Tag: Joe Beimel

Andrew Lambo and Corey Wimberly just "hanging out" in the dugout











Louisville Bats  5,  Indianapolis Indians  2
(box) 

Three home runs by the Bats, including two in one inning, put the Bats on top of the Indians tonight at Victory Field.  Starter Justin Wilson (photo) gave up the three homers, accounting for 4 of Louisville's runs, and he was charged with his first loss of the season.

Chris Reineke made the start for Louisville, and he and Wilson seemed intent on matching one another for the first 5 innings of the game.  Both Reineke and Wilson retired the side in the 1st inning.  Both gave up a walk (to C Devin Mesoraco and 3B Josh Harrison) and a hit (single to 2B Chris Valaika and double to 1B Andy Marte) in the 2nd inning.  Both retired the side in order in the 3rd and 4th innings.  

Both Reineke and Wilson gave up one run in the 5th inning.  Wilson retired the first two Bats' batters of the inning, giving him a streak of 10 batters retired in order.  Then CF Kris Negron lifted a home run over  the left-center field wall, to give the Bats a 1-0 lead.  In the bottom of the inning, Reineke gave up a lead-off single when Harrison beat out a surprise bunt.  2B Pedro Ciriaco grounded deep to short, forcing Harrison out at second, but SS Zack Cozart was not able to make a throw to first, and Ciriaco was on with a fielder's choice.  After a fly out, Justin Wilson came to the plate.  Instead of being an easy out, Wilson worked a full count, then fouled off three more pitches.  Then he blasted a ball off the left field scoreboard for an RBI double.  Ciriaco scored from first, and the score was tied at 1-1.

Joe Beimel pitched one quick inning










Toledo Mud Hens  4,  Indianapolis Indians  2
(box score) 

It was a beautiful afternoon at Victory Field, with sunny skies and a little wind, but not a happy afternoon for the Indianapolis Indians, who lost the second game of a short 2-game series to the Toledo Mud Hens.  Even with the wind blowing in for most of the game, two Mud Hens and one Indian were able to blast home runs, and those accounted for half of each team's runs.  



Brian Burres (photo) got the start for the Indians.  He gave up just two hits over his first 5 innings -- but both of those were solo home runs.  The first homer came off the bat of LF Scott Thorman with one out in the top of the 2nd inning, sailing over the right field wall.  RF Andrew Lambo made a leap -- but he would have had to have been another 6 feet taller to have had any chance.  Burres hit SS Cale Iorg with a pitch (right foot) after the homer, then retired the next 9 batters he faced.  With one out in the 5th, CF Clete Thomas also homered over the right field wall.  



The Indians had managed just 3 hits off Toledo starter Andy Oliver by the end of the 5th inning.  LF Alex Presley slipped a single through the hole into right field in the top of the 1st, but was left on base.  2B Pedro Ciriaco walked on 4 pitches and stole second base in the 3rd, but he was not careful taking his lead off second base and was caught too far away from the base.  A brief rundown, 1-5-4-1, and he was out.  

SS Chase d'Arnaud (photo below) led off the 4th inning with a low liner down the right field line.  The ball bounced under the bench in the Mud Hens' bullpen, and RF Andy Dirks just looked at the bench and lifted his arms into the air.  Sorry, Dirks, this isn't the Wrigley Field ivy -- the bullpen benches in Victory Field are in play, and you don't get to just bail out like that.  He realized his mistake after a couple of seconds, and dove under the bench for the ball, but by then d'Arnaud had rounded second and was heading into third base.  Unfortunately, the Indians could not take advantage of the man on third and no outs.  Oliver struck out both Presley and DH Andy Marte, then got 1B Matt Hague to ground out, leaving d'Arnaud still on third.  

3B Josh Harrison had the only home run for the Indians.  With one out in the bottom of the 5th, he blasted another long fly ball to the left field wall -- just a little to the left and two feet further than his bomb last night, which ended up bouncing on the narrow top of the scoreboard.  This one definitely went over the wall, onto the grass, and into the hands of some of the students who were sitting on the berm.  

