Luis Heredia will be joining West Virginia soon.

On Thursday I went over to Pirate City to watch Luis Heredia make a start in extended Spring Training against the Philadelphia Phillies farm system. There hasn’t been a lot to write about Heredia this year, as the Pirates have held him out of action. He only threw in a game once during Spring Training, which came at the end of March. He didn’t make his first extended Spring Training start until the end of April. Along the way Heredia was working on getting in shape, and working on a few minor adjustments with his delivery.

Heredia’s first two starts went two innings each. The start on Thursday was his third start, and he went three innings. The right-hander ran into trouble in the first. After striking out his first batter, Heredia allowed the next four batters to reach, capped off by a home run to the fourth batter of that series to make the score 4-0. The home run was a result of a slider that Heredia hung up in the zone.

After that, Heredia settled down. He gave up just one hit over the next two innings, with no runs. He finished with four runs on five hits in three innings, with no walks and four strikeouts. The no walks was a bit misleading, as Heredia had some control issues and was elevating his fastball at times out of the zone in the second and third innings. He was sitting in the 90-92 range with his fastball for the entire start, and mixed in his slider and changeup.

Heredia is throwing every five days now, and expects to be extended to four or five innings in his next start. He’s being stretched out, and should eventually join West Virginia.

“I’m ready right now, in good shape,” Heredia said. “Going to need a couple more innings to stay ready.”

The Pirates decided to hold Heredia back for a few reasons. First there’s the cold weather in the early part of the season in West Virginia. They also want to make sure he has enough innings to finish the season in West Virginia, rather than being shut down with a high innings count. There was also a hope that he would have enough innings left over for the Fall Instructional Leagues.

The time off allowed Heredia to get in better shape, work on his mechanics, and get more comfortable with his new slider. Heredia used to throw a slower curveball, but switched to a harder slider aimed at getting more strikeouts.

“I’m feeling good, comfortable on that one,” Heredia said of his slider.

The slider led to the home run on Thursday, but also led to some strikeouts and swings and misses when it was executed properly.

Once Heredia joins West Virginia, he should have a similar workload to his time in State College last year. In each of his games he was limited to five innings, never going beyond that mark. He will have the same limitations on him this year, aimed at controlling the innings totals for the 18-year-old. The plan all along has been for him to join West Virginia. At this point it looks like he’ll be closer to a Quinton Miller schedule (joining the team in late May), rather than a Jameson Taillon schedule (late-April).

Jameson Taillon struck out eight batters today.

Taillon shows full repertoire in six solid innings of work

Jameson Taillon improved his ERA to 2.82 today by throwing six innings of shutout baseball.  He surrendered only 2 hits, walking 3, and striking out 8.  The only downside of Taillon’s effort was a bit of trouble with control, throwing 100 pitches and only registering 59 strikes in the outing.  Nonetheless, he was able to overmatch many of the Squirrels hitters today, and on the season he has 47 strikeouts in 44 innings of work.  Some of the control issues came from a heavy dose of change-ups and two-seam fastballs, which we haven’t seen as much of from the tall Texan this season.

Taillon more frequently started batters with his two-seam fastball than in previous outings.  The pitch was 89-92 mph, and it has enough arm-side run to move off the barrel, leading to a high groundball rate when contact is made.

“The two-seam gets guys off my four-seam a little bit.  Quicker outs, more groundballs, so that’s going to be a point of emphasis, throwing it and the change-up with conviction,” said Taillon.

As in the past, Taillon’s primary strikeout pitch today was his true 12-6 breaking ball.  Up in the count, he was spinning the curve down into the dirt where Squirrel hitters were waving at it.  By in large, he didn’t throw the curve in the strike zone very often today, which was by design.

“Today, I threw it mostly in counts where I wanted it in the dirt or outside.  I can throw it for a strike when I need to, but that’s when guys start seeing it a little better,” said the heralded right-hander.

Taillon also used his change-up noticeably more today than previously, about 15 of his pitches.  Thus far in AA, he’s been able to have success with his two fastballs and curveball, so he hasn’t needed to mix in the change too often to get outs.

