Your daily Pittsburgh Pirates Prospect Watch article for recaps of all of today’s games. Be sure to pick up your copy of the latest Prospect Guide in our store, available as an ebook or a limited edition paperback.
INDIANAPOLIS
Starting Pitcher: James Marvel 6 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 0 BB, 8 SO
Notable Performances:
Oneil Cruz 3-for-4, HR, RBI, BB
Rodolfo Castro 2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, BB
Mason Martin 2-for-4, 2 HR, 4 RBI
Cal Mitchell 1-for-4
Tucupita Marcano 1-for-4
Game Recap: Indianapolis went on a home run barrage early, then held on to a 9-8 victory over Omaha. Mason Martin homered twice, Oneil Cruz hit his second homer in Triple-A, and Rodolfo Castro homered tonight after hitting two yesterday. Cruz had three hits, a walk and three runs scored. Castro had two hits, a walk and he drove in a pair. Martin drove in four runs total. Christian Bethancourt drove in two runs. Bligh Madris hit his 22nd double.
James Marvel didn’t have a strong outing, but he did enough to win. He allowed five runs on eight hits in six innings, with a nice 0:8 BB/SO ratio. Hunter Stratton tossed two scoreless innings and Shea Spitzbarth allowed three runs in the ninth to make the score close.
GREENSBORO
Starting Pitcher: Quinn Priester 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO
Notable Performances:
Liover Peguero 1-for-4
Nick Gonzales 0-for-4
Jared Triolo 0-for-2, RBI
Lolo Sanchez 1-for-3
Matt Gorski 1-for-3, 2B, 2 RBI
Game Recap: Quinn Priester had a tough start to end the regular season, but he bounced back big time in the playoffs, going five innings in game two, with one run on three hits, two walks and seven strikeouts. He left with a 2-1 lead. Oliver Garcia threw a scoreless sixth. Bear Bellomy had five strikeouts in two shutout innings. Austin Roberts allowed a run in the ninth, but finished off the 4-2 victory to tie the five-game series 1-1.
Greensboro got two runs in the first as Liover Peguero singled and Nick Gonzales reached on an error. Jared Triolo brought in the first run with a sacrifice fly and Will Matthiessen scored the second run on a ground out. In the seventh inning, Matt Gorski drove home two runs with a double to cap the Greensboro scoring. The Grasshoppers had just four hits and one walk, with Gorski’s double being the only extra-base hit.
BRADENTON
Starting Pitcher: Logan Hofmann 1.1 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO
Notable Performances:
Endy Rodriguez 2-for-5, 2B
Dariel Lopez 2-for-5, HR, 2 RBI
Abrahan Gutierrez 3-for-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI
Hudson Head 1-for-5
Jack Herman 1-for-5
Jase Bowen 1-for-4, BB
Game Recap: Bradenton won their league title (former Florida State League) by sweeping Tampa in the best-of-five series. They won 11-3 tonight. Logan Hofmann, who has been consistently strong all season, got the start and it did not go well. He gave up three runs in just 1.1 innings. The bullpen ended up going 7.2 shutout innings for the win. Eddy Yean started the turn around with one of his best outings of the season, throwing 3.2 scoreless innings. He was followed by two shutout frames from Tyler Samaniego and one inning each from Wandi Montout and Oliver Mateo.
The offense was led by a power outburst. Abrahan Gutierrez homered in the second game, then homered two more times tonight. He didn’t homer in 22 regular season games after being acquired from the Phillies this July. He scored four runs tonight and drove in three. Dariel Lopez hit a two-run homer and Jackson Glenn hit a three-run homer. Glenn failed to hit a single homer in 106 at-bats after being drafted this year in the fifth round. Lopez, Glenn, Endy Rodriguez and Maikol Escotto all had two hits apiece.
DSL PIRATES BLACK
Starting Pitcher: Isaias Uribe 3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO
Notable Performances:
Jesus Castillo 1-for-5
Shalin Polanco 3-for-5, HR, 3 RBI
Omar Alfonzo 1-for-2, 3 BB
Ewry Espinal 1-for-3, RBI, 2 BB
Osvaldo Gavilan 0-for-3, RBI, BB
Enmanuel Terrero 0-for-1, RBI, 3 BB
Game Recap: Isaias Uribe came into the game with a 2.33 ERA in 27 innings over nine starts. He was averaging three innings per outing and he kept that pace on Friday, going three innings with one run on two hits and two walks. He has 20 strikeouts in 30 innings this year. Darlin Diaz followed in the fourth inning and threw two scoreless/hitless innings, striking out three batters. He was replaced by Luis Gonzalez in the sixth. Gonzalez came into the game with a 1.16 ERA in 23.1 innings. He threw a scoreless inning, then gave way to Jesus Clode, who allowed three runs in two innings. Miguel Diaz tossed a scoreless ninth for the 12-4 win.
Shalin Polanco had another big day, his second three-hit game in a week. He had two singles, two runs scored and his third homer. He drove in three runs. He’s slowly creeping towards respectable stats, now hitting .214 with a .657 OPS. Rubel Lebron is now hitting .189 after collecting a single, double and triple on Friday. He had two runs scored and three RBIs. Omar Alfonzo and Enmanuel Terrero each drew three walks.
DSL PIRATES GOLD
Starting Pitcher: Yojeiry Osoria 2.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO
Notable Performances:
Jeral Toledo 1-for-3, 2B, 2 RBI, BB
Gustavo Armas 2-for-5
Esmerlyn Valdez 2-for-4, HR, RBI, BB
Dioris Valdez 2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI
Rodolfo De La Cruz 0-for-3, BB
Delfin Ramirez 1-for-4, 2 RBI
Game Recap: Yojeiry Osoria was one of the Pirates top signings during the 2019-20 international signing period and he hasn’t lived up to the early hype. After allowing three runs (two earned) on three hits, two walks and two strikeouts on Friday, he now has a 6.12 ERA in 25 innings over ten starts. Wilkin Valdez finished the third inning, then gave up three runs in the fourth before being replaced by Luis Faringthon, who stranded two inherited runners. He went 2.1 innings and allowed three runs, though just one was earned. Patricio Ress came on in the seventh inning and tossed a scoreless frame. Luis Brito took the ball in the eighth and threw shutout ball. The game ended after eight innings with a 12-9 Pirates win.
The Pirates got homers from Esmerlyn Valdez, his fifth of the season, as well as the first of the season from Dioris Valdez and Miguel Sosa. Dioris Valdez had some of the best raw power in the entire system, so it’s a bit surprising that it has taken this long for his first homer. Sosa drove in three runs. Esmerlyn Valdez scored three runs. Jeral Toledo hit his ninth double and drove in two runs. Juan Machado collected his second double and first career triple. Gustavo Armas had two hits and two runs scored. Delfin Ramirez drove in a pair of runs.