The only other Indians' batter to reach base against Oliver was CF Gorkys Hernandez, who got on when his grounder to second skipped up and off the glove of 2B Scott Sizemore.  Hernandez stole second base, but a short fly out and two strikeouts left him stranded.  Oliver struck out a total of 8 Indians' hitters in his 6 innings of work. He allowed one walk along with those 3 hits, and he threw 101 pitches (65 strikes). 

  


























Indianapolis Indians  5,  Toledo Mud Hens  1
(box score)

The new Max Schumacher Victory Bell finally rang out a win for the Indianapolis Indians tonight, as they beat the Toledo Mud Hens at Victory Field.  The Bell (and Mr. Schumacher, who had the honor of ringing it for the first time) had to wait through the Indians' 4-game series against the Columbus Clippers for the chance to ring, but the losing streak ended tonight, behind the stellar pitching by starter Rudy Owens and an exciting 6th inning.


Owens (photo) made his AAA debut tonight and earned the win with 7 innings of work, allowing one run on 7 hits, no walks, and with 5 strikeouts.  He gave up one hit in 5 of his innings, two hits in the 7th, and no hits in the 4th.  Unfortunately, one of the hits he gave up was a solo home run, to Toledo CF Clete Thomas in the 2nd.  It was a no-doubter, which sailed over the iron fence beyond the berm behind right field, and bounced down onto West Street (though at least not while the fire trucks were racing past).  


Owens looked completely in control all night.  He needed only 83 pitches (58 strikes) to get through 7 innings.  He did not go deep into any counts until the 6th inning, and even then threw only 14 pitches in each of the 6th and 7th innings.  He got some help from his friends behind him, including a nice running catch by LF Alex Presley in the 6th, and a backhanded stop deep in the hole by SS Chase d'Arnaud with a catch in the dirt by 1B Matt Hague.  In the post-game interview, Owens said that he was pleased to get that first AAA start out of the way.  "The first AAA start is always one of those big deals -- same with last year in AA with the first start.  I got out there and had to face (Stephen) Strasburg, and it couldn't be more nerve-wracking.  By just getting that first win out of the way and doing well, I showed myself that I can compete here..... Throwing strikes is the key for me because this team (Toledo) likes to swing and just got to let them get themselves out."


The Indians' batters also posted one hit per inning for the first four innings of the game.  Alex Presley continued his torrid hitting with two singles -- a line drive into center field in the 1st and a grounder through the hole into left field in the 4th.  He also stole second base in the 4th.  RF Andrew Lambo picked up his first hit of the season in the 2nd inning, when he grounded to short, but Toledo SS Cale Iorg bobbled the ball as his foot slipped, then threw wide to first base, giving Lambo the extra split second he needed to reach first safely.  Presley and Lambo were left stranded on base, but when CF Gorkys Hernandez singled in the 3rd, he was thrown out trying to steal second base.  

A win, a loss, and a rainout in the rest of the Pirates' minor league organization on Friday evening.  The rainout was in West Virginia, where the Power were getting soggy.  They will play a double header on Saturday.

The win:  
Bradenton Marauders  13,  Charlotte Stone Crabs  0

And a shutout win, at that.   The Marauders blasted 13 runs on 13 hits, while the pitching staff held Charlotte scoreless on 6 hits.  The scoring began in the bottom of the 1st, when CF Evan Chambers walked and rehabbing major league catcher Chris Snyder homered over the left field wall.  LF David Rubinstein got the fun started in the 2nd inning with a line drive single into right field.  A single by 1B Cole White and a walk to SS Benji Gonzalez loaded the bases, then another walk to RF Robbie Grossman forced in Rubinstein.  2B Jarek Cunningham drove in White and Gonzalez with a double, and Grossman scored on Chambers' sacrifice fly.  Snyder added a single, to drive in Cunningham with the 5th run of the inning.  Walks to DH Calvin Anderson and Rubinstein loaded the bases again, but a ground out ended the rally.  
 