“He understands that in order for him to become an overall great pitcher, he has to incorporate that into his repertoire.  Whenever he can get a chance to go out there and use it, it’s going to benefit him in the long run,” said pitching coach Stan Kyles.

Even though Taillon had some issues with control today, I was very impressed with this outing, as he used his lesser two offerings with greater frequency.  When the two-seamer is prominent early in counts, it can make his four-seam fastball, which was 94-97 mph today, play up since hitters can’t key in on it.  He threw some of the four-seam higher up in the zone today, which may not have been intentional, but he can get away with it since hitters must respect the slower fastball with movement down in the zone.

It was also good to see more change-ups today.  If he can develop an above average change-up, Taillon will have four good pitches and be an overall better pitcher as he progresses.  Using his full repertoire will help Taillon to be a more complete pitcher vs. “just a thrower.”

“The change-up is just something that I have to work on.  It’s the difference between being a number 3 or 4 in the big leagues and being a number 1,” said Taillon.

Neil Walker wraps up rehab stint in Altoona; ready to return to Pirates line-up

Pirates second baseman Neil Walker played all nine innings at second base today, getting at bats from both sides of the plate.  He went 2-for-3 with two singles, an RBI, and a walk, playing a key part in the victory.  In his four games in Altoona, the switch-hitter was 4-for-10 with a strikeout and RBI.  He committed no errors at second base.

“I got some much needed at bats [in Altoona].  Hopefully, tomorrow I’ll be able to step right back in the line-up,” said Walker.

Walker had been out of game action for 13 days before joining the Curve on Thursday night, so he needed a few at bats to get his timing back.  The rehab was a success, as Walker will now return to Pittsburgh for their series starting tomorrow against the Milwaukee Brewers.

“Obviously, I don’t write the line-up card, but I’ll be ready to go,” said Walker.

Other notes**

**I heard some of the Curve players refer to Charlie Cutler as “Charlie Clutch-ler” after another impact at bat off the bench today.  Cutler’s drive to centerfield was ruled an error because Parker had it in his glove, but it was nonetheless a well-hit ball that decided the game.

**Ethan Hollingsworth got the victory after pitching a scoreless ninth inning.

**Andrew Lambo walked and scored the winning run.  Lambo has reached base in 32 of the 35 games he’s played in this season.

**Kelson Brown got the start at first base today, and played a big part in the win with a great diving play in the 6^th inning.  With two outs in the 6^th and Joe Panik on second base, Brown gloved a hard hit grounder down the line and flipped to Taillon to end the inning and keep the Squirrels off the board.

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Stolmy Pimentel didn’t have his best outing tonight. Photo Credit: Mark Olson

Pimentel not sharp

Coming into today, right-handed pitcher Stolmy Pimentel had a league-leading 0.74 ERA, only surrendering three earned runs on the entire season.  Tonight’s start would be a different story, as Pimentel struggled with command and control, leaving with only one out in the fourth inning and two runners aboard.  His overall line finished 4.1 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 5 BB, and 3 Ks, only throwing 59 strikes in 100 pitches.

As the strike percentage and walk total demonstrate, Pimentel had trouble throwing strikes tonight, and his walk rate is something to keep an eye on.  He was all over the place at times, bouncing pitches and then throwing way high out of the zone.  However, the bigger issue was his command in the zone, which is how the Squirrels were able to hurt him.

“I was missing my spots and getting behind in the count.  When you get behind in the count, the hitter feels more comfortable and can get better at bats,” said Pimentel.

Pimentel’s main problem was with his fastball, having trouble locating the pitches down in the zone and on the corners, two things he’s down well so far in 2013.  Instead, he was in the middle of the plate, where the Squirrels hitters could hurt him.

He also didn’t have his good slider tonight, either missing away or hanging the pitch.  Previously, Pimentel was starting the pitch in the zone and then getting swings-and-misses as it fell into the dirt.

“Sometimes his stuff is so good that hitters don’t take advantage of the mistakes he makes.  Tonight they did,” said Altoona pitching coach Stan Kyles.

