After a brief slump, Tony Sanchez recently resumed his domination over the Florida State League. Ryan Doumit is hitting well, with a .360 wOBA. He is 29-years-old, has an injury history and is lousy defensively. The Pirates have decent catching depth in the upper minor leagues. The conditions for a Doumit trade are almost ideal.

Two morning games today in the Pirates' organization. �Pat Irvine was brought up from extended spring training to take the place of catcher Josue Peley, who was traded away a few days ago. �Irvine was the Pirates' 33rd round pick in the 2009 draft. �He played at State College for the second half of 2009, but he split his time between third base and left field.... now he's a catcher.

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Lexington Legends �6, �West Virginia Power �3 (box)

The Power and the Legends were the first to get started this morning, and the Power bats woke up first. �CF Evan Chambers opened the game with a looping single into right-center field. �2B Jarek Cunningham dropped another single in, right in front of the Legends' center fielder, then a wild pitch moved both runners up a base. �DH�Aaron Baker grounded out to first base, allowing Chambers to score from third base. �LF Rogelios Noris was hit by a pitch, but a double play ended the inning. �The Power took advantage of an error by the Legends' second baseman, who bobbled the ball, then threw wide to first base in the 2nd inning, putting 3B Elevys Gonzalez on base. �RF Jose Hernandez drove Gonzalez in with a double lined into the right field corner. �After two innings, the Power were leading 2-0.

Power starter Brandon Holden also got off to a good start, retiring the Legends in order in the 1st inning, and allowing only a walk in the 2nd -- then he threw out the runner trying to steal second to end the inning. �The Legends loaded the bases against Holden in the 3rd inning with one out -- on a walk, a single, and a fielding error by SS Benji Gonzalez. �But Holden induced a double play to end the inning, with a ground out to 2B Cunningham, who stepped on second base, then threw on to 1B Kyle Morgan to end the inning without a run scoring.

The Legends got to Holden in the 4th inning. �A lead-off single was followed by a strikeout, but then a double brought in the first Lexington run. �Another single drove in the second run of the inning, to tie the game. �Lexington added three more runs in the 5th, as they took advantage of mistakes by the Power. �A lead-off double by 2B Jose Altuve and a single by SS Miguel Arrendell put runners on the corners. �When Arrendell tried to steal second base, new Power catcher Pat Irvine�made a throw to second base, but his throw went into center field for an error, allowing Altuve to score and Arrendell to reach third base. �CF Evan Chambers' throw back to the infield, presumably aiming for third base, went sailing into the stands, and Arrendell also scored. �After another single, Holden was relieved by Jhonatan Ramos. Ramos had trouble too, hitting a batter, and giving up a single, which brought in the third run of the inning (charged to Holden). �A throw in to the plate was on-target but but the runner slid to the outside edge of the plate and eluded Irvine's tag. �A passed ball put runners on second and third, but the next batter tapped a grounder to first, which 1B Morgan fired back to the plate, and this time Irvine was able to apply the tag to prevent the run from scoring.

After scoring in the 2nd, the Power were able to put runners on base in 4 of the next 5 innings. �Jarek Cunningham and Benji Gonzalez singled, Jose Hernandez singled twice, and Kyle Morgan doubled, but none of them could come around to score. �The Power scored again in the 8th, when Aaron Baker led off with a double down the left field line, barely fair. �He advanced to third on Rogelios Noris's ground out, and then scored on Morgan's RBI ground out. �Pat Irvine was up next, and with a count 3-0 on him, the rain that had been going on for some time became much harder, and the game was halted for a rain delay. �The rain didn't last long, though, and play was resumed, with Irvine getting robbed of what should have been a double down the right field line, thanks to an excellent run and dive by the Legends' RF JD Martinez.

Ramos pitched two more scoreless innings, giving up three more singles. �Zach Foster came on to pitch the bottom of the 8th. �He gave up a solo homer to Altuve, to keep the Legends three runs ahead. �The Power could not respond in the top of the 9th, and the Legends had the win. �Brandon Holden was charged with the loss, his fourth of the season. �Hernandez went 3-for-4 for the Power, and Cunningham had 2 hits.

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The Curve also had a morning game.... �"Read More"

More solid pitching. More sputtering offense. Another late inning spurt. Bucs win again.

