PIRATES PROSPECTSPITTSBURGH PIRATES MINOR LEAGUE NEWS, TRANSACTIONS, AND ARTICLES

Two morning games today, plus one later in the evening...

The Curve wasted an outstanding starting appearance by Brad Lincoln this morning, as the bullpen allowed Bowie 7 unanswered runs over the last three innings. �The loss puts the Curve 17 games below .500 (14-31) and 18 games behind the first-place Akron Aeros in the Eastern League Southern Division. �Don't worry -- they aren't in last place. �That honor goes to the Harrisburg Senators, who sit at 11-31, 19.5 games behind Akron. �

The Curve jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the first inning, maybe taking advantage of Bowie players who were not quite awake yet. �SS Brian Friday started the inning by reaching on a fielding error at third base. �3B Pedro Lopez flied out, and 2B Jim Negrych grounded to third base, for what should have been a double play. �The Bowie' second baseman's throw to first went wide, though, and pulled 1B Brandon Snyder off the bag. �In fact, Snyder was barely able to make the catch at all. �Friday was forced out at second, but Negrych was safe at first, and the inning was extended. �The Curve took advantage of the slip, and the next four batters reached base. �RF Jonel Pacheco�singled into center field, moving Negrych to second base. �DH Jason Delaney lifted a fly ball into right field, which bounced in front of Bowie RF Joseph Nowicki and then slipped under his glove and past him. �Negrych scored, Pacheco went to third, and Delaney ended up on second base. �The play was initially ruled an error, but then about an inning later was changed to a double and an RBI for Delaney. �LF Jeff Corsaletti bounced a grounder off the back of �the mound. �The Bowie 2B Miguel Abreu charged in, but was distracted for a split second when his hat was blown off his head. �That split second was enough for Corsaletti to beat out the throw to first base, allowing Pacheco to score, and moving Delaney to third base. �1B Jamie Romak walked, and the fourth ball sailed all the way to the backstop. �Delaney never hesitated when he saw the wild pitch, and he scored easily from third base. �A ground out by C Hector Gimenez ended the inning, with the Curve ahead 3-0.

Curve starter�Brad Lincoln must not be a morning person either, as his first several pitches in the top of the 1st were slow, in the high 70's and 80's. �He gave up a lead off single to former Indianapolis Indian (2004) DH Dave Krynzel and hit Brandon Snyder with a pitch. �A couple of ground outs later, though, and Lincoln was awake and running up to speed, as he struck out Miguel Abreu with pitches in the 94 -- 95 mph range to end the inning. �

Lincoln kept up the heat as he worked around a single in the top of the 2nd, including a worrisome moment when he reached out with his pitching hand at a bouncer back to the mound, knocking it down and then making the throw to first base for the third out. �He did not get hurt, though, and went on to retire the next 9 batters in order. �Lincoln made another gold-glove play in the top of the 3rd, when he reached up (with his glove -- he's learning) to snag a high bounce as he moved toward the back of the mound, and with some fancy footwork, back-pedaled down the back of the mound without falling and was able to make the throw to first base in time for the out. �

In the 6th, Lincoln escaped a jam without allowing a run. �Dave Krynzel led off with a single, and advanced to second base on a walk. �Bowie 3B Mike Costanzo singled into right field, and as the speedy Krynzel raced around third base, LF Jonel Pacheco fired a bullet to the plate. �The throw was on-target, but Krynzel got to the plate before the ball did, so everyone was surprised when Krynzel was called out. �Apparently, Krynzel either slid over C Hector Gimenez's leg or just missed the plate entirely as he slid, and Gimenez's tag made the out. �A ground out ended the inning, and also Lincoln's day. �He finished with 6 scoreless innings, allowing 4 hits and a walk, while striking out 5 batters. �Combined with his last outing, the 9-inning shutout, and going back to his previous start on May 15th, that gives Lincoln a streak of 19.1 scoreless innings. �

Jeff Sues relieved Lincoln, who had thrown about 90 pitches, to begin the 7th inning. � The BaySox got to Sues quickly, scoring one run on a double and a single. �Then came trouble in the 8th, as Bowie tied it up and made Lincoln unable to earn a win for his terriffic performance. �Sues began the 8th with a walk, and he was replaced by Jean Machi. �Machi also walked the next batter, then gave up an RBI single, to bring Bowie within one run of the Curve. �Miguel Abreu grounded to 3B Pedro Lopez, who fired the ball home and caught the lead runner in a run-down, tagging him out in the baseline (5-2-5). �Another single scored a tying run, giving Machi a Blown Save. �Machi threw a wild pitch, and then walked another batter to load the bases. �Finally a ground out to shortstop ended the inning, with the score tied. �

The Curve recorded three singles (Pacheco, Delaney, and Corsaletti) in the 1st inning, and Brian Friday added another in the 2nd inning but was forced out at second base. �Delaney, Gimenez, and Negrych scattered a walk apiece over the next 4 innings, and Friday was hit by a pitch in the 7th, but none of them could get any further. �The Curve�went down in order again in the bottom of the 8th. �

Jean Machi came out to begin the top of the 9th, but while he was throwing his warm-up pitches, he suddenly stopped. �He had hurt himself, though did not give any clear indication (at least to the radio broadcasters) as to what exactly had been injured. �Machi walked right off the field and into the clubhouse, and Josh Hill came in from the bullpen, getting as much time as he needed for his warm-up.