He adds, “He has a long way to go yet to become a major league pitcher, but he’s well on his way to becoming one.  Tonight was a good learning opportunity for him.”

Previous reports had Pimentel’s four-seam fastball at 94-96 mph, but tonight I saw more gas, sitting 95-97 and touching 98 once.  While more velocity is an exciting thing to see, it can also affect command, which was the case for Pimentel tonight.

“Sometimes when you’re feeling that good, your command suffers a bit.  He’s got to learn to pitch with that.  You can’t just wing it up there, you have to make pitches,” said Kyles.

Kyles was not concerned with the rough outing after the game, and he noted that this type of start is normal for a young pitcher who is still developing.  Pimentel has been outstanding till now, and he was due for some regression (based on his high strand rate and low batting average on balls in play), so I’m not too concerned either.

A big game for the offense, led by Lambo, Santos, and Rojas, Jr.

As I’ve written recently and spoke about last week, the Curve offense has struggled this season as the worst hitting team in the Eastern League.  Tonight the bats came alive for 15 hits, which led the way to victory.

Andrew Lambo and Adalberto Santos have been the Curve’s best two hitters so far this season, and they continued to perform tonight.  It was an especially good night for Lambo, as he came in hitting only .182 against lefties, and with the three hits he’s up to .237 in that category.  With one exception, he was patient in each of his at bats and worked good counts.

Santos leads the Curve with a .345 batting average and .471 on-base percentage, and he showed his plus hitting tool tonight with three singles and a walk, while scoring twice and knocking one run in.  Simply put, Santos is too good of a hitter to be in AA, and though he presents some questions in the field and could stand to add more power, he’d benefit from taking his hitting tools to AAA soon.

After a solid first week of the season, Mel Rojas, Jr. hasn’t had the success of Lambo and Santos in 2013, so his 3-for-4 2-RBI night is a hopeful sign that he’s coming out of his slump.  Rojas, Jr. is a switch hitter and has struggled from both sides of the plate.

Prior to tonight’s game, the centerfielder spent extra time working with hitting coach Ryan Long on some of his mechanics.

“[Previously] I was trying to use my whole body to swing.  Earlier today, I was just trying to throw my hands at the ball, trying to drive it opposite field to the gap,” said Rojas, Jr.

He did exactly that in the third inning, lining a double to the right-field gap to plate Santos, his second RBI after scoring Lambo on a line drive to centerfield in the second inning.

Rojas, Jr. has some solid tools, but in his career he’s struggled with consistency and contact, two issues that have plagued him in Altoona.  Tonight, he looked much smoother and comfortable at the plate, and the advice from Long appears sound.  Rojas, Jr. can have a tendency to lunge at the ball when he swings, affecting his balance and limiting his ability to drive the ball, with his weight shifting forward before his hands come through the zone.  By “using” his hands more, Rojas, Jr. had a more balanced swing tonight.  His .231/.286/.350 slash line is still paltry, but Rojas, Jr. is making a big jump after only hitting .245 in Bradenton in 2012.  Tonight was a sign that he’s able to make adjustments.

Other notes

**Jarek Cunningham got the start at 3B for the first time this season with Walker at 2B.  He delivered the tying run in the 8^th inning by hitting a deep fly ball off the left field wall that was inches from being a grand slam.  Instead, he ended up with just a single, as the runners had to wait to see if the ball could be caught.

**Gift Ngoepe had two hits on the night, one a bunt single.  Once again, he led off despite entering the game with a .239 OBP.

**Jason Townsend picked up the victory in relief.  He pitched a clean ninth inning after giving up the one-run lead in the 8^th.

**Reliever Jeff Inman went on the disabled list today after feeling discomfort in his pitching elbow yesterday.  He has yet to meet to doctor’s so it is unclear how serious the injury is.

Francisco Diaz had two hits and drove in three runs in West Virginia’s 7-3 win against Greenville on Wednesday.

Diaz singled in the third to drive in two and then another single in the fifth inning brought Bell in to score.