Last Update:  July 5th

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(* denotes a member of the Pirates' 40-man roster
 # denotes a 2010 draft pick
  & denotes a 2011 draft pick)

Indianapolis Indians  (AAA) - manager Dean Treanor

Pitchers:
Jose Ascanio 
Brian Burres 
Mike Crotta * 
Sean Gallagher  
Jared Hughes
Steven Jackson
Brad Lincoln  *
Dan Meyer   -- DL  
Garrett Olson
Rudy Owens 
Justin Thomas  
Donnie Veal  -- rehab
Justin Wilson
Tim Wood  *

Catchers:
Dusty Brown
Jason Jaramillo  * -- DL
Miguel Perez
Wyatt Toregas  -- DL
Kris Watts

Infielders:
Pedro Alvarez  * -- rehab assignment
Shelby Ford  -- DL (elbow)
Brian Friday
Matt Hague
Andy Marte  
Jordy Mercer

Outfielders:
John Bowker
Miles Durham
Gorkys Hernandez  *
Anthony Norman
Corey Wimberly

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Altoona Curve  (AA) --  manager PJ Forbes  

Pitchers:
Tim Alderson
Joe Beimel  -- rehab assignment
Anthony Claggett
Mike Colla
Michael Dubee
Phillip Irwin
Noah Krol
Jeff Locke  *
Kyle McPherson*
Matt McSwain
Diego Moreno  -- DL shoulder soreness
Bryan Morris  *  
Aaron Pribanic
Aaron Thompson

Catchers:
Tony Sanchez
Travis Scott

Infielders:
Gerardo Alvarez  -- DL
Matt Curry  #
Jeremy Farrell
Brock Holt
Greg Picart 

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Outfielders:
Brad Chalk
Jose Hernandez
Andrew Lambo
Quincy Latimore
Starling Marte 
Josh Rodriguez

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Bradenton Marauders (A+) -- manager Carlos Garcia

Pitchers:
Nathan Baker
Ryan Beckman
Tyler Cox  
Brandon Cumpton  #
Jason Erickson
Zach Foster
Jeffrey Inman  --DL
Brian Leach
Brett Lorin
Quinton Miller  
Jhonathan Ramos
Brett Sinkbeil
Hunter Strickland  --DL
Duke Welker 

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Catchers:
Ramon Cabrera
Carlos Paulino 
Milver Reyes  -- DL

 

Infielders:
Aaron Baker
Kelson Brown  #
Jarek Cunningham
Benji Gonzalez
Elevys Gonzalez
Jairo Marquez

 

Outfielders:
Calvin Anderson
Evan Chambers
Robbie Grossman
David Rubinstein
Adalberto Santos   #

West Virginia Power  (A)  -- manager Gary Robinson

Pitchers:
Victor Black
Colton Cain
Kevin Decker   #
Zack Dodson
Justin Ennis  #
Zac Fuesser
Brandon Holden -- DL
Brent Klinger  -- DL
Porfirio Lopez
Eliecer Navarro
Brooks Pounders
Casey Sadler
Trent Stevenson
Jameson Taillon
Jason Townsend  #
Zack Von Rosenberg
Tyler Waldron   #  


Catchers:
Elias Diaz
Kawika Emsley-Pai



Infielders:
Eric Avila
Justin Howard  #
Chase Lyles
Drew Maggi  #
Kevin Mort
Gift Ngoepe  --DL
Andy Vasquez


Outfielders:
Dan Grovatt  #
Rogelios Noris
Mel Rojas   #
Cole White 

State College Spikes (Short Season A) -- manager Kimera Bartee  (Season begins June 17th)

# =  2010 draft pick     & =  2011 draft pick

Pitchers:
Stetson Allie   #
Cliff Archibald   #
Matt Benedict  &
Jesus Brito
Fraylin Campos
Emmanuel De Leon
Mitchell Fienemann
Ryan Hafner  #
Michael Jefferson  &
Nicholas Kingham
Kevin Kleis   #
Joan Montero
Vince Payne   #
Joely Rodriguez
Rinku Singh
Bryce Weidman   #

Catchers

Samuel Gonzalez 
Matthew Skirving  #
Derek Trent  & 

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Infielders:
Jorge Bishop 
Walker Gourley
Chris Lashmet   &
Brian Sharp    &
Kirk Singer    &

Outfielders:
Justin Bencsko  #
Exicardo Cayones
Wes Freeman 
Ale Fuselier   &
Taylor Lewis    & 
Carlos Mesa 
Billy Nowlin 

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GCL Bradenton Pirates (Rookie) -- manager Tom Prince  

Pitchers:
Brayan Almonte
Orlando Castro 
Jordan Cooper  &Luis Heredia
Jimy Hernandez
David Jagoditsh   &
Robert Kilcrease  
Wilson Lee
Jackson Lodge
Diomedes Mateo
Miguel Mendez
Joseph Parsons  &
Logan Pevny  # 
Josh Poytress  &
Cristopher Richardson
Isaac Sanchez
Bryton Trepagnier  # 