Rubinstein also began the Marauders' rally in the 5th.  Three consecutive singles, by Rubinstein, White, and 3B Elevys Gonzalez, loaded the bases without an out.  Benji Gonzalez's ground out brought in Rubinstein, and a single by Grossman plated both White and Elevys Gonzalez.  A walk to Cunningham and a single by Chambers loaded the bases again.   That set up Snyder, who cleared the bases with a double into deep center field, and gave the Marauders 6 runs in that inning, for a 13-run lead.  Rubinstein's third single plus walks to both Gonzalez-es loaded the bases again in the 8th, but a strikeout ended that inning with all three still on base.  

The Marauders' pitching staff was having as much fun as the hitters.  Joe Beimel, also on a rehab assignment, pitched the first inning, and retired the side in order on three ground outs.  After Beimel's inning, Matt McSwain came on to pitch.  He allowed only one single in his first 3 innings, and retired that runner with a double play.  He allowed two singles to lead off the 5th inning, but another double play got him out of that small jam. McSwain finished his outing with 5 scoreless innings, three hits, no walks, and no strikeouts, earning the win.  Jeff Inman pitched 2 scoreless innings, allowing just 2 hits, and Gabriel Alvarado also allowed a hit and a walk in the final inning.  

The Pirates had a busy Spring Training day today:
LHP (starter) Garrett Olson was claimed off waivers from Seattle.  Olson is a 27-year-old California native who was the Orioles' 1st round pick in the 2005 draft.  He made his major league debut in July 2007, and split both the 2007 and 2008 season between Balitmore and AAA Norfolk.  His combined stats for Baltimore:  10-13 record in 31 starts, 165 innings, 6.87 ERA, 111 K, 90 BB.  And combined stats for Norfolk: 10-9 record in 29 starts, 164.1 innings, 3.12 ERA, 159 K, 55 BB.  One big problem, though, is that he surrendered 35 homer runs over those two years.  At the beginning of 2009, Olson was traded to the Cubs, and 10 days later was traded to the Mariners (with Ronny Cedeno) to the Mariners.  He split both the 2009 and 2010 seasons between Seattle and AAA Tacoma.  In 2009, he started 9 games for Tacoma, earning a 2-3 record and a 4.94 ERA, but in Seattle, he was also used in relief.  He made 11 starts and 20 relief appearances for a total of 80.1 innings  -- and gave up 19 home runs.  Olson made 6 starts and 6 relief appearances for Tacoma in 2010, then made 35 relief appearances in Seattle.  His record in Seattle was 0-3 with 1 save, and a 4.54 ERA.  In 37.2 innings, he allowed 6 homers, 15 BB, with 21 K.  Throughout all these seasons, Olson allowed about as many or more hits as innings pitched:  79 hits in 80.1 innings in Seattle in 2009, and 42 hits in 37.2 innings in 2010.  His overall major league total is 10.53 hits/9 innings.  The Pirates plan to have Olson compete for a spot as a lefty out of the bullpen.  Scott Olsen (oh, we're going to have fun confusing those two) and Joe Beimel are also in consideration but have lost time time this spring due to injury.  Brian Burres and Justin Thomas are also in the mix.  In order to make a spot for Olson on the 40-man roster, the Pirates placed Kevin Hart on the 60-day DL.  Olson is out of options, which is why the Mariners had to put him on waivers.  If he does not make the Pirates' active roster out of camp, then he will have to go on waivers again.  The hits and the homers are concerning, and the Pirates will have to see how Olson does in some spring appearances in the next two weeks.


Phillies  3,  Pirates 2
The Phillies rallied in the bottom of the 9th for a come-from-behind win over the Pirates in Clearwater, FL this afternoon.  With Chris Leroux on the mound, the first two batters of the frame both singles.  Former Pirate/Indian Erik Kratz bounced a pinch-hit grounder to third, but instead of going for the double play, 3B Jeremy Farrell went for the tag of the runner going from second to third.  The runner avoided the tag but was called out anyway because he went out of the basepath.  That left runners on first and second with one out.  The next batter slapped a grounder to second, and though 2B Josh Harrison made a great stab to keep the ball from going into right field, he was only able to make the out at first.  With two runners in scoring position, Leroux gave up a single up the middle, and both runners (including Kratz) scored, for the walk-off win.  

