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Daily Archives: Aug 25, 2009

The Pittsburgh Pirates won in extra innings on Opening Day, beating the Miami Marlins by a 6-5 score after a Jared Triolo RBI single in the top of the 12th inning. The Pirates played comeback the entire...
Normally, I do a pre-season analysis, where I fill in my own depth chart and playing time estimates for the upcoming Pittsburgh Pirates season, along with ZiPS projected WAR totals. This year, I'm looking at the...

Alderson and Chang Boost Curve; Lorin Pitches 5 Scoreless Innings

Tuesday's action in the Pirates' minor league organization:

Altoona Curve 4, �Trenton Thunder 3

Tim Alderson earned his 3rd win for the Curve and 10th overall for the season (against 2 losses) with some help from his friends -- a 3-hit night for DH Ray Chang, and 2 hits each for CF Gorkys Hernandez and 1B Jason Delaney. �

The Curve threatened in the bottom of the 1st inning, loading the bases with two outs on singles by both Chang and Delaney, and a walk to SS Brian Friday. �That opportunity was lost as RF Miles Durham popped out to end the inning. �The Thunder did score in the top of the 2nd inning, when 3B Pedro Alvarez made a fielding error, and a double brought that base runner home. �The Curve responded with a big 4-run rally in the bottom of the frame. �Three doubles, by C Steve Lerud, LF Jeff Corsaletti, and Gorkys Hernandez brought in the first two runs. �Ray Chang singled, moving Hernandez to third base. �Alvarez's RBI ground out scored Hernandez. �Then Jason Delaney singled to bring in Chang, and the Curve had a 4-1 lead. �

The Curve did not score again, though they had two runners on base in the 7th, when Hernandez and Chang opened the inning with back-to-back singles, and again in the 8th, when Durham singled and reached third base on subsequent plays, and Jeff Corsaletti was intentionally walked.

Alderson pitched 7 innings, and allowed the unearned run in the 2nd inning and an earned run in the 6th, on a double and an RBI single. �He gave up just 5 hits, no walks, and struck out one. �Alderson had to work around two more fielding errors, but was aided by a timely double play and a runner caught stealing. �Jared Hughes relieved Alderson to pitch the last two innings. �He also gave up an unearned run in the 8th inning on a double, a passed ball, and an RBI single. �

Ray Chang is hitting .327, and has gone 13-for-24 over his last 6 home games. �Jason Delaney continues to lead the Curve in RBI with 58. � Gorkys Hernandez has a 7-game hitting streak, tying his season-best.



Wilmington Blue Rocks 4, �Lynchburg Hillcats 2

Two early runs by the Hillcats were not enough when the Blue Rocks broke a 2-2 tie with a home run in the 7th inning. �In fact, all of Wilmington's runs came on homers. �Ronald Uviedo pitched 5 innings for the Hillcats, and allowed 2 runs on 5 hits and 3 walks. �The first run came on a solo homer by the second batter in the top of the 1st inning. �Uviedo kept Wilmington scoreless for the next two innings, but then gave up another solo home run to lead off the 4th inning. �

The Hillcats scored in the bottom of the 1st inning, when SS Chase d'Arnaud led off with a double, moved to third base on 2B Josh Harrison's sacrifice bunt, and scored on 3B Jordy Mercer's RBI single. �A wild pitch moved Mercer to second base, and when 1B Matt Hague reached base on a fielding error, Mercer rounded third and headed for the plate. �He was out at the plate, though, on the throw in after the ball was recovered. �D'Arnaud started another rally in the 3rd inning with his third triple of the season. �He had to hold on third through a ground out to short and a fielder's choice attempt that put Mercer on first base. �Mercer was picked off/caught stealing, but d'Arnaud still had to hold on third. �Finally, DH Jamie Romak singled into center field and d'Arnaud was able to score. �

With the score tied at 2-2, Uviedo kept the Blue Rocks from scoring in the 5th, and reliever Nate Adcock retired the side in order in the 6th. �Adcock got two ground outs in the 7th, then gave up a walk. �The next batter blasted a 2-run homer to give Wilmington a 4-2 lead. �Adcock pitched 2 more scoreless innings, but the Hillcats were not able to get any more runs across, and Adcock was charged with his first loss since joining Lynchburg.


