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It really didn't help much.

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Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees 8, Indianapolis Indians 5 SUSPENDED (box)

The rain was the winner at Victory Field tonight, halting play in the middle of the 4th inning. �The rain started mid-afternoon in central Indiana, and it had come down heavily until about 6 pm. �The Indians' ground crew was able to remove the tarp from the field around that time, and by 7 pm it was still overcast but not raining, so the game started on time. �Rain started falling again in the 2nd inning, and by the end of the 3rd, it was coming down pretty heavily. �The umpires still had the Indians come out and take the field for the top of the 4th, and only after a disastrous half-inning for the Indians was play halted.

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(Photo: �Manager Frank Kremblas was very upset with the umpires' decisions on continuing and then halting play.)

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Jeremy Powell was making the spot start for the Indians, taking the place of�Daniel McCutchen, who is now on the Disabled List. �Powell struggled in three of the four innings he pitched, though by the 4th inning, the rain could have been a factor.

Powell (photo) hit the first batter of the game, CF Greg Golson. �He got two outs, then gave up a double down the left field line, just out of reach of 3B Pedro Alvarez's dive, to 1B David Winfree. �That scored Golson, and the Yankees had a run on the board.

The Tribe got the run back in the bottom of the 1st. �CF Jose Tabata worked a walk to lead off, and he moved to second base on 1B Neil Walker's high bouncing grounder to first base. �A balk by Yankees' starter Ivan Nova put Tabata on third base. �DH Brian Myrow dribbled a little grounder over the mound (might have been tipped by Nova, but not sure) toward 2B Reegie Corona. �Corona came in onto the infield grass for the ball, but he was already thinking about firing the ball home to get Tabata before he actually had the ball in his glove -- and the ball got past him. �Tabata scored easily, and Myrow was safe on first base. �At first it was ruled an error, but this was later changed to an infield hit and an RBI for Myrow. �Pedro Alvarez bounced into a double play to end the inning, but the Indians had tied it up at 1-1.

Yankees' top prospect Jesus Montero led off the 2nd inning with a single up the middle, and a pitch from Powell that sailed all the way to the backstop moved Montero to second base. �Powell walked RF Reid Gorecki, then 3B Matt Cusick sliced a double down the right field line, inside the chalk by inches, and then curving into the Yankees' bullpen. �Both Montero and Gorecki scored by the time RF Brandon Moss could get the ball back to the infield.

The Brewers only got five hits. Normally that'd be trouble. But the Pirates were blanked over the final eight innings as Milwaukee split the two game set.

Another day with one afternoon game and two evening games in the lower part of the Pirates' minor league affiliates:

Altoona Curve �2, �Akron Aeros �1 (box)

The Curve and the Aeros could have skipped all the other innings and just played the 7th �-- that was the only one that turned out to matter. �After 6 scoreless innings from starter Rudy Owens, reliever Dustin Molleken took the mound for the 7th. � He got the first out, then gave up back-to-back singles to put runners on first and second bases. �One more out, then another single to drive in the run for Akron.

Altoona returned fire with a pair of one-out back-to-back singles in the 7th, by LF Alex Presley and RF Miles Durham. C Kris Watts loaded the bases with a walk. �SS Chase d'Arnaud drove in both Presley and Durham with a double into right field. �CF Gorkys Hernandez loaded the bases again by beating out an infield single to third base, but an inning-ending double play cut the rally short.

Owens worked around 4 hits and two batters reaching on errors over his 6 innings. �He struck out 3 Akron batters. �Molleken pitched only that 7th inning. �Danny Moskos pitched the final two innings to earn his 9th save of the season. �He had a batter reach on an error by 3B Jordy Mercer in the 8th, but promptly picked the runner off first base. �Moskos walked a batter in the 9th, but erased him in a double play.

The Curve posted 10 hits, including 2 each by Chase d'Arnaud, 1B Matt Hague, and Alex Presley, with both d'Arnaud and Presley collecting a double each. �DH Jim Negrych walked twice and stole second base in the 1st inning. �The Curve came close to scoring in the 2nd inning, when Hague led off with a single, and Presley doubled, but Hague was thrown out at the plate. �They also had the bases loaded with one out in the 3rd -- back-to-back singles by Watts and Presley, then a walk to Negrych. �That time a strikeout and a fly out ended the inning without a run scoring.

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The Pirates activated reliever Brendan Donnelly from the disabled list today. To make room on the roster, Jack Taschner was placed on the DL with a tight hamstring.

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Pedro Alvarez takes a warm-up swing.