Catchers:
Dylan Child 
Ryan Hornback   &
Joey Schoenfeld 
Jon Schwind     &

Infielders:
Francisco Aponte
Yhonathan Barrios
Jodaneli Carvajal
Daan Cornelissen
Alen Hanson
Jared Lakind  #
Ashley Ponce
 

Outfielders:
Ping-Hung Chi
Willy Garcia
Gavi Nivar
Jose Osuna
Gregory Polanco
Junior Sosa 
Luis Urena 

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*********************************
Injured and waiting:

RHP Kevin Hart * --  shoulder surgery May 2010

RHP Tyler Yates --  elbow, torn flexor tendon

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Inf Jeff Clement  

The Pirates traded minor league reliever Ronald Uviedo to the Blue Jays for starting pitcher Dana Eveland today. Eveland will join the Pirates rotation.

I find almost nothing even remotely interesting about Dana Eveland. He is essentially a poor-man’s Zach Duke, without the good control. I have no idea what Neal Huntington sees in him, other than a high ground ball rate. Giving up a prospect with a live arm to acquire him is perplexing.

First, the Indians had to finish up yesterdays' game -- suspended due to rain. �Then they had to play a 7-inning game for today.

Gwinnett Braves �4, �Indianapolis Indians �3 � (suspended, now finished) (box)

Home runs were the key in the first part of this game, which was started on Monday night -- read more about it here. Gwinnett's Barbaro Canizares started the scoring with a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 1st. �Indians' LF Brandon Moss knocked a solo homer in the top of the 2nd, and Braves' Alex Romero answered with a solo blast to lead off the bottom of the inning.

The Braves were leading 3-1 going into the bottom of the 4th. �Starter Daniel McCutchen (photo) got into trouble quickly, when LF Matt Young bounced a weird hop off 2B Argenis Diaz's shoulder for an error. �Alex Romero walked, putting runners on first and second, as the rain got serious. �A double steal moved the runners to second and third. �SS Brandon Hicks came to the plate and had a 1-2 count on him when the game was halted.

McCutchen finished with 3 innings of work, allowing 3 runs on 3 hits and 4 walks. �Two of those hits and runs came on homers. �McCutchen threw 58 pitches, 30 for strikes.

When the game resumed on Tuesday, Anthony Claggett took over for McCutchen, inheriting two runners on base and a 1-2 count on Hicks at the plate. �Claggett threw two balls, but then got Hicks to ground out easily to Pedro Alvarez at third, with the runners forced to hold their positions. �C Clint Sammons bounced to first base, where 1B Brian Myrow scooped and fired back home, where C Erik Kratz tagged out the lead runner Young at the plate. �Claggett ended the inning with a strikeout, escaping the jam without letting a run score.

The Braves scored again in the 5th inning. �CF Jordan Schafer lined a single into center field, and when Claggett tried to pick him off first base, the throw hit Schafer. �After taking a few minutes to make sure he was ok, Schafer popped up and stole second base on the next pitch. �A sacrifice bunt by 3B Wes Timmons moved Schafer to third base, and a single lined into left field brought him home. �Braves up, 4-1.

The Indians rallied in the top of the 6th. �CF Jon Van Every led off with a walk. �He moved to second base, then on to third, on ground outs by Argenis Diaz and Brian Myrow. �Pedro Alvarez smacked a double to deep center field, to plate Van Every. �Erik Kratz (photo) followed with a single slipped through the hole and into left field, and Alvarez raced around third to score. �That put the Tribe within one run of the Braves, at 4-3. �The rally ended when RF Brandon Jones grounded out.

Anthony Claggett also pitched the 6th inning, allowing only a walk. �He came out to begin the 7th inning, and got a strikeout, before turning the ball over to Justin Thomas. Claggett�finished with 3.1 innings of work, allowing one run on 2 hits and a walk, with 4 strikeouts. �Thomas finished the 7th inning with two quick outs, a strikeout and a fly out. �Brian Bass came on to pitch the 8th, working around a lead-off single to keep the Braves scoreless again.

After their two runs in the 6th, the Indians managed only one base runner for the rest of the game. �Manager Frank Kremblas decide not to use a pinch-hitter for Anthony Claggett. �Batting for himself, Claggett worked the count full then took a walk. �He moved to second base on a wild pitch, but was left there at the end of the inning. �The Indians went down in order in the 8th and 9th innings, including three strikeouts.