West Virginia Power 3, Bowling Green Hot Rods 1

The Power like playing on the road-- this was their 12th straight win away from home. �Brett Lorin pitched 5 scoreless innings for the win, allowing 5 hits and a walk, with 2 strikeouts. �He worked around runners on base in each inning, but got out of it each time, aided by two timely double plays. �

The Power scored one run in the top of the 1st. �With two outs, C Tony Sanchez and DH Calvin Anderson hit back-to-back singles, and Sanchez scored when 1B Kyle Morgan reached base on a fielding error and a throwing error by the BG shortstop. �Anderson singled again with two outs in the 3rd inning, and Morgan followed with an out. �3B Bobby Spain singled in Anderson, but Morgan was out at third on the throw in from the outfield. �Morgan added another insurance run in the 8th inning with a solo home run. �

Casey Erickson relieved Brett Lorin for the final 4 innings. �He gave up the only BG run in the 6th inning on a single and an RBI double, then retired the next 6 batters, and allowed 3 hits over the final two innings. �Erickson earned his 5th save of the season.



State College Spikes 8, �Jamestown Jammers 1

Walks and errors helped the Spikes score 8 runs on just 7 hits. �The Spikes started the scoring in the 1st inning with 3 runs on�only one hit. �CF Evan Chambers walked, SS Ty Summerlin reached on a fielding error, and DH Justin Byler was hit by a pitch, loading the bases. �1B Aaron Baker's ground out and a throwing error scored Chambers and Summerlin. 3B Pat Irvine walked, and RF David Rubinstein got the inning's only hit -- a single scoring Baker. �

Jamestown got one run back in the 3rd inning with a solo home run. �That was the only run that Phillip Irwin allowed in his 4 innings of work. �He gave up 5 other hits, no walks, and struck out 5 batters. �Nelson Pereira also pitched 4 innings, allowing only one hit, and no walks, while striking out another 5 batters. �Pereira earned his 4th win. �Teddy Fallon pitched a scoreless 9th inning. �

The Spikes continued to score, though. �Five walks in the 4th inning, plus a wild pitch brought in two more runs. �Aaron Baker tripled to lead off the 7th inning, and Pat Irvine's RBI single brought him in with the Spikes' 6th run. �Singles by Justin Byler and Aaron Baker led off the 9th inning, and after a walk to Pat Irvine, two wild pitches scored both Byler and Baker. �



GCL Bradenton Pirates 2, GCL Braves 1

Sandobal Septimo and Ryan Beckman combined to hold the Braves to just 4 hits and one run this afternoon. �Septimo scattered 3 hits and a walk over 4 innings, and took advantage of a pick-off throw by C Andrew Walker in the 1st inning and a double play in the 4th. �Beckman allowed only one hit, but it was a solo home run in the 5th for the Braves' only run. �He also gave up two walks and struck out 4 batters.

The Pirates did their scoring in the early innings. �With two outs in the 1st inning, 1B Gerlis Rodriguez singled, and Andrew Walker was hit by a pitch. �Rodriguez scored on DH Jairo Marquez's RBI single up the middle. �With two outs again in the 2nd inning, RF Melvin De La Cruz singled and stole second base. �He scored on 2B Gift Ngoepe's RBI single. �

That was all the runs the Pirates needed. �They had a runner get as far as 3rd base twice more. In the 4th inning, Jairo Marquez singled and advanced to third base when 3B Henry Henry reached base on a fielding error. �In the 8th, SS Benjamin Gonzalez led off with a single. �He was out at second base when Gerlis Rodriguez bounced into a force out, leaving Rodriquez at first. �Andrew Walker also reached base on a fielding error, and that let Rodriguez move up to third base. �Both times, though, the Pirates were not able to bring the runners home.

Lincoln, Walker, and Bozied Sink the Clippers

IMG_1704Lincoln.JPGIndianapolis Indians 5,
�� �Columbus Clippers 1


3B Neil Walker and LF Tagg Bozied contributed 2 RBI each to give Brad Lincoln (photo) plenty of run support as he earned his third straight win at Victory Field tonight. �The win broke the Indians' 3-game losing streak and gave Lincoln his 5th win with the Indians. �

Lincoln breezed through his 5 innings of work. �He needed only 63 pitches (43 strikes) to keep the Clippers scoreless. �Lincoln gave up only two hits, both singles to Columbus DH Stephen Head, and after the first batter he faced, LF Josh Barfield, flied out to right field, no other out occurred in the outfield. �Lincoln retired the first 5 batters, then gave up the first single to Head in the 2nd inning -- a liner up the middle that just barely eluded SS Argenis Diaz's dive. �Then he retired the next 8 batters, until he faced Head again in the 5th inning. �Head again singled into center field, but this time he was quickly erased when 1B Damaso Espino bounced into a double play, Argenis Diaz to 2B Pedro Lopez (photo below)�to 1B Jeff Clement (6-4-3).

