On Wednesday night in the Dominican, fans got their first chance to see Starling Marte and Gregory Polanco in the same Escogido lineup. Marte made his season debut, hitting third in the lineup and he was the designated hitter. Polanco batted right in front of Marte in the lineup and he was playing his normal center field position.
Marte singled in his first at-bat, then got hit by a pitch. He struck out in the fifth inning, then again in the seventh. Marte finished his night 1-for-4 after flying out to center field in the eighth inning.
Gregory Polanco went 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI. It was his second straight three hit game. Polanco is now hitting .331 over 41 games. The double was his tenth of the season.
Graham Godfrey started the game for Escogido and went two innings, giving up one run on five hits. He is still a free agent.
Carlos Paulino went 1-for-3 with a strikeout, before being pinch-hit for in the ninth inning. He is hitting .212 through 24 games.
Michael Martinez went 3-for-5 with a double and RBI. He has RBIs in all three games that he has played since signing with the Pirates. He also picked up an outfield assist for the second straight game.
In Puerto Rico, Benji Gonzalez went 1-for-4 with a single, run scored and a walk. He is hitting .371 through 12 games and has equaled his hit output(13) from last year in 26 Winter games.
Ivan De Jesus Jr. went 2-for-5 with two singles. He leads the league with 26 walks and is second with 18 runs scored.
From Tuesday night in Colombia, Harold Ramirez went 0-for-3 with a hit-by-pitch in his team’s 5-0 loss. He was playing his first game since the All-Star break. Ramirez went 2-for-3 with a triple and run scored in the All-Star game and on the season, he is hitting .358 in 22 games, with four doubles and three triples.
On Wednesday, the Pirates announced the signing of Elvin Ramirez, along with six other minor league free agents. Ramirez is pitching in the Dominican and the results are strong. In nine appearances, he has thrown eight shutout innings, giving up two hits and three walks, with seven strikeouts. He is on the Gigantes del Cibao club.