Orioles  13,  Pirates  3
Indianapolis area native C Jake Fox beat up on the Pirates' pitching this afternoon in Bradenton, with two booming home runs and 4 RBI.  The first homer capped a 6-run 3rd inning, when Pirates' starter Ross Ohlendorf gave up four singles and a double before the homer.  Fox struck again in the 7th -- Scott Olsen gave up a double to DH Matt Wieters, followed by Fox's second homer.  Olsen surrendered a single and a walk after the homer, and he was relieved by Mike Dubee.  Dubee struck out the first batter he faced, then gave up an RBI single, before ending the inning with a fly out.  The Orioles added 3 runs in the 8th off Joe Beimel.  A double, a walk, and a single loaded the bases, then a single and two ground outs drove in the runs.  Former Indy Indian C Michel Hernandez singled for the Orioles in the top of the 9th, and scored on an RBI triple off reliever Sean Gallagher.  Daniel McCutchen pitched 2 scoreless innings for the Pirates, allowing 3 hits.  

While the Orioles were busy posting 20 hits, the Pirates managed 8.  Two of those were by 3B Pedro Alvarez, who also had the Pirates' only extra base hit, a double in the 7th, which was ruled a ground-rule double.  That made a difference, because 2B Neil Walker had opened the inning with a walk.  He raced around and crossed the plate on Alvarez's double, but then was called back to third base when the umpires ruled it a ground-rule.  Walker was left standing on third base, when a strikeout and a ground out ended the inning.  

The Pirates did score one run in the 2nd inning.  1B Lyle Overbay began the rally with a single lined into right field.  RF Matt Diaz grounded to short, forcing Overbay out at second, but Orioles' shortstop (and another former Indy Indian) JJ Hardy made a throwing error on his relay to first, allowing Diaz to reach second base.  Diaz advanced to second on a fly out, and scored on C Jason Jaramillo's RBI single.  LF Jose Tabata led off the 5th inning with a walk, and moved to second base on Walker's ground out.  CF Andrew McCutchen plated Tabata with a single up the middle.  Overbay reached base on a catcher's interference call, then Diaz brought in McCutchen with a line drive single into right field.  

Also getting into the game:  LF John Bowker, 3B Andy Marte, Corey Wimberly in center field, RF Miles Durham, RF Steve Pearce, 2B Josh Harrison, pinch-hitter Pedro Ciriaco, 1B Garrett Atkins, C Dusty Brown, and SS Josh Rodriguez.  Durham entered the game to play right field in the top of the 8th.  In the top of the 9th, he crashed into the wall trying to catch the ball that turned out to be a triple.  Durham was down for a few moments, but was able to get up and walk off the field under his own power.  Pearce took over for Durham in right field, then singled in the bottom of the inning.  Josh Rodriguez also singled in the 8th inning, and Josh Harrison worked a walk in the 9th.  

Catching up after being away for a few days...

On Saturday, the Pirates sent four pitchers to minor league camp:
RHP Bryan Morris and RHP Kyle McPherson, both on the 40-man roster, were optioned down, with Morris going to AAA Indianapolis and McPherson going to A+ Bradenton.   
Two lefties, Rudy Owens and Justin Wilson, were also sent to the minor league camp, and though their exact level is still not official, both should begin the season with the Indy Indians.  

More moves were made today:
From the 40-man roster--
LHP Jeff Locke, LHP Aaron Thompson, and RHP Ramon Aguero were optioned to AA Altoona 
LHP Daniel Moskos and LHP Tony Watson were optioned to Indianapolis
Outfielders Gorkys Hernandez and Alex Presley were optioned to Indianapolis
Moskos and Presley both spent part of 2010 with Indianapolis, while Watson and Hernandez will make their debut at the AAA level.  Locke, Aguero, and Thompson all spent part of 2010 with Altoona.

Not on the 40-man yet --
Infielders Chase d'Arnaud and Brian Friday and outfielder Andrew Lambo were reassigned to minor league camp.  Friday played in Indianapolis for most of 2010 and should return there.  D'Arnaud and Lambo were in Altoona for 2010;  Lambo is ready for AAA, though d'Arnaud may be asked to go back to Altoona for part of 2011.  