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Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre Yankees �7, �Indianapolis Indians �5 (box)

Former Indianapolis Indian/Pittsburgh Pirate pitcher Romulo Sanchez (photo) returned to Victory Field this afternoon, making the start for the Yankees. �It was not such a happy homecoming as far as the Indians were concerned. �Sanchez pitched 6 scoreless innings, allowing only one hit, and striking out 7 batters.

Sanchez was effectively wild, allowing 6 walks over those 6 innings. �He was able to pitch only one 1-2-3 inning, in the 5th. �He walked 1B Brian Myrow and 3B Pedro Alvarez with two outs in the 1st, and LF Kevin Melillo with two outs in the 2nd. �CF Jose Tabata led off the 3rd with a walk, but he was thrown out trying to steal second base. �Tabata also led off the 6th with a walk, and two outs later, Alvarez walked again too. �Other than when Tabata was thrown out in the 3rd, all the other walks resulted only in runners left on base.

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RF Brandon Moss was the only Tribe batter to get a hit off Sanchez. �With two outs in the 4th, Moss squirted a single into right field. �But with C Erik Kratz at the plate, Moss took off a little too early from first base, making it easy for Sanchez to throw him out trying to steal second.

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Tribe starter Mike Crotta sailed through the top of the 1st, needing only 8 pitches to retire three batters. �Then his pitches started rising, and the Yankees starting hitting. �RF David Winfree led off the 2nd inning with a single into left field. �DH Jon Weber slipped a single through the hole into right field, putting Winfree on third base. �C Jesus Montero, a top Yankee prospect, grounded to short, where SS Argenis Diaz (left photo above) started a double play, with 2B Neil Walker (right photo above) making the turn at second base.

It got Crotta two outs, but Winfree was able to score from third base on the play. �1B Chad Huffman kept the inning going with a double over Brandon Moss's head in right field, as Moss first started to come in, then had to turn and try to make the catch as he ran back toward the wall. �CF Reid Gorecki plated Huffman with a single through the hole vacated on the right side by the Indians' defensive shift. �A ground out by 3B Matt Cusick ended the inning, but the Yankees had a 2-0 lead.

Crotta (photo) was still having trouble in the 3rd inning. �LF Kevin Russo led off with a line drive into left field for a double. �After a strikeout, SS Eduardo Nunez singled into right field, and Russo raced around from second base. �Brandon Moss came up throwing from right field and he fired straight in to Erik Kratz. �Kratz blocked the plate and caught the ball just as Russo arrived at the plate. �But with Russo barrelling into him, Kratz never got a good hold on the ball, and when the dust settled, Russo had crossed the plate but the ball was no longer in Kratz's possession. �Yankees 3, Indians 0

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One early game in the rest of the Pirates' minor league organization on Wednesday, and two later games:

Dunedin Blue Jays �2, �Bradenton Marauders �1 (box)

The Blue Jays broke a tie that had lasted 5 innings with a run in the bottom of the 9th to take the win over the Marauders on Wednesday afternoon. �Both teams scored a run in the 4th inning. �C Eric Fryer supplied the Marauders with their run on a solo homer in the top of the 4th. �In the bottom of the inning, starter Brian Leach got two outs, then gave up a run on a walk and two singles.

Dunedin starter Joel Carreno held the Marauders in check for 5 of his 6 innings, while striking out 9 batters and allowing 9 hits. �The Marauders got a runner as far as third base in the 5th, when SS Walker Gourley, making his 2010 debut, led off with a single. �2B James Skelton also singled, moving Gourley to third base. �But a strikeout and a double play ended the inning without a run scoring. �The Marauders put at least one runner on base in 5 other innings, but never got a runner as far as third base.

Brian Leach also went 6 innings, scattering 3 hits and 3 walks, with 4 strikeouts. �He worked around a single base runner in 3 other innings besides the 4th. �Tom Boleska took over for Leach in the 7th. �He gave up a single and hit a batter in the 7th, and gave up a single to Dunedin DH Travis d'Arnaud in the 8th, but did not let those runners score.

Boleska got into trouble in the bottom of the 9th. �With one out, he gave up a double, then intentionally walked the next batter. �He suffered the loss when an RBI single plated the winning run. �Eric Fryer posted two singles for the Marauders besides his homer. �1B Calvin Anderson singled twice, and CF Austin McClune also singled. �Tony Sanchez had a pinch-hit appearances but struck out.

Decent pitching and decent offense in the same game has been hard to come by. The Pirates scored six times with six different players knocking in a run. They got a solid effort from the pitching staff, too. The results: a win.

