PIRATES PROSPECTSPITTSBURGH PIRATES MINOR LEAGUE NEWS, TRANSACTIONS, AND ARTICLES

2B Ray Chang was the hero in the Hillcats late morning/early afternoon game today. �With the 'Cats behind 5-4 going into the bottom of the 8th inning, and one out, C Kris Watts started the rally by slipping a single into right field. �After another out CF Marcus Davis walked, and the Keys changed pitchers. �Chang greeted the new reliever witha �single into center field, scoring both Watts and Davis with the tying and go-ahead runs.

That left Hillcats' reliever RJ Rodriguez to hold the Keys off in the top of the 9th, which he did by retiring three batters in order. �Chris Cullen took the win, since he was the pitcher of record during the bottom of the 8th. �Cullen had finished the 7th and then pitched the top of the 8th, allowing only a walk and then promptly erasing that batter with a double play ball. �

The Hillcats had started the scoring in the 2nd inning. �RF Miles Durham walked to lead off the inning. �Watts singled, and both runners advanced on DH Kent Sakamoto's sacrifice bunt. �Davis was hit by a pitch to load the bases, with only one out. �Chang grounded to third base, and it looked like an inning-ending double play ball. �Davis was forced out at second, but the throw by the second baseman went wild, allowing both Durham and Watts to score. �They added two more runs in the bottom of the 7th, on a two-out single by LF Alex Presley, accompanied by a throwing error that let Presley move on to second base. �SS Jordy Mercer walked, and 3B Pedro Alvarez's RBI single into center field, along with another throwing error, brought in both�Presley and Mercer (only one RBI for Alvarez). �

Lynchburg starter Ronald Uviedo pitched 5 scoreless innings, allowing only 2 hits, no walks, and striking out 5 Keys. �His ERA now stands at 1.20.��Harrison Bishop was charged with all 5 of the Keys' runs, though only 3 of them were earned. �He gave up a run in the 6th, on a walk, a stolen base, and a single. �In the 7th, fielding errors by 3B Pedro Alvarez and RF Miles Durham helped out the Keys, who also worked a walk and had four singles, to score 4 more runs. ���

The Curve evened up this series at one game apiece, as they traded the lead back and forth with the R-Phils. �Brad Lincoln got the start for the Curve. �He gave up a run on two doubles in the 3rd inning, but otherwise breezed along until the 5th inning. �Two singles, a throwing error by 3B Pedro Lopez, and a double scored two more runs in the 5th. �Lincoln gave up a total of 7 hits but no walks, and struck out 2 batters. �

The Curve tied it up with 2 runs of their own in the 4th and another in the 5th. �2B Jim Negrych led off with a walk, and CF Jose Tabata doubled. �LF Jason Delaney picked up an RBI with a ground out, and Pedro Lopez also got an RBI with a sacrifice fly. �Jonel Pacheco came in to pinch hit for Lincoln, and his solo homer tied the score. �Score tied 3-3.

Jeff Sues took the mound to begin the 6th, and he gave up an unearned run, without benefit of a hit: a walk, a fielding error by SS Anderson Machado�(who had not gotten much playing time with the Indy Indians and just today reported to Altoona), a wild pitch, and a ground out. �The Curve came right back in the bottom of the inning, as Pedro Lopez singled, and scored on DH Jamie Romak's RBI double, and the score was tied again at 4-4. �One inning later, Anderson Machado worked a two-out walk, stole second base, and scored on Jim Negrych's RBI double, giving the Curve a one-run lead. �

Sues pitched a one-two-three 7th inning, then turned it over to�Lincoln Holdzkom. �Holdzkom retired three batters in order in the 8th, and Jean Machi set them down in order in the 9th. �Sues took the win, and Machi earned a save. �

The Power started off strong, scoring 4 runs on 7 hits in the first three innings of tonight's game. �CF Robbie Grossman led off by reaching base on a fielding error, and then stealing second base. �3B�Bobby Spain homered over right center field, to give the Power a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the 1st inning. �1B�Calvin Anderson also doubled in the first inning, but was left on base. �SS�Greg Picart and 2B�Adenson Chourio both singled in the 2nd inning, though didn't come around to score. �Grossman led off the 3rd inning with a double, and scored on another double by Spain. �DH�Erik Huber's RBI single plated Spain, and the Power were assisted by two errors in the inning. �

Then the power went out. �The Power batters were retired in order for the entire rest of the game. �In fact, in the next three innings, it went like this: �ground out, ground out, strikeout. �The 7th inning saw three strikeouts. �The 8th and 9th included a couple of fly outs and a pop out in addition to the ground outs and strikeouts.

Or maybe it was that the power got shifted to the other dugout, because when the Power stopped, the Hot Rods got going. �Power starter Gabriel Alvarado gave up only a walk in the first two innings. �Then the Hot Rods scored in 5 consecutive innings. �One run in the 3rd on a double and a single. �Two runs in the 4th on a homer, a hit batter, and a double. �Another run in the 5th on a double and two ground outs. �Owen Brolsma relieved Alvarado to end the 5th , but then gave up 3 runs in the 6th on a walk, two singles, and a double. �Four runs came across in the 7th inning, courtesy of a double, a fielding error, a balk, a walk, a wild pitch, another walk, and a triple, off Brolsma and Yoffri Martinez. �Finally Eduardo Pena put the Hot Rods down in order in the 8th inning -- but the damage was well beyond done. �

Tuesday night's action:

2B Jim Negrych went 3-for-4 at the plate for the Curve, raising his average to .333, but he couldn't keep the Curve scoring, as they lost the series opener to Reading.

Starter Tony Watson got into trouble in the first inning, when two runs scored on a single, a triple, and another single.