PIRATES PROSPECTSPITTSBURGH PIRATES MINOR LEAGUE NEWS, TRANSACTIONS, AND ARTICLES

Lots of activity in the lower minors today, as the Gulf Coast League (Rookie) begins play (this afternoon), and the Carolina League (A+) and South Atlantic League (A) play their All-Star Games. �Oh, and don't forget a certain AA-level debut....

2B Gift Ngoepe made his US professional debut this afternoon, collecting two singles, for a quarter of the Pirates' 8 hits. �DH Melvin De La Cruz also had two singles, while 3B Andury Acevedo, LF Rogelios Noris, and RF Wesley Freeman�all doubled. �Acevedo's double opened the top of the 3rd inning, and he moved on to third base on SS Benjamin Gonzalez's ground out. �Another ground out by De La Cruz brought Acevedo in with the Pirates' first run. �

The Pirates' only other run came in the top of the 9th, when Freeman doubled, went to second on a fly out, and scored on C Ramon Cabrera's RBI single. �

Pirates' starter Eliecer Navarro�pitched 3 innings, and allowed 3 runs on 6 hits, no walks, with 3 strikeouts. �He gave up a run in the 1st inning on a single, a double, and a sacrifice fly. � �A 2-run homer added two more runs in the 2nd inning. �Sandobal Septimo pitched the next 3 innings and he also allowed 3 runs, on 4 hits, again no walks, and 2 strikeouts. �One run came in in the bottom of the 4th, on two singles with a stolen base. �Another 2-run homer made the score 6-1 in the 6th inning. �Noah Krol pitched one perfect inning in the 7th, but Harvey Garcia gave up 2 more runs in the 8th inning, on two walks, a passed ball, and a double. �

Pedro Alvarez made his much-anticipated AA-level debut with the Curve tonight. �He went 0-for-4 at the plate, with 3 strikeouts and a fly out. �In the field, he fielded two grounders at third base in the late innings and also made a catch of a pop up.

The Curve were limited to 2 runs, which came in the 5th inning. �SS Angel Gonzalez doubled and CF Gorkys Hernandez singled to open the inning. �2B Jim Negrych's RBI ground out brought in Gonzalez. �RF Jose Tabata plated Hernandez, coming around from second base, with an RBI single. �Tabata was out at second trying to stretch his hit into a double, and the inning ended with a strikeout by Alvarez. �Altoona had several other innings in which they put runners on base, and even two runners on base, but could not get them around to score. �Tabata went 2-for-3, and Hernandez went 2-for-4, and DH Jason Delaney also had a double. �

Kyle Bloom got the start for the Curve. �He allowed a hit in each of the first three innings, all scoreless. �In the 4th inning, he walked the first batter, and then was removed from the game because of an unspecified "arm injury". �Sean Smith replaced Bloom, and he gave up two singles and a sacrifice fly, for two runs (one charged to Bloom, one charged to Smith). �Smith also pitched a scoreless 5th inning, allowing a walk and then promptly picking the base runner off first base. �

Dustin Molleken also made his AA debut, and it was not so hot. �He took over for Smith on the mound to begin the 6th. �With one out, a fielding error by Gonzalez put a runner on base, and after that runner stole second, an argument ensued, resulting in Curve manager Matt Walbeck being ejected from the game. �After another out, Molleken gave up two singles, bringing in one run, which turned out to be the go-ahead and winning run. �Molleken began the 7th inning with a walk, a strikeout, a double, and a triple, and he was charged with 3 runs. �Corey Hamman finished the 7th inning, and Michael Dubee got his chance for a debut in the 8th inning. �Dubee had the best debut, as hie retired three batters in order. �

The SAL All-Star Game was held at the Power's Appalachian Power Park in Charleston, West Virginia. �Two of the West Virginia Power were members of the starting line-up: �SS Chase D'Arnaud, and DH Calvin Anderson. ��Powers' LHP�Rudy Owens�was also named to the All-Star team, but the Pirates had said that they would prefer that he not pitch. �

After two scoreless innings, the Southern Division team got onto the scoreboard with 3 runs in the top of the 3rd, on a single, two doubles, and a sacrifice fly. �In the bottom of the inning, the Northern Division squad got one run back. �They began the inning with 3 consecutive singles, the middle of the singles belonging to�Chase D'Arnaud. �A sacrifice fly brought in a run, and Chase D'Arnaud got as far as third base before the inning ended. �Chase's bro ther Travis D'Arnaud (2 years you nger, playing for the Lakewood Blue Claws in the Phillies' organization) came into the game as a defensive replacement at catcher in the 4th inning. �

The Northerners took the lead in the bottom of the 5th inning. �The first batter, 3B Paul Gran (Greensboro -- Marlins) led off with a single. Chase D'Arnaud was hit by a pitch, and was removed from the game, replaced by a pinch runner. �A grounder force out left runners on the corners, and a walk filled the bases. �Travis D'Arnaud tied the score with a line-drive into right field, scoring two and again leaving runners on the corners. �Another single by RF Michael Bianucci (Hickory -- Rangers) brought in the go=ahead run. �The inning ended on a double play -- a line drive caught by the first baseman, who fired to the shortstop to double Travis D'Arnaud off second base.