Akron Aeros �2, �Altoona Curve �0 (box)

CF Gorkys Hernandez had the Curve's only hit on Tuesday night as three Akron pitchers combined for the one-hit shut out. �Aeros' Scott Barnes earned the win with 5.1 hitless and scoreless innings, then Steven Wright followed with 1.2 more hitless and scoreless innings. �Omar Aguilar pitched the final two innings, and he also kept the Curve scoreless, but Hernandez led off the 8th with his hit. �Hernandez got as far as third base on two ground outs, but he was left there 90 feet away from scoring. �The catch for the Aero pitchers was that they allowed a total of 8 walks. �The Curve had at least one base runner on in 6 of their 9 innings because of all the walks. �They even loaded the bases on three walks in the 6th, but could not push a run across the plate.

Curve starter Justin Wilson pitched 5.2 innings and allowed both of the Aeros' runs on 5 hits and a walk, while striking out 6 batters. �Wilson worked around two singles and a throwing error by C Hector Gimenez in the 1st inning, then got a strikeout to slide out of a jam with runners on the corners in the 2nd. �He retired the next 11 batters in order before giving up a walk and a 2-run homer in the 6th. �Tony Watson came on in relief of Wilson after the homer. �Watson finished the 6th with a fly out, then gave up a lone single in each of the next two innings. �Ronald Uviedo pitched the 9th inning and also gave up a lone single.

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Indianapolis Indians �3, �Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees �0 (box)

Donnie Veal (photo above) dominated Scranton/Wilkes-Barre at Victory Field on Tuesday night, holding the Yankees to just 2 hits and 3 walks over 7 innings of work. �Veal struck out a total of 7 batters, including 5 of the last 9 batters he faced. �Indians' CF Jose Tabata (photo) out-hit the Yankees all by himself, going 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI, while 1B Brian Myrow had 2 hits and 2 RBI.

Veal had more trouble in the early innings than he did later in the game. �With one out in the 1st, he gave up a walk to 2B Reegie Corona and a single to SS Eduardo Nunez, but got out of the inning with a grounder to SS Brian Friday for a double play. �He used 18 pitches to get through the 1st inning, and then needed another 19 in the 2nd inning, when he worked another walk but still kept the Yankees scoreless.

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Veal also had to work around a base runner in each of the 3rd and 4th innings. �C Chad Moeller began the 3rd inning with a double, but Veal left him standing right there, while he racked up his first two strikeouts of the game around a pop up. �The third walk Veal allowed came in the 4th inning to LF Jon Weber, but another double play started by Brian Friday ended that inning.

Meanwhile, Jose Tabata was leading the Indians' offensive attack. �He opened the bottom of the 1st with a line drive into left field for a double. �2B Neil Walker was hit on the foot by a pitch, then Brian Myrow (photo) lined a single into right field, and Tabata came around from second base to score. �After a pop out by 3B Pedro Alvarez, RF Brandon Jones walked to load the bases, but C Luke Carlin bounced into a double play, and the Indians could not take advantage of the bases-loaded situation.

Yankees' starter Jason Hirsch thought he had the Indians under control in the 2nd inning, when he began the frame with two fly outs. �But then Brian Friday ripped a double into left field, and surprised Hirsch by stealing third base. �Jose Tabata grounded to third base, but beat out the throw to first for a hit, allowing Friday to score. �Neil Walker lined a single into right field, moving Tabata to third base. �With runners on the corners, Brian Myrow again slapped an RBI single, this time into center field, and Tabata scored easily. �A ground out ended the inning, but the Indians had a 3-0 lead.

Both teams were pretty quiet for the remainder of the game. �Jose Tabata collected his third hit of the game in the 4th inning, again beating out a throw on an infield hit. �As Neil Walker stepped into the batters' box following Tabata's hit, some serious jawing erupted from the Yankees' dugout, possibly related to what had been a close play at first base. �1B Umpire Dan Bellino tossed someone in the dugout -- it wasn't clear whom until S/W-B manager Dave Miley came out of the dugout to continue the jawing �-- yup, it was Miley. �Once the dust had settled and the game resumed, Tabata promptly stole second base, then stole third. �Neil Walker walked, but the Indians left the runners stranded on the corners when Brian Myrow grounded out.

A couple weeks ago, I speculated that Charlie Morton was tipping his pitches from the stretch. My theory was that when he came set, he was moving his glove prior to fastballs and keeping his hands still when he prepared to throw an off-speed pitch. Well, I noticed a change on Monday night in Philadelphia. Is Morton attempting to address this issue?

Count me surprised. Zach Duke outpitched Roy Halladay. Bucs win!

Despite impressive Triple-A production, both Jeff Clement and Steve Pearce have failed in limited major league opportunities. Does that mean they are Quad-A players, simply unable to make that jump? Will Neil Walker go down that same path?