PIRATES PROSPECTSPITTSBURGH PIRATES MINOR LEAGUE NEWS, TRANSACTIONS, AND ARTICLES

Pirates' affiliates were back to being busy again on Thursday:

The Curve came from behind with a 5-run 8th inning, to beat the SeaWolves this afternoon. �3B Pedro Alvarez hit his second homer in two days, and contributed 3 RBI to the mix, and CF Gorkys Hernandez went 3-for-4 in the game. �

Altoona got onto the scoreboard first, when Gorkys Hernadez walked and stole second base, and then Pedro Alvarez homered over the center field wall in the 1st inning. �Erie tied the score at 2-2 in the 2nd inning. �Two singles and a walk loaded the bases with no outs. �A double play allowed one run to score, and a wild pitch by Curve starter Mike Crotta brought in the second run. �A solo home run in the bottom of the 3rd gave the SeaWolves a 3-2 lead. �They added an insurance run in the 5th with a single, a stolen base, and another single. �Crotta pitched 6 innings, and allowed those 4 runs on 9 hits and 2 walks, with 4 strikeouts. �

Pedro Alvarez got a small rally going for the Curve in the top of the 6th, when he hit a one-out double. �A throwing error on a ball hit by 1B Jason Delaney put runners on the corners, and Alvarez scored on a balk by the SeaWolves pitcher. �(The Erie manager was subsequently ejected from the game.)

Randy Newsom relieved Crotta to pitch the 7th inning, and he allowed 2 runs, on a walk and another Erie home run, to make the score 6-3. �Newsom was the pitcher of record when the Curve exploded for 5 runs in the 8th inning -- giving Newsom the win. �The Curve sent 8 batters to the plate in the inning. �Gorkys Hernandez and RF Jose Tabata�led off with back-to-back singles, and Pedro Alvarez's sacrifice fly brought in the first run of the inning. �Jason Delaney doubled, and Tabata went to third base. �Tabata scored on 2B Jim Negrych's ground out, and Delaney scored on a wild pitch, and the score was tied 6-6. �DH Jamie Romak walked, and went to second base on another wild pitch. �Then LF Jeff Corsaletti hit a 2-run home run to give the Curve the go-ahead run and an insurance run. �Gorkys Hernandez and Jose Tabata also singled in the 9th inning, but were left on base.

Scott Nestor pitched the final 2 innings for the Curve, and earned his 5th save of the season, allowing a walk in each inning, but striking out 2 in each inning. �

The Hillcats were held to just 2 hits in the shutout loss.��C Joel Collins and 3B Ray Chang had the only hits, both singles. �The 'Cats worked 6 walks, and had two batters hit by pitches (RF Eddie Prasch and 1B Matt Hague)�but still could not get any runners around to score. �The closest they came was in the 6th inning, when both DH Jordy Mercer and LF Jared Keel both walked, but were both left on base. �

Jeff Locke made his 4th start for the Hillcats, and it was the longest of the four. �He pitched 7 innings, and allowed 3 runs on 10 hits, no walks, with one strikeout. �The Pelicans had runners on base in 5 of his 7 innings, but scored in only two of the innings. �In the 3rd, a single and two doubles brought in 2 runs, and a double and a triple added another run in the 6th. �ChBristian Castorri relieved Locke to pitch the last 2 innings. �Castorri gave up one run in the 8th when the first batter he faced lifted a solo home run over the right field wall. �He also gave up 2 runs in the 9th with two outs, on a double, a walk, and a double. �

SS Chase D'Arnaud made his A+ debut, batting lead-off. �He went 0-for-3, with a walk and a strikeout. �

An 8-run 9th inning by the Power overcame a 6-run 7th inning by the Grasshoppers, but the Power still had to hold on to keep Greensboro from coming back in the bottom of the 9th inning. � 3B Bobby Spain had 4 of the Power's 13 hits, and RF Austin McClure and 2B Danny Bomback each had 2 hits. �

DH Calvin Anderson got the scoring started with a solo home run in the 2nd inning. �The Power added two more runs in the 3rd. �Austin McClure led off with a single and advanced to second base on a fielding error. �A wild pitch put him on third base, and CF Robbie Grossman's RBI single brought McClure home. �1B Erik Huber bounced into a force out, went to second when Anderson walked, and he scored on Bobby Spain's RBI single. �

