Thursday night's action with the Pirates' lower minor league teams.....


Akron Aeros  6,  Altoona Curve  1      (Game 1)
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The Aeros began today's double-header with a 5-run 1st inning, and the Curve could not catch up in Game 1.  2B Brock Holt went 3-for-3 with a triple and two singles.  

Curve starter Aaron Thompson did not get out of the first inning.  With one out, A pair of doubles drove in one run.  A catchers' interference call on C Eric Fryer put the next batter on first base, and a single loaded the bases.  Thompson got a strikeout, but then walked in a run.  Two more singles drove in three more runs for a 5-0 lead.  Tim Alderson relieved Thompson, and Alderson ended the inning with a tapper back to the mound.  
 
Alderson gave up a double and a single in the 2nd inning, then retired the next three batters to get out of the inning without further runs scoring.  He went on to retire the next 11 batters in order (14 in order overall), before giving up a solo home run in the 6th.  

Holt recorded his first single in the top of the 1st, and CF Starling Marte reached base on an error, but they were not able to come around to score.  Holt singled again in the 3rd, with two outs.  That time he was out at second on a grounder force out.  SS Jordy Mercer singled in the 4th, and was left on base.  The Curve scored their only run in the 5th.  1B Miles Durham walked in the 5th, and moments later, Holt drove Durham in with his triple.  



Altoona Curve  2,  Akron Aeros  1     (Game 2)
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Jared Hughes pitched into the 6th inning, and kept the Aeros scoreless in the night-cap.  Hughes gave up 4 hits and 2 walks, and worked around runners on base in four of the innings he pitched.  He left two runners in scoring position in the 1st, and allowed another single in the 2nd.  In the 4th, the Aeros doubled, and the runner advanced to third on a bunt.  A grounder to 3B Shelby Ford became a fielder's choice when Ford's throw home let C Kris Watts tag out the runner at the plate.  Hughes gave up another single and a walk in the 6th, and was relieved by Michael Dubee.  Dubee moved both runners into scoring position with a wild pitch, but ended the inning with a strikeout.  

The Curve got onto the scoreboard in the 2nd inning.  DH Jeremy Farrell doubled into center field, and 1B Miles Durham walked.  Ford lifted a single into left field, allowing Farrell to score from second base.  A pair of doubles added another run for the Curve in the 3rd.  With one out, CF Starling Marte doubled into center field.  Marte scored on LF Quincy Latimore's double into left.  Latimore also singled and Farrell walked in the 6th, but the Aeros changed pitchers, and two strikeouts ended the inning.  

Akron's only run came in the bottom of the 7th.  Dubee gave up a lead-off double and a walk, and with two outs, an RBI single up the middle brought in the lead runner.   

Chase d'Arnaud (19) is congratulated after his 2-run homer.











Indianapolis Indians  6,  Buffalo Bisons  1
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Brad Lincoln (photo) won his fourth game in a row with his best performance of the season, pitching 7 scoreless innings to lead the Indians over the Buffalo Bison at Victory Field this afternoon.  This was Lincoln's 8th start overall for the Indians, and the only scoreless start so far.  He went 7 innings for the second time in a row, and struck out 7 batters for the third time this season.  Lincoln allowed only 4 hits, which was the fewest he's allowed since his first start -- and that start lasted only 4.2 innings.  

Lincoln scattered those 4 hits, plus one walk, so that the Bison had only one inning in which two runners reached base.  He retired the first 7 Bison in order, including 3 strikeouts in the first two innings.  Former Indy Indian (2008) C Raul Chavez had the first hit for Buffalo, with a grounder up the middle in the 3rd inning.  The next batter, Buffalo starter Casey Fossum tried to drop down a sacrifice bunt, but the bunt went up instead of down, and 3B Josh Harrison was able to charge in and catch the tiny pop.  Harrison then fired over to first base, where a temporarily confused Chavez had frozen in his tracks several feet away from the bag.  Chavez was easily doubled off the bag for the inning- ending double play.

Lincoln allowed a single to lead-off batter LF Jesus Feliciano in the 4th, then struck out the next two batters and ended the inning with a ground out.  He worked around an infield hits by 3B Michael Fisher in the 5th and by 1B Valentino Pascucci in the 7th.  The 6th was the only inning that Lincoln allowed two Bison hitters to reach base.  With one out, he walked Feliciano.  SS Luis Hernandez grounded to 2B Chase d'Arnaud for what could have been a double play.  D'Arnaud's flip to SS Pedro Ciriaco erased Feliciano at second, but Feliciano's slide made Ciriaco jump out of the way to avoid being taken down, and Ciriaco could not make the throw to first.  That didn't seem to bother Lincoln, though, as he got CF Kirk Nieuwenhuis to tap back to the mound and tagged Nieuwenhuis out himself to end the inning.  