The Southern squad regained the lead in the top of the 6th, on a 3-run home run by pinch-hitter Juan Perez (Augusta -- Giants): �South 6, North 4

The Northerners came back with 4 runs over the last three innings. �In the 7th, a double and a throwing error on a stolen base allowed one run to score, and a single, another fielding error, and a ground out brought in a second run. �A walk, a stolen base, and a double added another run in the 8th inning, and the North had regained the lead, 7-6.

The South tied it up in the top of the 9th with a solo home run. �The bottom of the 9th began with a single by Ronnie Welty (Delmarva -- Orioles), then a strikeout. �That brought DH Calvin Anderson to the plate. �He had�struck out in the 2nd inning, and flied out in the 4th, though a base runner was able to advance from second base to third on the fly out. �He walked in the 7th inning, and was left stranded on base when the inning ended. �Then in the 9th inning, with the score tied and one on and one out, Anderson singled into center field. �Welty rounded the bases and headed for the plate, as the South center fielder's throw to third base went wide, which allowed the winning run to score. �

A story about the D'Arnaud brothers here.

This All-Star game turned out to be a pitching duel, that took 10 innings to resolve at The Diamond in Lake Elsinore, CA. �Each team had only 6 hits. �Lynchburg's (soon to be Altoona's) Miles Durham went 0-for-4 with 2 strikeouts, and C Kris Watts played half the game and went 0-for-2. �RJ Rodriguez�pitched 0.2 of an inning, allowed a double, and got a ground out and a strikeout; the batter who doubled did not come around to score. �

The California squad scored their first run in the bottom of the first inning on three consecutive 2-out singles. �C Buster Posey (San Jose -- Giants) got the RBI. �The California All-Stars led off the 2nd inning with a single, but that runner was erased on a double play. �A batter walked in the 3rd, but was left stranded on base. �The Carolina pitchers retired two to finish the 3rd inning, and proceeded to retire the next 13 batters after that in order, until the double Rodriguez allowed in the 8th, then they put down the next 5 batters as well.

The Carolina batters were not having much better luck at the plate. �They had two singles in the first inning and two walks in the second inning, but none of those runners scored. �A lone walk produced the only runner over the next 4 innings. �RF Michael Burgess (Potomac -- Nationals) got a hit in the 7th, but was out at second base when he tried to stretch the single into a double. �Finally, in the 8th inning, the Carolinians squeaked out one run. �SS Pedro Florimon Jr (Frederick -- Orioles) led off with a triple, and he came home on a fielding error on the next play, tying the score at 1-1. �A second fielding error in the same inning put another runner on base, but he was forced out at second base to end the inning. �

Both teams went down in order in the 9th inning, and two singles by the Carolinians in the top of the 10th didn't help, as both runners were again left stranded. �The game ended in the bottom of the 10th, when LF Jon Gaston (Lancaster -- Astros) hit Derrick Loop's (Salem -- Boston) first pitch over the center field wall for a walk-off home run. �

C Tony Sanchez led the Spikes with two hits, both singles, as the Spikes out-hit the Scrappers 7-5, but the Scrappers were able to out-score them. �The Spikes' only run came in the 3rd inning. �SS Andy Vasquez singled with one out, but was forced out at second base on Sanchez's grounder. �A throwing error by Mahoning Valley's second baseman not only kept it from being a double play, but allowed Sanchez to move up to second base. �1B Kyle Morgan tripled, scoring Sanchez, but was left stranded at third base. �2B Brock Holt, 3B Freizer Pedron, and CF Edward Garcia also singled for the Spikes, as they were able to put base runners on in several other innings, but could not push them across the plate.�

Spikes' starter Mike Felix pitched 4 shut-out innings, scattering 3 hits, a walk, and a hit batter. �His toughest inning was the 2nd, when the Spikes made 3 errors. �Felix made the first error, on a throw, allowing the first batter to reach base. �After a grounder force out, Tony Sanchez threw out the base runner trying to steal second base. �The next two batters reached base on a throwing error by Pedron and a throwing error by Sanchez (not on a steal attempt), but a ground out ended the inning without the errors causing a run to score. �

Another error by Pedron (fielding) gave the Scrappers an unearned run off reliever Marc Baca in the 6th inning. �Baca hit the first batter with a pitch, and he stole second base and then scored on an RBI double (earned run), to tie the score. �Then the fielding error allowed that runner to score also with the go-ahead run. �A passed ball by Sanchez put a runner on second base, but he was left there when the inning ended. �

A single by Sanchez in the 8th was the only base runner the Spikes had over the last 5 innings. �Reliever Mike Williams also held the Scrappers scoreless for two innings, including 3 strikeouts. �

11th round pick 1B Aaron Baker (University of Oklahoma)

21st round pick RHP Phillip Irwin (University of Mississippi)

43rd round pick RHP Ed Fallon (University of South Carolina- Upstate)

No word yet as to where these three players will be assigned.

For a complete list of the Pirates' 2009 draft picks and which have signed, go here.

EDIT:

And one more draft pick signed:

Supplemental round pick RHP Victor Black (Dallas Baptist University).

Black will be assigned to State College

The Altoona Curve have a scheduled day off today, and the Lynchburg Hillcats and the West Virginia Power are also off, as their leagues are in their All-Star Breaks.

State College starter Kyle McPherson gave up 10 hits and 6 runs (4 earned) as he suffered his first loss for the Spikes.