IMG_1712Lopez.JPG
The Tribe offense got started in the bottom of the 1st inning. �Pedro Lopez and RF Brian Myrow both lined singles into right field, and Myrow's moved Lopez over to third base. �Jeff Clement picked up his 21st RBI with the Indians on a sacrifice fly to bring in Lopez. �


The 1-0 lead held over the next two innings, when the Indians went down quietly. �3B Neil Walker had the only hit over those innings, when he lined a single into left-center field. �He was eliminated moments later, though, when DH Robinzon Diaz bounced into a double play.�


With one out in the 4th inning, Jeff Clement worked a walk off Clippers' starter Ryan Edell. �LF Tagg Bozied followed the walk with a double off the center field wall at the 405-foot mark, and the Indians had two runners in scoring position for Neil Walker. �Walker (photo below) lifted a double just over Clippers' 3B Wes Hodges and into left field, scoring both Clement and Bozied. �
IMG_1717Walker.JPG
Those were Walkers' 63rd and 64th RBI of the season. �That was all the Indians could get in that inning, as Edell buckled down and struck out both C Erik Kratz and Robinzon Diaz to end the inning. �

The Tribe threatened again in the 5th. �Argenis Diaz opened the inning with a line drive into right field. �CF Jose Tabata dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move Diaz to second base. �Pedro Lopez singled into right field, and Diaz took off. �As he approached third base, manager Frank Kremblas waved him around, and Diaz headed for the plate. �But Clippers' RF Jordan Brown made an on-target throw to the plate, and C Lou Marson plunked himself down in front of the plate, blocking it completely. �The slender Diaz could not get around, under, or through Marson, and he was out at the plate. �

The Pirates have dictated that their minor league pitchers be limited in how many total innings they pitch in the season, so that they do not far exceed the number of innings they pitched in the previous season. �Pitchers who are approaching their season-limit are not prevented from pitching, but they are held to fewer innings in their outings during these last few weeks of the season. �Brad Lincoln was told prior to the game that he would be pitching no more than 5 innings today, so despite the fact that he had dominated the Clippers and had only thrown 63 pitches, he was removed after the 5th inning. �

IMG_1722Meloan.JPG
Jon Meloan (photo) came on to relieve Lincoln and begin the 6th. �He pitched 2 innings, with 3 strikeouts and 3 fly outs, marred by only one hit -- that hit was a solo home run over the right field corner by SS Niuman Romero, for the only run the Clippers would score. �

Tagg Bozied added two more runs for the Tribe in the 8th inning. �With former Indy Indian (2007) Michael Tejera taking over on the mound for Ryan Edell,�Pedro Lopez led off with a walk. �Tejera got Brian Myrow out on a high infield chopper, and he struck out Jeff Clement for the second out. �Then Bozied blasted a long fly ball over the left field scoreboard for a 2-run homer, giving the Indians some extra insurance. �

Corey Hamman pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 8th, with one strikeout. �Jeff Sues pitche the 9th, and made things almost a little too interesting. �He walked the first batter he faced, Niuman Romero, and then gave up a single to LF Josh Barfield (who hit yesterday's game winning homer). �With runners on the corners, Sues bore down and struck out Jesus Merchan. �Then he got Jordan Brown and Wes Hodges to fly out to end the game. �



IMG_1713Bozied.JPG
Indians' Hitting Gems of t he Game: �The 2-run homer by Tagg Bozied, his 4th of the season, in the 8th, �and the 2-RBI double by Neil Walker, his 30th of the season, in the 4th.

Indians' Defensive Gem of the Game: �Five scoreless innings of work, with only 2 singles, by starter Brad Lincoln.












Brad Lincoln ............... � � � Jeff Sues
IMG_1734Sues.JPG
IMG_1705Lincoln.JPG





















NOTES:

IMG_1719.JPG
�update on the Mariott hotel going up across the street from Victory Field: �lots of glass, which looks very blue. �






Go Tribe!












[Photos by Nancy Zinni -- MVN]











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