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The Power played a double-header this afternoon, and the Curve and Marauders have evening games:

Lexington Legends  4,  West Virginia Power  2    Game 1 
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Jameson Taillon suffered his first pro loss this afternoon, as the Power were one-hit in the first game of their double-header.  Taillon began by giving up a solo homer in the bottom of the 1st.  Lexington scored two more in the 2nd inning with a single, a double, then an RBI ground out and an fielder's choice and throwing error by 3B Eric Avila.  Taillon had to work around another fielding error, this one by 1B Matt Curry, and a single in the 3rd inning, but he kept Lexington from scoring.  A single, a stolen base, and another single drove in the Legends' 4th run in the 4th inning.  Taillon gave up a total of 7 hits, no walks, for 4 runs (3 earned) in his 4 innings, and he struck out 4 batters.

The Power threatened in the 2nd inning, when both RF Justin Howard and DH Jairo Marquez walked, but a double play got the Legends out of that inning.  LF Andy Vasquez reached base in the 5th when he was hit by a pitch, but he was picked off first base.  The Power scored their only runs in the 6th, on only one hit.  2B Kevin Mort and LF Rogelios Noris both walked to lead off the inning, then SS Drew Maggi singled to load the bases.  CF Mel Rojas's grounder force out with a throwing error by the Legends' shortstop let Mort and Noris score.  Curry also walked, but two strikeouts ended the inning.  


Power  9,  Legends  3    Game 2
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Apparently the Power were saving up their hits and runs for the second game.  They put up 14 hits on the way to 9 runs, while holding Lexington to just 5 hits.  DH Dan Grovatt, 1B Matt Curry, and C Kawika Emsley-Pai each had 3 hits, with homers by Grovatt, Curry, and LF Rogelios Noris.

The Power jumped out to a 5-run lead in the top of the 1st.  With one out, CF Mel Rojas and Grovatt singled, then Curry brought them in with his 3-run homer.  Emsley-Pai singled up the middle, and Noris added his 2-run homer for a 5-0 lead. 

Curry led off the 3rd with a single, and he scored from first on Emsley-Pai's double.  Noris tripled, plating Emsley-Pai, and a wild pitch let Noris come across the plate.  Power up 8-0.  Dan Grovatt made it 9-0 with a solo home run in the top of the 4th. 

Tyler Waldron made the start in Game 2.  Waldron buzzed through the first two innings, retiring 6 Legends in order.  He loaded the bases in the 3rd, on a walk and two singles, but got a double play to end the frame.  The lead-off batter in the bottom of the 4th homered for the only run Waldron surrendered.  Kevin Decker relieved Waldron to begin the 5th.  He retired the side with two strikeouts and a fly out in that inning, but gave up 2 more runs in the 6th.  A double, a single, and a walk loaded the bases for Lexington.  A sacrifice fly brought in one run, and a throwing error by Decker allowed the second run of the inning to score.  Decker also retired the side in order in the 7th, earning the win.  

Alex Presley (7) had three hits and scored three times for the Indians tonight.  












Indianapolis Indians  10,  Buffalo Bison  1
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The Indianapolis Indians posted 16 hits and 10 runs as they stampeded the Buffalo Bison at Victory Field tonight.  Each position player in the Indians' lineup had at least one hit, and three players had 3 hits each:  CF Alex Presley, LF John Bowker, and C Dusty Brown.  Bowker contributed 4 RBI, while Brown and RF Andrew Lambo had 2 RBI each.  Justin Wilson earned the win with another very strong start, and rehabbing reliever Evan Meek pitched a scoreless 8th inning.  

The Indians got right down to business in the bottom of the 1st inning, when five of their first six batters singled.  2B Chase d'Arnaud started with a bouncer right back to the mound. The ball hit the leaping Buffalo starter Josh Stinson's glove and ricocheted 90 degrees to the left, landing over near the third base line.  That was all the time the speedy d'Arnaud needed to reach first base safely.  D'Arnaud promptly stole second base, and after SS Pedro Ciriaco popped out, d'Arnaud moved up to third base on Presley's (photo) first hit of the night, a single lined into right field.  A wild pitch by Stinson got away from his catcher Mike Nickeas and skittered over towards the visitor's dugout, far enough away that d'Arnaud was able to score from third, while Presley advanced to second.  Presley scored on Bowker's line drive into center field.  1B Matt Hague and 3B Josh Harrison both singled, loading the bases for Lambo.  Lambo grounded sharply to short, for what should have been a double play to end the inning.  Buffalo SS Luis Hernandez made the scoop and the toss to former Indy Indian 2B Luis Figueroa, forcing out Harrison at second, but Figueroa's relay to first pulled 1B Valentino Pascucci off the bag.  Lambo was safe, so Bowker scored from third.  Then, Hague, who had been on second base, rounded third and dashed for the plate, taking advantage of the Bison infielders having to regroup after the poor throw, and also taking advantage of the fact that they were not really paying attention to him.  Hague scored easily, giving Lambo 2 RBI on his fielder's choice.  Another grounder for a force out at second base ended the inning, with the Indians ahead, 4-0.