PIRATES PROSPECTSPITTSBURGH PIRATES MINOR LEAGUE NEWS, TRANSACTIONS, AND ARTICLES

A 4-run 3rd inning locked it up for the Yankees. �Starter Ryan Beckman gave up two runs in the bottom of the 1st inning when the first three batters to come to the plate singled, double, and singled. �He retired the Yankees in order in the 2nd inning, but got into trouble again in the 3rd. �with one out, a single, a walk, and a passed ball put two runners into scoring position. �A throwing error by 2B Gift Ngoepe brought both runners in, and a home run added two more runs. �That was the end of Beckman's outing. �Papiro Juan relieved Beckman, and ended the 3rd inning with a pop out and a ground out, then he gave up a walk and a single in the scoreless 4th inning. �

The Pirates scored a run in four of the first five innings. �In the 1st, Gift Ngoepe led off with a single, went to second on a bunt, stole third base, and scored on 1B Gerlis Rodriguez's ground out. �LF Rogelios Noris homered in the 2nd inning, for the third time in two days, to give the Pirates another run in the 2nd inning. �C Ramon Cabrera homered to lead off the 4th. �Then CF Edwin Roman led off the 5th with a ground rule double, and went on to third base on a wild pitch. �A ground out by Rodriguez scored Roman. �

The Pirates' 4 runs weren't enough to catch the Yankees, and the Yankees added two more runs in the last 4 innings, off Mitchell Fienemann. �A solo homer added one run in the 5th, and another solo homer made it 8-4 in the 7th. �

Former Curve Sean Smith and the Fisher Cats�kept ahead of the Curve, despite a grand slam and a total of 5 RBI by 2B Shelby Ford (photo). �Smith pitched 3 shutout innings, holding the Curve to 2 hits and a walk, while striking out 4 batters. �Curve starter Danny Moskos lasted only 2.2 innings, and surrendered 5 runs in the 3rd inning. �The Fisher Cats batted around in that inning. �Moskos walked three of the first four batters and also gave up a single, so that the third walk forced in a run. �A sacrifice fly brought in a second run. �A wild pitch and a double added two more, and an RBI single plated run #5. �At that point, Moskos was relieved by Michael Dubee, who finished the inning and pitched a scoreless 4th. �

The Curve came back in the top of the 5th. �Three consecutive walks, to C Steve Lerud, DH Jeff Corsaletti, and CF Gorkys Hernandez, began the inning. �Shelby Ford came to the plate with the bases loaded, and blasted the 3-2 pitch over the left field wall for the grand slam. �

Unfortunately, the Fisher Cats had another big inning in the bottom of the 5th, this time sending 11 batters to the plate as they scored 5 more runs. �With Michael Dubee still on the mound, a walk, a missed catch error on a bunt, and another bunt put Fisher Cats on second and third bases. �A wild pitch scored one run, and a single brought in the second. �A walk and a double added the third run. �Jeff Sues relieved Dubee, but a walk and a double gave the Fisher Cats two more runs before the inning ended. �

SS Ray Chang scored a run for the Curve in the 6th, when he was hit by a pitch, went to second base when Steve Lerud walked, moved to third on a ground out, and scored on Shelby Ford's RBI single. �In the 7th inning, the Curve added one more run. �RF Miles Durham walked, and moved to second base on a ground out. �Chang singled to third base, and a throwing error by the Fisher Cats' third baseman allowed Durham to score. �Chang injured his left ankle going to first base, and had to come out of the game, replaced by pinch-runner Angel Gonzalez. �That was all the scoring the Curve would do though.

Jeff Sues pitched scoreless innings in the 6th and 7th, and Corey Hamman pitched a scoreless 9th, aided by a double play. �3B Pedro Alvarez went 0-for-4 with a walk in the game.

The Hillcats and the Pelicans did all the scoring in just two innings in this game. �Hillcats' starter Rudy Owens earned his first A+ level win with 5 scoreless innings of work. �Owens scattered 3 hits but no walks over those 5 innings and struck out 6 Pelicans. �

Lynchburg broke the scoreless tie in the 6th inning. �CF Jose De Los Santos led off the inning with a single, then (of course) stole his 48th base of the season (second in the Carolina League). �He moved to third base on SS Chase d'Arnaud's fly out, and scored on 2B Josh Harrison's RBI single. �Harrison also stole second base (his 2nd) and advanced to third base when 3B Jordy Mercer reached on a fielding error. �In keeping with the pattern, Mercer stole second base (his 8th) too. �LF Jared Keel's single brought in both Har rison and M ercer, to send the Pelicans' starter to the showers and give the Hillcats a 3-0 lead. �

Ramon Aguero relieved Rudy Owens to begin the bottom of the 6th inning, and he pitched 3 scoreless innings, allowing only a single and a walk. �The Pelicans made a last-chance effort to catch up in the 9th. �With closer RJ Rodriguez on the mound, the Pelicans got a walk and a double, and scored both base runners on a fielding error by Josh Harrison. �Another single put runners on first and second bases, but Rodriguez got the next batter to ground to third base, where Jordy Mercer stepped on the bag to force out the lead runner, then fired to first to complete the game-ending double play. �Rodriguez earned his league-leading 23rd save.

Three Power pitchers combined for a 4-hit 1-run win over the Crawdads. ��Casey Erickson earned his 4th win and dropped his ERA with the Power to 1.05, by allowing one run on 2 hits over 5 innings of work. �Erickson struck out 6 batters and did not walk any. �He retired the first 7 batters he faced, before giving up a solo home run for the Crawdads' only run of the game. �Erickson then went on to allow only a single over the next 2 innings. �

Diego Moreno pitched 3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk. �He also struck out 6 batters. �Noah Krol pitched the 9th inning, and he struck out one and allowed one hit, to earn his first save of the season. �

The Power scored their first run in the 3rd inning. �CF Starling Marte tripled and scored on a passed ball by the Crawdads' catcher. �They added two more runs in the 4th. �3B Jeremy Farrell doubled and RF Austin McClune walked. �SS Greg Picart brought in Farrell with an RBI single, and C Josue Peley plated McClune when he grounded into a force out. � The Power also had the bases loaded in the 5th inning, on a walk to LF Robbie Grossman, a double by DH Tony Sanchez, and an intentional walk to Jeremy Farrell. �A strikeout and a ground out ended that inning without a run scoring. �

The Spikes and the Renegades engaged in a pitching duel, but the Renegades came out on top. �The Spikes were held to just 3 hits -- a single by DH Justin Byler, a double by SS Brock Holt,�and a triple by 3B Pat Irvine. �Irvine scored the Spikes' first run, when his triple led off the 2nd inning. �He scored on LF Butch Biela's RBI ground out. �The Spikes went down in order in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th innings, then scored one more run in the 6th. �Holt led off with his double (ground rule), and advanced to third base on a wild pitch. �1B Aaron Baker walked, and Byler's single brought in Holt. �Another walk to Irvine loaded the bases, but a double play ended the inning without another run scoring. �CF Evan Chambers was the only base runner for the Spikes in the last 3 innings, when he walked in the 8th inning.

Kyle McPherson got the start for the Spikes. �He took the loss, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits over 6 innings of work. �A hit batter and two doubles brought in two of the runs in the 3rd inning. �A single, a stolen base, and an RBI single added another run in the 5th inning. �Nate Baker pitched the last 2 innings and allowed an unearned run in the 8th. �After a bunt single, C Craig Parry's throwing error when he tried to catch the base runner stealing allowed the runner to reach third base. �Another single scored the runner from third. �

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