RBI), to tie the score at 2-2. �Australia broke the tie in the 8th. �Two throwing errors on one play allowed 2B Brad Harman to reach third base, and he scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch. �Chris Snelling walked for the third time in the game, and a home run by Luke Hughes gave Australia two insurance runs. ���

I'll be away for a few days, but I'll catch up with the finals!

3B Pedro Alvarez hit his 5th home run of the World Cup tournament, and 2B Tug Hulett (Royals) doubled and tripled, to lead Team USA to victory over Venezuela, the only team which has beat the USA in this tournament. �

Brad Lincoln got the start in the USA's first game in the Semi-Final round, and unlike in the first game of the tournament when he pitched against Venezuela, this time he got a decision -- and it was a Win. �Lincoln threw 103 pitches (72 strikes) over 6.2 innings, and he allowed 2 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks, while striking out 3 batters. �Lincoln worked around at least one base runner in each of the first 5 innings, but made use of timely ground outs, strikeouts, and a runner caught stealing to keep the Venezuelans off the scoreboard. �

The USA bats were quiet for the first two innings, but came to life in the 3rd inning, scoring 4 runs as they batted around. �Pedro Alvarez began the inning by striking out, then C Lucas May (Dodgers) walked and stole second base. �May scored when Tug Hulett doubled. �CF Buck Coats (Blue Jays) walked, but was later caught stealing. �SS Trevor Plouffe (Twins) reached base on a fielding error, and Hulett scored on the error. �1B Justin Smoak (Rangers) walked and LF Jon Weber (Rays) singled, to load the bases. �DH Terry Tiffee (Phillies) brought in both Smoak and Plouffe on an RBI single, and Team USA had a 4-0 lead. �

Pedro Alvarez added another run with a solo homer to lead off the 4th inning. �That run was unearned, since Alvarez had lifted a foul ball earlier in the at-bat, which was dropped by the Venezuelan catcher for a missed-catch error. �Team USA scored again in the 6th, on a walk by Hulett and singles by Coats and Plouffe (RBI).

In the 6th, Lincoln gave up a lead-off homer to RF Rene Reyes for Venezuela's first run. �Lincoln got the first two outs in the 7th, then gave up a single to SS Dirimo Chavez, and at that point he was relieved by Cedrick Bowers (Phillies). �Bowers walked the first batter he faced, then gave up an RBI single to Reyes, which brought in Chavez -- the run charged to Lincoln. �Another solo homer, this one off Bowers in the 8th inning, brought Venezuela up to 3 runs. �Nate Field (Marlins) relieved Bowers after an out in the 8th, and he pitched 1.1 innings, allowing a single and 2 walks. �Geno Espinelli (Giants) came in to get the final out, earning the save. �

At this point in the tournament, the 8 remaining teams are divided into Standing Pool 1 (Cuba, Netherlands, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela) and Standing Pool 1 (USA, Canada, Australia, and Taipei). �The standings in these pools take into account results of earlier games between the other teams in the pool. �Since Team USA had beaten Canada, Australia, and Taipei in Round 2, and then won today, USA's record now stands at 4-0. �That puts USA in first place in SP 2, with Canada second (2-2 record) and Australia and Taipei tied (1-3). �Cuba and the Netherlands are tied for first place in SP 1, with 3-1 records. �Puerto Rico has a 2-2 record, and Venezuela is in the basement at 0-4. �Team USA has secured a spot in the medal round this weekend. �

In the other Semi-Final Games:

The Netherlands made short work of Taipei in this game, allowing them only 2 runs on 7 hits. Former Pirate 1B Randall Simon got the Netherlands started with two outs in the 1st inning. �Simon doubled, and after a hit batter and a single, a�walk to DH Sharnol Adriana forced in Simon with the game's first run. �Taipei tied the game in the top of the 2nd with a solo home run, but the Dutch batters came right back at them with 3 runs in the bottom of the inning. �SS Hainley Statia started the rally with a triple, and RF Eugene Kingsale and former Indy Indian 3B Yurendell de Caster�both walked to load the bases. �Randall Simon's single plated both Statia and Kingsale, and C Sidney de Jong's single brought in de Caster. �

Seven runs in the 5th inning broke the game open for the Netherlands, as they sent 12 batters to the plate. �A double, a hit batter, and a sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third bases, and all the scoring came with two outs. �Yurendell de Caster, Randall Simon, nad Sidney de Jong all singled, with an RBI for each. �An RBI double and two more 2-RBI singles brought the inning's total to 7, and gave the Netherlands an 11-1 lead. �Taipei scored one more run in the 7th inning, but they were no match for the Dutch.

In constrast, these two teams had themselves a pitching duel. �Cuba scored both of their runs in the bottom of the 1st, and both were unearned. �The lead-off batter reached on a fielding error by 1B Stefan Welch (Mets), and he scored on a 2-run homer by RF Alfredo Despaigne. The Australians scored in the 3rd inning, when CF Nicholas Kimpton walked, C Andrew Graham singled into right field, moving Kimpton to third, and and an RBI grounder by SS James Beresford (Twins) plus a throwing error allowed Kimpton to score. �

Australian starter Dushan Ruzic pitched a complete (8 inning) game, allowing that run in the 1st inning and a lone hit in each of the next two innings. �He did not walk anyone and he struck out 3 Cuban batters. �After the double in the 3rd inning, Ruzic retired the next 17 batters to finish the game. �But, the Australian batters were not having much better luck against the Cuban pitchers. �Starter Norge Vera pitched 6.2 innings and allowed the one run on 3 hits and 2 walks, with 7 strikeouts. �Reliever Pedro Lazo earned the save with 2.1 scoreless innings, on 3 hits and 4 strikeouts. �The Aussies had two runners on base in the 7th inning, on a double by Welch and a walk to RF Timothy Kennelly (Phillies), and again in the 9th inning, on singles by Kennelly and Kimpton, but could not get them around to score. �There was also a "light failure delay" in the 8th inning. �Former Indy Indian LF Chris Snelling went 0-for-4 at the plate, �

Four Canadian pitchers, including Pirates' Dustin Molleken,�one-hit Team Puerto Rico in this shut-out win. �Starter Nick Bucci (Brewers) pitched 5 innings, allowing 3 walks in the first 2 innings, then retiring 10 batters in a row. �Trystan Magnuson (Blue Jays) pitched the next 2 innings, and he allowed the lone hit, plus a walk, both in the 7th inning. �Molleken allowed one walk in the 8th inning, and he was credited with the win. �Jimmy Henderson (also Brewers) earned the save by retiring the side in order in the 9th. �

Molleken got the win because Team Canada had not scored at all over the first 8 innings either. �They collected 4 walks over the first 4 innings, but did not have a hit until the 5th inning, when C Chr is Robinson (Cubs) and CF Adam Stern (yet another Brewer) both singled, but were both left stranded on base. �Team Canada also had 2 runners on base in the 6th, when 1b Jimmy Van Ostrand (Astros) doubled and 2B Brett Lawrie (Brewers again) walked, and Chris Robinson singled again in the 7th inning. �Finally, in the top of the 9th, with Molleken still the pitcher of record, Lawrie led off the inning with a solo homer over the left field wall. �Robinson picked up his third single of the game and Stern walked, and both of them scored on RF Rene Tosoni's (Twins) double down the right field line, to give Canada the 3-0 win. �

Pirates' RJ Rodriguez�did not pitch in the game for Puerto Rico. �