Greensboro got one run back in the 5th inning. �Rafael De Los Santos allowed an unearned run on two walks, a stolen base, a throwing error, and a sacrifice fly. �De Los Santos pitched 5 innings and gave up 2 hits and 4 walks. �Ramon Aguero pitched a scoreless 6th inning, but the Grasshoppers broke out for 6 runs in the 7th to take a 7-3 lead. �Aguero hit a batter with a pitch, walked one, gave up a single, had a batter reach on a fielding error, then gave up another walk. �Noah Krol came on to relieve Aguero and he gave up a walk and two singles, accounting for another run , then got a strikeout, hit a batter wit h a pitch, and finally a force out ended the inning. �

The Power showed their power in the top of the 9th, sending 11 batters to the plate. �The first three batters, SS Adenson Chourio, Austin McClure, and Robbie Grossman, all walked. �Erik Huber's bases-loaded double scored Chourio and McClure, and left Grossman on 3rd base. �Grossman scored on a wild pitch. �A walk to Calvin Anderson and a triple by LF Quincy Latimore brought in Huber and Anderson, but Latimore was out at the plate as he tried for home on the throw. �Bobby Spain singled and C Andrew Walker walked. �Two errors on Danny Bomback's ball allowed three more runs to score (Spain, Walker, and Bomback), before two fly outs ended the inning, with the Power owning an 11-7 lead. �

But Greensboro was not done yet. �Yoffri Martinez took the mound in the 9th, and gave up 2 walks, got two outs, and then gave up a 2-RBI double. �Owen Brolsma relieved Martine, but a walk, a fielding error, and a single brought in another run, to bring the Grasshoppers within one run before Brolsma ended the game with a ground out. �The Power held on, to win by just one run.�

The Spikes were held to just 3 hits and one run, and none of them came until the 7th inning. �Auburn starter Joel Carreno faced only two batters over the minimum in his first 6 innings. �In the 2nd inning, RF David Rubinstein reached base when he swung at strike three, but the Auburn catcher could not hold on to the ball, giving Rubinstein time to hustle down to first. �In the 6th, 2B Ty Summerlin was hit by a pitch. �Finally, in the 7th with one out, 1B Kyle Morgan and Rubinstein hit back-to-back singles. �A throwing error by the Auburn catcher on a pick off attempt and another throwing error on the center fielder who had retrieved the ball allowed Murphy to score the Spikes' only run. �The Spikes got runners on base again in the 8th, when CF Kyle Saukko singled and SS Andy Vasquez walked, but they were left on base. �

Quinton Miller got the start for the Spikes and pitched 3 innings, allowing 3 runs (1 earned) on 5 hits and 3 walks. �Two singles and a walk brought in a run in the 1st inning. �A walk, a passed ball, a throwing error and a ground-rule double added two more runs in the 2nd. �Jason Erickson pitched the three middle innings, and allowed an unearned run on 2 singles, a wild pitch, and a throwing error in the 5th inning. �Patrick Irvine and Edward Fallon each pitched a perfect inning in relief. �

The Phillies' pitchers combined to one-hit the Pirates this afternoon. �SS Benjamin Gonzalez had the hit, a single into center field in the top of the 1st inning, and he was picked off first base moments later. �The next 19 Pirate batters were retired in order, by three different Phillies pitchers. �Finally, in the top of the 8th inning, DH Rogelios Noris and CF Wesley Freeman led off with back-to-back walks. �LF Gemmy Gonzalez dropped down a sacrifice bunt, to move the runners over to 2nd and 3rd bases. �3B Andury Acevedo had the Pirates' only RBI, as his ground out to shortstop allowed Noris to score the only Pirates' run.

Mitchell Fienemann pitched 4 innings in his start for the Pirates. �Fienemann retired the first 7 batters he faced, then in the 3rd inning, gave up a single, a double, an RBI single, and a sacrifice fly, giving the Phillies 2 runs. �He allowed another single in the same inning, and then a single in the 4th inning. �Gerardo Esparza took over for Fienemann in the 5th. �He walked a batter and hit a batter, and made a throwing error on a pick-off attempt, but a timely double play and a ground out kept the Phillies from scoring again. �Esparza hit another batter in the 6th inning, but erased him with a double play. �Esparza pitched a total of 3 innings without allowing a hit. �Harvey Garcia also pitched a hitless and scoreless inning, with 2 strikeouts, in the 8th. �