“The thing with Frankie is every time he’s in the lineup he does something the help us win the game,” West Virginia manager Michael Ryan said. “That’s a special type of player. he takes his job very serious as far as calling the game and what he does behind the plate. The three big RBIs today were huge. He’s just a baseball player, man. He loves being at the field, at the stadium and takes pride in what he does.”

Bell finished the day a combined 3 for 7 with the home run, two RBIs and four runs scored.

“(Bell) is working his tail off in the cage and working extremely hard on his defense as far as his jumps and trusting what he can do on the field,” Ryan said. “He’s running the bases extremely well. He’s just playing baseball.”

Of course, hitting in front of Stetson Allie has not hurt Bell’s production either.

“I’m sure that helps a little bit,” Ryan said.

**

The reporters jinx was in play in West Virginia’s second game.

The Power led Greenville 7-0 with two outs in the top of the seventh inning, so I made my way out of the Appalachian Power Park press box and down near the field so I could easily slip into the clubhouse following the game.

Half an hour and six runs later, West Virginia managed to hang on by the slimmest of margins for a 7-6 win.

“It was one pitch from (Josh Smith) that let that affect the rest of his outing,” Ryan said of the near collapse in the final inning. “Going from thinking that he should have been out of it to not thinking that he still has some work to be done. I didn’t like everyone’s body language afterwards.”

Joely Rodriguez had another strong outing for West Virginia. He allowed Betts to reach base in the first inning but promptly struck out the next three batters he faced and settled in for a solid performance after that. When he was finished, Rodriguez had thrown six innings and allowed no runs on four hits with five strikeouts and no walks. Ryan said it was the sinker and two-seam fastball that were working for him on Wednesday.

“Joely with his start today really saved us not just for tomorrow but for the next two days by saving our bullpen,” Ryan said. “He set us up nice for this road trip. (The first inning) carried him to be able to really spot his two-seamer and trust it.”

**

Wednesday’s two wins gave the Power seven wins in its last eight game and a four-game sweep of Greenville. West Virginia, from both the wins and losses standpoint and the player development standpoint, started the season slowly in April but have turned things around on both fronts so far in May.

“We want to pitch it, we want to pick it up and we want to run the bases. That’s what we’ve been doing and it’s a recipe for success,” Ryan said. “We’re starting to play better in close games. We’re not putting pressure on our defense. The nervousness is going away. We’re very aggressive on the bases and we’re getting outstanding pitching which is the story of what we’re going to be.”

Barrett Barnes left West Virginia’s 6-3 win in the seventh inning with a hamstring injury on Wednesday.

The Power managed just one run from a bases loaded, no outs situation in the first inning but got a walk off home run from third baseman Eric Wood for its 11th win of the season.

Wood and Dilson Herrera each had three hits in the game (and were two of only four West Virginia players with hits along with Stetson Allie and Walker Gourley) but none were bigger than Wood’s blast to end the ballgame.

For his trouble Wood received a giant foam bat from West Virginia hitting coach Orlando Merced and a towel full of shaving cream to the face from teammates outside the Power clubhouse

West Virginia had trailed for most of the game and prior to the heroics at the end it appeared the team was going to not only lose the game but also saw outfield prospect Barrett Barnes leave the game in the seventh inning with a hamstring injury.

Barnes hit a ground ball to third base and hustled to first on what at first glance appeared as if it would be a close play. Greensboro third baseman Matt Jungel mishandled the ball and did not make a throw while Barnes came up limping.

“We don’t know the extent of it yet,” West Virginia manager Michael Ryan said after the game. “(Barnes) will not be playing tomorrow. We’ll see how it reacts as far as the length of time he’ll be out with soreness and bruising and stuff like that.”

Barnes has made nine appearances for the Power with just nine hits and eight strikeouts in 38 at-bats.

**

Joely Rodriguez left the game with the Power trailing 2-1 but pitched a solid six innings for West Virginia. Rodriguez allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits with six strikeouts and no walks for his second consecutive productive start. Last Thursday against Charleston (S.C.) Rodriguez got the win after allowing no runs on four hits in 5.1 innings.

