Luis Heredia is on the mound tonight for State College, getting the last regular season start for the entire Pirates minor league system. Indianapolis begins their playoffs tonight against Charlotte. The first two games will be played in Indianapolis, while the third game will be played in Charlotte. If necessary, the fourth and fifth games will also be played in Charlotte. The DSL Pirates won game three of the DSL championships to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series against the Angels, coming within one game of giving the Pirates two league titles(GCL Pirates were the other) this season. A full recap of yesterday’s games can be found here.
Triple-A: Indianapolis (87-55) vs Charlotte (83-61) 7:05pm
Probable starter: Rick VandenHurk (13-5 2.92)
Yesterday’s Result: Indianapolis was off
Rick VandenHurk will get the ball tonight in game one of the International League playoffs. During the regular season, he pitched a total of 123.1 innings, allowing 112 hits, eight homers, 35 walks and he struck out 113 batters. He had a 1.14 GO/AO ratio and a .241 BAA. At home, Rick was 8-2 2.53 in nine starts and one relief appearance. VandenHurk didn’t face Charlotte in either four game series played between the two teams this year, missing them by one spot in the rotation each time. Rick led all Pirates minor league pitchers in wins.
Charlotte will be going with 24 year old lefty Charles Leesman, an 11th round pick of the White Sox in the 2008 draft. He has no major league experience. Charles was 12-10 2.47 in 26 starts this year, throwing 135 innings, with 129 hits allowed, eight homers, 52 walks and he struck out 103 batters. He had a 1.55 GO/AO ratio and a .255 BAA. On the road this season, he was 7-5 2.10 in 15 starts. Leesman threw seven innings against Indy on 6/17, allowing one unearned run, while striking out nine batters. On 8/7, he defeated Indy, allowing one run over five innings of work.
Double-A: Altoona (72-70) Season is complete
Altoona’s season is complete. They finished in third place, 10.5 games behind Akron. The Curve were able to go over the .500 mark by ending their season with a six game winning streak. Brock Holt led the team with his .322 average on the season. Adalberto Santos hit .340, but he played just 68 games. Quincy Latimore led the team with 15 homers, while Matt Curry led with 76 RBI’s.
High-A: Bradenton (60-77 overall 31-36 2nd half) Season is complete
Bradenton’s season is over. They finished the second half in fifth place, 7.5 games out of first place. The Marauders finished the first half 21 games out of first, in last place. Overall, they finished 24 games behind first place St Lucie, with the second worst record in the 12 team Florida State League. Alex Dickerson led Bradenton in all three triple crown categories, batting .295 with 13 homers and 90 RBI’s.
Low-A: West Virginia (61-79 overall 38-32 2nd half) Season is complete
West Virginia’s season is over. They finished the second half tied for second place with Hickory, three games behind Hagerstown. They ended the first half in last place, 23 games back. Overall they finished in sixth place, 22.5 games behind Hagerstown. Gregory Polanco led the team with a .325 average, 85 RBI’s and 40 stolen bases. His 16 homers were tied for second along with Jose Osuna and Alen Hanson, two behind Willy Garcia.
Short Season A: State College (34-41) vs Mahoning Valley (30-44) 7:05pm
Probable Starter: Luis Heredia (3-2 2.93)
Yesterday’s Result: State College 5 Mahoning Valley 4 in 11 innings (game story)
Luis Heredia will get his 14th start of the season tonight, the last game of the year for State College. Heredia has pitched a total of 61.1 innings, allowing 51 hits, two homers, 19 walks and he has recorded 35 strikeouts. Luis has a 1.52 GO/AO ratio and a .232 BAA. In his last start, he went 4.2 innings, giving up two runs on four hits, with three walks and two strikeouts. He faced Mahoning Valley on 7/18, giving up three runs in five innings. It was one of just three starts he has made this year, in which he gave up three or more runs. Heredia is 2-1 2.78 in seven home starts this year.
Rookie: GCL Pirates (36-24) Season is complete
DSL: Pirates1 (44-26) vs Angels (40-24) 10:00am
Yesterday’s Result: Pirates 8 Angels 2
DSL: Pirates2 (34-34) Season is complete