Pirates  10,  Rays  3

The Pirates posted 13 hits on their way to 10 runs in their McKechnie Field opener on Sunday afternoon.  CF Andrew McCutchen had three hits, including a solo homer for the Pirates' first run of the game, and a double.  RF Garrett Jones also had three hits -- 2 doubles and a single.  McCutchen began a rally in the 4th with a single, and doubles by Jones and C Ryan Doumit drove in 2 runs, all off former Pirate pitcher Chris Bootcheck.  Another former Pirate, Jonah Bayliss, came on to pitch the 5th inning for the Rays.  Bayliss got the first two outs, then gave up a triple to 2B Neil Walker, and doubles by McCutchen and 3B Pedro Alvarez, and the Pirates had 2 more runs.  Chase d'Arnaud came into the game for Walker in the 6th, and he led off the bottom of the 7th with a walk.  D'Arnaud moved to second base on a ground out, then scrambled around from second base, surprising the Rays, to score on an RBI ground out by 1B Steve Pearce.  The Pirates added another 4 runs in the bottom of the 8th.  That inning began with a solo homer by C Jason Jaramillo.  SS Josh Rodriguez singled, then with two outs and Rodriguez on third, d'Arnaud lined an RBI single up the middle.  CF Corey Wimberly walked, and 3B Andy Marte drove in both d'Arnaud and Wimberly with a double into right field.  

Kevin Correia made the start for the Pirates.  He gave up a run in the top of the 1st, with a lead-off walk and two ground outs.  Correia got into trouble in the 2nd inning, giving up two singles and a walk to load the bases with one out.  That was all for Correia.  Minor leaguer Ryan Beckman, who pitched for State College in 2010, came on in relief of Correia.  Beckman got the first batter he faced to ground to second, which allowed the runner from third to score.  Another ground out ended the inning.  Usually that would be the end of the outing for a minor leaguer who is filling in.  But, Joe Beimel, who was scheduled to pitch after Correia, had some elbow soreness and did not pitch.  So, Beckman kept going.  He threw three more pitches, and retired three batters in the 3rd inning, with a line out and two ground outs.  Brian Burres earned the win with 2 scoreless innings following Beckman.  Joel Hanrahan, Jose Veras, and another minor leaguer, Tony Watson, each pitched one scoreless inning.  Watson worked around a lead-off single in the 8th.  Chris Leroux pitched the 9th, and gave up a solo homer and two singles, but ended the inning with a pop out and a double play.  

LF John Bowker and RF Andrew Lambo also got into the game.  

Waiting for the Caribbean Series to begin (Wednesday) and the Australian League to resume their playoffs (Friday)....

Two former Pirate pitchers have signed minor league contracts with other clubs:  Ty Taubenheim has signed with the Rangers, and Virgil Vasquez has signed with the Angels.

Joe Beimel was signed to a minor league contract with the Pirates over the weekend.  The Pennsylvania native will turn 34 in April.  He has been in the Pirates' organization before, beginning when he was drafted in the 18th round of the 1998 draft by the Pirates.  Beimel spent 6 seasons in the Pirates' organization, moving quickly up through the minors until he reached the major leagues in 2001.  He pitched for the Pirates in 2001 - 03, mostly in relief, earning a 10-19 record with a 5.00 ERA.  The Pirates released him before the season started in 2004, and he pitched in several organizations over the next 7 seasons:  Twins, Rays, Dodgers (3 seasons), Nationals, and Rockies.  The southpaw was traded to the Rockies at the trading deadline in 2009.  He made 26 relief appearances for the Rockies over the rest of that season, allowing 7 runs on 19 hits over 15.2 innings.  Beimel pitched in 2 games for AAA Colorado Springs in 2010, but spent the rest of the season with the Rockies.  In 71 appearances (45 innings), he allowed 17 earned runs (3.40 ERA) on 46 hits with 15 walks and 21 strikeouts.  With the minor league contract, Beimel has been invited to the major league camp for spring training, but the Pirates consider him to be a strong candidate to provide a veteran lefty presence in their bullpen.