“One thing I’ve noticed is what he’s doing in between starts,” Ryan said. “He had a really good start last time out in Charleston and the work he’s putting in in-between starts is really showing and for him to have results in the game with the way he’s preparing is key for him.”

Josh Smith and Jason Creasy combined to pitch the seventh, eight and ninth innings Wednesday  Smith allowed a run in the eighth while Creasy got his second win of the season as the pitcher of record when Wood hit his ninth inning home run.

The West Virginia bullpen has been among the worst in the South Atlantic League so far this season but has started to show signs of improvement in recent games.

“We pitched the ball pretty good in Savannah and our bullpen is starting to come together as far as knowing each others roles and knowing what they can do and what they can’t do out there,” Ryan said.  ”(Pitching coach Jeff Johnson) has been doing a heck of a job with those guys.”

**

West Virginia’s game on Friday is scheduled for a 10:30 a.m. start to allow for the first game of West Virginia University’s three-game series with Oklahoma at Appalachian Power Park scheduled for that evening. With the Sooners in town there could be an opportunity for Pirates fans in the Mountain State to get a first-hand look at pitcher Jonathan Gray, who we have looked at in our series on potential players Pittsburgh might draft this season.

Gray has been the Friday starter for the Sooners and is likely to take the mound against the Mountaineers in Charleston.

Eliecer Navarro gave up one run in six innings, striking out nine, but was out-dueled by Drew Gagnon.

The struggles against the Milwaukee Brewers aren’t just for the major league level. On Wednesday the Bradenton Marauders, the high-A affiliate for the Pirates, went up against the Brevard County Manatees, the high-A affiliate for the Milwaukee Brewers. The Manatees had Drew Gagnon on the mound, who was an unsigned prep pitcher taken by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 10th round of the 2008 draft. After three years at Long Beach State University, Gagnon was taken in the third round by Milwaukee in the 2011 draft.

Gagnon was dealing this morning, to the tune of seven perfect innings. He struck out ten batters, including Gregory Polanco all three times he faced him. He also struck out Taylor Lewis in all three at-bats, and Dan Gamache in both at-bats. Gagnon was very efficient, throwing 84 pitches and 56 strikes on the day.

A light, but steady rain was falling throughout the entire game, which might have been helping both pitchers. Eliecer Navarro also had a strong start for the Marauders, giving up one run on two hits in six innings, with a walk and nine strikeouts. Emmanuel De Leon came on in relief and threw two shutout innings, allowing one walk, one hit, and striking out four.

The Manatees removed Gagnon for the eighth inning and brought in Seth Harvey in relief. Harvey got Jose Osuna to pop out for the first out of the eighth inning. However, he followed that by giving up the only hit of the game to Dan Gamache. That broke up the perfect game and the no-hitter. Harvey got Willy Garcia to fly out to center, and caught Gamache stealing second to get out of the inning.

The rain picked up in the ninth inning, and the players were pulled off the field after Jhondaniel Medina went to a 3-2 count on the leadoff hitter. The game was eventually called early due to rain, giving the Manatees a one hit, 1-0 victory.

Marauders Win Suspended Game

Last night’s game against the Manatees was also delayed by rain, and suspended in the seventh inning. Adrian Sampson was dealing in the first five innings, and carried a 4-0 lead into the sixth. That’s when Sampson fell apart, giving up four runs on the inning, including a three run homer to tie the game.

In the very next half inning the rain started, and the game was suspended. Without the four runs, the Marauders might have won a shortened game. It didn’t matter in the end, as the game was resumed this morning, and the Marauders took the win in extra innings.

In the bottom of the 10th, Junior Sosa led off with a single, then moved to third base on a single up the middle by Alen Hanson. With two outs in the inning, Gregory Polanco came to the plate, and the Manatees responded by bringing in a left-handed reliever. That was a strange move for high-A ball, but also a strange move considering the lefty Polanco has crushed left-handed pitchers in his career. Polanco didn’t come through with a big hit, but did hit a hard grounder to the right of the first baseman. The first baseman ranged over, tried to pick up the ball, but got it trapped under his glove, allowing Polanco to reach safely, and allowing Sosa to score the winning run on a walk off error.