It wasn't enough warm-up. �Dave Krynzel dropped his third hit of the game into center field, just in front of CF James Boone. �A bunt back to the mound forced Krynzel out at second base, but left a runner on first. �A single by Brandon Snyder, followed by a double by Mike Costanzo scored the go-ahead run. �Then a 3-run home run by RF Joseph Nowicki put the game out of reach, and gave Hill the loss. �Three Curve batters were quietly retired in the bottom of the 9th, and the game was over. �

The Power got into trouble early, and then couldn't catch up in another morning game. �Starter Gabriel Alvarado�pitched 3 wild innings, and allowed 4 runs (3 earned) on 3 hits, 4 walks, a wild pitch, and 3 hit batters. �The Lakewood run in the 1st inning was unearned. �The second batter of the inning reached on a throwing error by 3B Jeremy Farrell, and stole second base. �With two outs (both strikeouts), Lakewood DH Steve Susdorf was hit in the head by a pitch, and had to leave the game. �Alvarado loaded the bases with a walk, and an RBI single brought in a run. �Alvarado struck out the next batter to end the inning, leaving the bases loaded.

A hit batter and three walks forced in a run in the bottom of the 2nd inning. �The 3rd inning started with the third hit batter, and two singles loaded the bases. �A wild pitch scored one run, and a sacrifice fly plated another, giving Lakewood a 4-0 lead. �

The Power came back in the top of the 4th to score 3 runs as 8 batters came to the plate. �SS Chase D'Arnaud got things started with a walk and a stolen base. �He went to third on 1B Calvin Anderson's fly out, and scored on Jeremy Farrell's ground out. �With two outs, CF Marcus Davis walked and also stole second base. �DH Bobby Spain singled, and RF Austin McClune doubled to bring in Davis and Spain, and the Power were only one run behind. �

Wilson Ortiz replaced Alvarado in the 4th inning. �Ortiz pitched 3 scoreless innings in the middle of the game, allowing only a triple in the 4th inning. �Owen Brolsma took the mound in the 7th, for a 1-2-3 inning. �In the 8th, he got the first two outs, then gave up a run on a double and an RBI single. �

After their 3-run 4th inning, the Power were held to only a single by Chase D'Arnaud over the next three innings. �They had a small rally in the 8th. �Calvin Anderson singled, but when Jeremy Farrell followed with another single, his batted ball hit Anderson, and Anderson was out. �Marcus Davis walked, but neither of the two base runners could come around to score. �The Power loaded the bases on three consecutive singles in the 9th -- C Josue Peley, 2B Greg Picart, and�LF Quincy Latimore, but a pop out and a ground out ended that last chance. �

The Red Sox out-hit the Hillcats 9-6, but the 'Cats still doubled up the Sox on runs this evening in Lynchburg. �RF Miles Durham and LF Jared Keel had 2 hits each, including a double for Durham and a home run for Keel. �2B Jose De Los Santos singled and DH Pedro Alvarez doubled for the other two runs. �

The Hillcats got onto the scoreboard first, in the bottom of the 2nd inning, when Miles Durham singled and stole second base. �He scored on Jared Keel's RBI single. �Durham led off the 4th inning with a double into left field, and moments later, Keel smashed a home run over the left field wall, his 4th of the year, to give the Hillcats a 3-0 lead. �

With two outs in the 5th inning, Pedro Alvarez got another rally started when he doubled into left field. �A throwing error on a ball off the bat of 1B Matt Hague gave Alvarez the opportunity to come around from second base to score the Hillcats' fourth run. �

The Hillcats had a total of 5 stolen bases in the game. �De Los Santos stole both second and third bases after his single in the 1st inning, and he stole second again in the 7th inning after a walk. �He now leads the team with 22 stolen bases (the next highest: �Alex Presley and Jordy Mercer, with "only" 5 stolen bases), and is second in the Carolina League (Wilmington's Derrick Robinson has 23). �Alvarez walked and stole his first base of the season (and first professional stolen base) in the 3rd inning. �Durham's steal came in the 2nd inning. � �

Paul Mildren earned his second win of the season with 6 solid innings of work. �He gave up 5 hits and no walks, and struck out 3 batters. �The only Red Sox batter to reach base in the first three innings came in the 2nd inning, when the lead-off batter reached base on CF Alex Presley's fielding error. �No matter -- Mildren got the next batter to ground into a double play. �He gave up two singles after two outs in the 4th, but a fly out ended that inning without a run scoring. �Another single in the 5th was erased by another double play. �The run Mildren allowed happened in the 6th inning with two outs. �A single, a wild pitch, and another single brought in the run. �

Mike Colla pitched a scoreless 7th inning for the Hillcats. �Michael Dubee earned his 4th save, though he allowed a run in the 8th inning. �It was another run scored after two outs, with a single, a passed ball by C Kris Watts, and an RBI double. �