Argenis Diaz was the only Tribe batter to have 2 hits in the game (both singles). �Daniel McCutchen was charged with the loss, his second of the season with the Tribe.

Indians' Hitting Gem of the Game: �Brandon Moss's (photo) solo home run, which put the Indians on the scoreboard in the 2nd inning.

Indians' Defensive Gem of the Game: �In the bottom of the 3rd inning, with one out and Joe Thurston on first base, Barbaro Canizares bounced a slow roller to Pedro Alvarez at third. �Alvarez grabbed it on the second hop, then fired to second base, where 2B Brian Friday made the pivot and threw on to first base for the inning-ending double play, which cut short the Braves' rally.

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Curve pitcher Tim Alderson was named the Eastern League's Pitcher Of The Week, for the week of May 24 - 30. �Alderson won two starts during that week, on the 24th and the 29th. �In 13 innings of work, he gave up only one run on 8 hits and 3 walks, with a total of 10 strikeouts. �His ERA for the two games was 0.69. �Overall, Alderson has a 4-2 record and a 4.75 ERA in 10 starts for the Curve.

Reliever Ronald Uviedo, who has made 16 appearances for the Curve this season, was traded today to the Blue Jays in return for starter Dana Eveland, who will be joining the Pirates' rotation. �Uviedo was on the Pirates' 40-man roster, so trading him opens up a space on the 40-man roster for Eveland. �Uviedo has an 0-2 record with the Curve, no saves, and a 3.22 ERA in 22.1 innings. �He has allowed 13 hits, 8 runs (3 homers), and 12 walks, while striking out 28 batters.

Altoona Curve �4, �New Britain Rock Cats �1 (box)

Jared Hughes pitched 7 strong innings, allowing only one run on 5 hits and a walk, while striking out 6 batters, to earn his Eastern League-leading 8th win of the season. �Hughes gave up the run in the 1st inning. �A lead-off single, a stolen base, a sacrifice fly, and an RBI ground out gave the Rock Cats their only tally of the game. �Hughes gave up a double in each of the next two innings, and a single in the 4th, but each time worked around the base runner to keep the Rock Cats from scoring. �The last single plus the walk came in the 6th inning, but again Hughes bore down and ended the inning with the runners still standing there. �He finished off his night with two strikeouts in the 7th inning.

The Curve put runners on base in each of the first 4 innings, but could not push them around to score. �Two singles by CF Gorkys Hernandez, walks by 1B Matt Hague and RF Miles Durham, and a double by LF Alex Presley were not enough to bring in any runs. �Finally in the 3rd, the Curve tied the score at 1-1 when C Kris Watts led off with a double, moved to third on SS Chase d'Arnaud's single, and scored on Hernandez's sacrifice fly. �A walk to DH Jim Negrych and a single by Hague loaded the bases, but all three were left on base when the inning ended.

D'Arnaud got the go-ahead RBI in the 6th. �Presley and Durham led off with back-to-back singles. �A bunt by Watts went a little awry, and Durham was out at second, but Presley made it safely to third and Watts was safe on first. �That set up d'Arnaud, who lined a double into left field, scoring Presley, for the 2-1 lead.

The Curve tacked on two insurance runs in the top of the 9th. �Negrych reached second base on a throwing error by the Rock Cats' third baseman Juan Portes. �Hague walked, then 2B Jordy Mercer grounded to third base. �Portes made the force out of Negrych at third, but then made a throwing error, and Hague ended up on third, with Mercer safe on second. �A wild pitch allowed Hague to score, and a single by 3B Josh Harrison brought in Mercer.

Jeff Sues pitched a scoreless 8th inning for the Curve, retiring the side in order. �Danny Moskos finished things off by striking out the side in the 9th, earning his 12th save of the season.

The Curve have a school-day special in New Britain tomorrow, with the game beginning at 10:30 am.

Gwinnett Braves �3, �Indianapolis Indians 1 �-- bottom of the 4th (box)

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Yes, it's happened again. �For the fourth time in less than two weeks, the Indians have had to stop in the middle of a game -- suspended due to rain again.

The Indians and Braves traded home runs as this 4-game series got started under threatening skies in the suburbs of Atlanta.

Jon Van Every (photo) was traded back to the Pirates this morning after being designated for assignment by the Boston Red Sox, and he wasted no time returning to the Indians. �He was put right into the starting line-up and was busy patrolling center field this evening. �He has not been doing much in the way of baseball activities for the past 10 days or so, though, so it isn't a big surprise that he struck out in his first two times at bat.