Zach Thornton picked up the win, after pitching two perfect innings with one strikeout. Zac Fuesser also threw two shutout innings when the game resumed. Sampson finished with four runs on eight hits and a walk in six innings, with one strikeout. He threw 76 pitches, with 52 strikes. Four of the hits and the walk came in that four run sixth inning.

David Bromberg allowed three runs in six innings.

Bromberg flashes good curveball in the loss

David Bromberg got his second start for Altoona tonight and took the loss, pitching six innings and giving up three earned runs on eight hits with no walks and four strikeouts.  All three of the Aeros runs came on homers, a solo blast by third baseman Gregory Urshela in the 2^nd inning and a two-run shot by left fielder Bo Greenwell in the fifth.

“I left a fastball up and middle-in [to Urshela] in the second, but beyond that I was pretty happy with my pitches,” said the big right-hander.

The Pirates signed Bromberg as a free agent before this season, and he was once a highly regarded pitching prospect for the Minnesota Twins.  However, he has not been the same since suffering an arm injury in 2011, with his velocity taking a big hit.  Tonight his four-seam fastball was 89-92 mph, when it was once in the mid-90s.  He also mixed in some two-seam fastballs that were in the mid-to-upper 80s.

Bromberg’s best pitch is his curveball, which he threw effectively out of the zone and was the out pitch on three of his four strikeouts (the other was on a change).  He did hang the pitch once or twice, but overall he was effective when he could throw it ahead in the count.

“I was able to get ahead a lot tonight, and we know that [Akron] likes to swing the bat.  I knew I could throw it in the dirt and get some swings,” said Bromberg.

Bromberg was moved to the bullpen in 2012 in AA and AAA with the Twins organization (and also in three appearances for the Curve), and my sense is that he’s a better fit in that role based on what I saw tonight.  In shorter spurts, he might be able to add a little to his velocity, with the curveball being used as the effective out pitch that relievers need.

Curve bats ineffective . . . again

Tonight the Curve only registered four hits, all singles, after only tabbing three hits in last night’s 2-0 victory.  In the past three games they’ve only had 14 hits total in 25 innings.

“Overall, we’re not in good rhythm.  We’re trying to see the ball and then react rather than be ready and aggressive in the strike zone,” commented Manager Carlos Garcia.

Tonight there were a few positives at the plate despite the anemic results.  First baseman Matt Curry had two hits and has hit safely in nine of the past ten games.  Andy Vasquez singled to center in the third inning and he’s batting .417 in the past ten games.  Alex Dickerson, who has struggled with the jump to AA after a strong 2012 campaign, also hit the ball well tonight (following a home run last night), but twice his line drives found Aero gloves.  Also, Adalberto Santos returned from his hip injury (0-for-1; 2 BB), looking to build on his early season success when he hit .417 in 24 at-bats prior to getting hurt.

Baserunning miscues plague the Curve

Curve baserunners were picked off three times tonight (Santos, Jarek Cunningham, Vasquez) in the first three innings of play.  The team is focusing on being aggressive on the base paths, but tonight that aggressiveness erased three of the seven baserunners they had.

“This is how we’re going to run the bases.  We’re going to make mistakes because we’re probably going to be over-aggressive sometimes.  We want to develop good situational baserunning types of players,” said Garcia.

**Other Notes

**Although Carlos Paulino continues to struggle at the plate (.186/.294/.237), his defensive skills are impressive.  He blocked two Bromberg curves in the dirt with a man on third in the first inning, and then he threw out both Aeros’ runners trying to steal tonight (12-for-24 CS on the season).

**Dickerson made a nice throw to the plate in the 8^th inning on a flyball to get Jesus Aguilar trying to tag up.  I haven’t had much opportunity to see his arm since moving to rightfield, but tonight’s throw was good.

**Kenn Kasparek relieved Bromberg and struggled, giving up 2 earned runs on two hits while walking three.  Dickerson’s throw saved another would-be run.

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Matt Benedict pitched a great game, but didn’t get any run support tonight.

Matt Benedict had his best start in a Bradenton Marauders uniform tonight. Unfortunately, he received zero run support. The sinkerball pitcher was a ground ball machine against the Jupiter Hammerheads. He had a 13:3 groundout to airout ratio on the night, and also had a ground ball that went for a single and another that went for an error.

Benedict was going heavy with his sinker tonight. He threw the pitch 77% of the time, only throwing 18 off-speed pitches. The pitch was sitting 88-91, touching 92. That’s what led to all of the grounders, and what led to an extremely efficient outing for the right-hander. In six innings, Benedict only threw 77 pitches, with 57 going for strikes. He gave up one run on four hits, with no walks and two strikeouts.

“The first time through the lineup they really didn’t get too deep in the counts, and they really didn’t show me that they needed to see anything else,” Benedict said of the sinker heavy approach. “So I was still able to go at them the same way the second time through and it was kind of the same thing.”

Last time Benedict went more with his off-speed stuff, since his opponents had a tendency to attack the fastball early. This time around he watched what Robby Rowland and Nick Kingham had done to this team in the previous two days.

“It was just something that I had just seen the last two days out of these guys, and I thought I could attack them and get ahead and use my fastball,” Benedict said. “Let them be aggressive and try and get early contact.”

“If you executed fastballs, they were just going to put them in play,” he added on what he saw specifically with this team. “And you take your chances with what they’re going to be able to do with them. But I just felt like if I executed pitches where I wanted to, I was going to be better than what they could do.”

Benedict only ran into two jams the entire night. In the first inning he gave up two, two-out singles, but followed it with a groundout to escape the inning without a run. The lone run came in the second inning. Benedict gave up a single to the leadoff man, who moved to second with a stolen base and advanced to third on a ground out. He scored on a single to center field.

That was the last hit Benedict allowed. He retired 13 of his next 14 batters, with the exception being an error by Alen Hanson at shortstop. Unlike a lot of the errors by Hanson this year, this one was actually a tough play. Number three hitter Austin Barnes hit a hard liner right at Hanson. The ball one hopped right before it reached Hanson, and ate him up. He did a good job blocking the ball and keeping it in front of him, but couldn’t recover to pick the ball up and make the throw. An inning later Hanson made a nice play on a hard grounder up the middle, fielding it cleanly, spinning, and making an accurate throw with plenty of time to get the runner.

Benedict mixed it up in the sixth inning, using more off-speed pitches. He threw about half of his off-speed pitches the entire game in the sixth inning. He was going through the lineup a third time on the night, and most of the hitters had seen only fastballs, so he wanted to mix it up. It ended up working for him, as he had another easy inning.

The Marauders couldn’t come back on offense, and the game went 1-0 to the ninth inning. Jupiter added two more runs off Quinton Miller. The second run scored when Alen Hanson threw wild on a relay to the plate to try and catch the first runner. It was a difficult throw to make, since the runner was between him and catcher Jacob Stallings. He threw wide, allowing the first run to score. The throw from Miller behind the plate to Stallings was in time to get the second runner, but he slid under the tag. Bradenton ended up dropping the game 3-0.

Nick Kingham gave up two runs in five innings, while striking out six.

The Bradenton Marauders didn’t get their fourth walk-off win in a row, but they did get their fourth win in a row. It wasn’t as dramatic as the last few games, with Bradenton taking an early lead and holding that lead through the end of the game.

Nick Kingham got off to a rough start in the first inning, giving up two runs on three hits. He was up in the zone, and wasn’t executing his pitches when he got into two strike counts, preventing him from putting batters away.

After that rough first inning, Kingham settled down and was dominant over the next four innings. He was 92-95 MPH with his fastball, pounded the zone to the tune of 57 strikes in 83 pitches, and got a lot of first pitch strikes. Kingham ended the night with two runs on six hits in five innings, with no walks and six strikeouts.

“I feel like the fastball opened up everything for me tonight,” Kingham said. “I was able to throw my curveball and changeup when I needed to. I got ahead with it. That is why I think I had success tonight. And then early in the game, the first inning, I got ahead of guys but just didn’t put them away. That kind of got me into trouble in the first inning, but I settled down the rest of the game.”