In the bottom of the 1st inning, Tribe starter Daniel McCutchen got two fly outs on the first two batters he faced, then walked 2B Joe Thurston and gave up a 2-run homer to 1B Barbaro Canizares to give the Braves a 2-0 lead. �McCutchen seemed a little rattled, or maybe a little angry, and he walked the next batter, LF Matt Young. �But he turned the anger right back at the Braves, as he picked Young off first base to end the inning.

LF Brandon Moss got one of the runs right back in the top of the 2nd, with his own home run, which sailed over the right-center field wall. �Gwinnett's RF Alex Romero returned the favor in the bottom of the frame, with a lead-off homer, to keep the Braves ahead by 2 runs, 3-1.

The Indians could not get much going over the next two innings. �SS Argenis Diaz singled for the second time in the 3rd inning, and when he saw RF Romero fumble the ball in right field, Diaz decided to try for second base. �But Romero recovered quickly and his throw to second base was right on target, and Diaz was tagged out at second.

Daniel McCutchen (photo) gave up a single to Thurston in the 3rd, but he got the better of Canizares this time, inducing him to ground into a double play. �3B Pedro Alvarez made an excellent scoop of the grounder on the second hop, then fired to second base to begin an around-the-horn double play, Alvarez to 2B Brian Friday to 1B Brian Myrow.

McCutchen was getting into trouble in the 4th inning when the rains came. �Matt Young reached base when his bouncer to short took an unusual hop, skipped off Argenis Diaz's shoulder, and dribbled over behind second base, for an error on Diaz. � Alex Romero worked the count full, then walked, and both runners pulled off a double steal to put runners on second and third base. �McCutchen had a 1-2 count on SS Brandon Hicks in the pouring rain, when the umpires sent the players off the field and called for the tarp.

The rain had not let up after more than 90 minutes, and the game has been suspended. �It will be resumed on Tuesday at 6:05 pm, and the full 9 innings will be played. �Then Tuesday's regular game will follow, and that will be a 7-inning game. �This is not going to help the Indians, particularly their bullpen. �The Tribe had been hoping that McCutchen would be able to pitch deep into this game, sparing the bullpen. �The relievers will get the day off, but doing it this way doesn't help much, since they'll have to make it up with two games tomorrow.

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Go Tribe!

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(photos by Nancy)

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West Virginia Power �8, �Hickory Crawdads �1 (box)

The Power turned on the power in three consecutive innings, taking a big lead after 5 innings in West Virginia on Monday. �That served them well, because rain halted the game after those 5 innings, and after a delay, the 5 innings were declared good enough, giving the Power the win.

Starter Jason Erickson pitched all 5 innings, allowing just one run on 4 hits, no walks, with 5 strikeouts. �He worked around a fielding error by 3B Jesus Brito in the 1st inning, and retired the side in two more innings. �The only Hickory run came in the 3rd, on a lead-off double and an RBI single. �Erickson also gave up two singles in the 4th, but a ground ball got him out of the jam.

Crawdads' starter Joe Wieland also went all 5 innings, but he did not have as nice a day as Erickson. �After allowing only one hit, a single by 1B Aaron Baker, in the first two innings, Wieland was bombarded in the next three innings. �With one out in the 3rd, SS Benji Gonzalez tripled, CF Evan Chambers singled to deep short, scoring Gonzalez, Baker singled again, and RF David Rubinstein doubled, driving in both Chambers and Baker, and the Power took a 3-1 lead.

LF Rogelios Noris led off the 4th inning with a solo home run. �Wieland got one out, then gave up a single to DH Jose Hernandez. Gonzalez's ground out moved Hernandez to second, and Hernandez scored from there on Chambers' second RBI single of the game. �Power up, 5-1.

Wieland came out again in the 5th inning, and was greeted by 2B Jarek Cunningham's line drive single into left field. �Wieland got two outs, but then C Ramon Cabrera doubled, plating Cunningham. �Noris followed with his second homer of the game, and his 8th of the season, this one for 2 runs. �That was all, as the rains halted play.

Power back-up catcher Josue Peley is on his way to the Red Sox organization. �He was traded this morning for OF Jonathan Van Every.

The offense is still stagnant. The pitching was stellar. More of the same from Ross Ohlendorf, please.

While Jose Tabata is certainly having an encouraging year at Indy, a .786 OPS at Triple-A should not be considered big numbers. He is hitting .316, but it is mostly empty batting average. Many fans expect him to be called up to Pittsburgh within a few weeks and inject some offense into the Pirates lineup. I just don’t see that happening.