Struggling early in the game and then settling down for the final innings has been a trend for Bradenton pitchers this year. Manager Frank Kremblas chalked it up to growing pains with young guys in high-A. He also noted that Kingham did a much better job of pitching inside after the first, pushing batters off the plate and opening up the outer half.

“He did a better job of pitching in after the first inning,” Kremblas said. “That’s what, sometimes you need to do to give yourself a little room. Knock some feet out of the way, get guys lifting their arms, and they can’t quite chop [on the outside half of the plate] sometimes.”

Kingham got some help this evening from the hot hitting Jose Osuna. The first baseman capped off a four run inning in the third, launching a two run homer to put the Marauders up 4-2 at the time. The inning started with a one out walk from Chris Lashmet. He moved to third on an Alen Hanson double down the right field line, which just stayed fair. Lashmet scored on an error by third baseman Ryan Fisher, and Hanson scored to tie the game on a sacrifice fly by Gregory Polanco. That’s when Osuna came up with two outs and a man on first and crushed the first pitch he saw to left field.

Osuna also came up big in the fifth inning, giving the Marauders an insurance run. Alen Hanson started the inning with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Junior Sosa, and moved to third on an infield single to second by Gregory Polanco. That’s when Osuna stepped to the plate and pulled a double down the left field line, bringing in Hanson to make it 5-2.

Osuna finished 3-for-4 on the night with a double and a homer. He also had an infield single later in the game. In his last ten games he’s been hitting the ball hard, and is 13-for-35 with a double and two homers.

“He’s being a little more patient, and of course he’s getting a little bit more confidence as he gets the hits, which is nice,” Kremblas said. He also added that Osuna is doing a better job with pitch selection, which is leading to the recent hitting.

Robert Kilcrease came on and gave up an unearned run in two innings, due to a Chris Lashmet error in the seventh inning. Zach Thornton came on to close out the game with a two inning save. He ran into some trouble late in the game. With two outs in the ninth, Thornton induced a grounder to first, but didn’t step on the base after Osuna flipped him the ball. He followed that up with a single to put the tying run on. After a visit to the mound by pitching coach Justin Meccage, Thornton went after Jupiter’s cleanup hitter, Ryan Fisher, and struck him out on three pitches to wrap up the win.

Orlando Castro struck out three in five innings of work in West Virginia’s win on Sunday.

Castro (2-1) went five innings, allowing two runs on six hits while strikeout three and allowing one walk (his first of the season). Castro did well in using his fastball to get ahead of the Hagerstown batters and being aggressive once ahead in the count.

“The thing I like about him is he mixes speeds well and he likes to dominate the inside part of the plate,” West Virginia manager Michael Ryan said after Sunday’s game. “He’s not the biggest guy in the world but he has a huge heart. He establishes his fastball in and then mixes in his pitches that much more.”

Sunday was Castro’s fourth appearance of the season for West Virginia. In his previous two outings he allowed no runs on  six hits in a total of nine innings pitched. His strikeout to walk ratio currently sits at 18 to 1 after Sunday’s performance.

“He’ll throw 90, 91 (miles per hour) but with his angle and the way he can locate it inside it makes it look a lot harder than what he does throw,” Ryan said. “The biggest thing with him is when he locates his pitches. Anybody is tough to hit (when they locate pitches) but he by far locates the best out of our rotation right now and it makes him effective.”

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Barrett Barnes made his debut in West Virginia during this weekend’s series with Hagerstown, and while he still appears to be getting acclimated to the South Atlantic League he did account for a double and two RBIs in Sunday’s win.  Barnes has just two hits in his first 17 at-bats for the Power, but Ryan said he feels the former Texas Tech standout is fitting in well with his new team.

“He took the extra base to get a hustle-double and that’s what we’re trying to instill in these guys — to play hard for nine innings,” Ryan said. “His timing is starting to get there as far as being under the lights and playing at a higher level so that was good to see.”

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West Virginia hits the road for its next seven games, with a three-game series at Charleston (S.C.) starting Tuesday.