Greensboro’s Nick Garcia came into this week with a 4.91 ERA in his first 25.2 innings this season. He faced Asheville on Tuesday and shut them out for five innings. They will get a second chance against him on Sunday, as he looks to lower his ERA under the 4.00 mark. Luis Ortiz returns from his four-game suspension today to get the start for Altoona. Indianapolis has a very late start for a Sunday game, so be sure to rejoin us later. I’ll update their starter when it becomes available.
TRIPLE-A: INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS
Game Time: 6:07 PM
Box Score: LINK
Starting Pitcher: Matt Eckelman (0-3, 12.89)
- Final Line: 2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO
Notable Performances:
Oneil Cruz 2-for-4, HR, RBI, HBP
Travis Swaggerty 0-for-4, BB
Ji-hwan Bae 2-for-5, 3B, 2 RBI
Mason Martin, 1-for-4, HR, RBI, BB
Canaan Smith-Njigba 2-for-3, 2 BB
Game Recap:
Matt Eckelman got the start on Sunday, working on a limited pitch count. He gave up two runs in the second inning, but both runs were unearned due to errors by Oneil Cruz and Cole Tucker. Eckelman allowed just one hit and no walks in his two innings. He gave way to John O’Reilly in the third inning and he got roughed up, allowing five runs (four earned) in 1.1 innings. Cam Alldred, Cristofer Melendez and Eric Hanhold combined for 3.2 shutout frames. Hunter Stratton allowed an unearned run in the ninth for the 8-7 loss. Oneil Cruz started the scoring by leading off the game with his seventh homer. He also had a single and HBP, though he committed two costly errors, giving him seven errors this week alone, and 15 on the season. Indianapolis added a second run on a Cole Tucker bases loaded walk in the first. Ji-hwan Bae added an RBI ground out to make it 3-0 in the second. Bae hit an RBI triple (his third) in the fourth inning, making it a 5-4 deficit at the time. Bligh Madris brought home a run on his sixth double. Mason Martin made it a 7-6 game in the ninth with his 11th homer. Cole Tucker tied the game with his first double for Indianapolis. Canaan Smith-Njigba had two hits, two walks and scored two runs.
DOUBLE-A: ALTOONA CURVE
Game Time: 1:00 PM
Box Score: LINK
Starting Pitcher: Luis Ortiz (1-2, 5.06)
- Final Line: 6 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 SO
Notable Performances:
Jared Triolo 3-for-4
Nick Gonzales 2-for-5, RBI
Liover Peguero 1-for-4, RBI
Lolo Sanchez 1-for-3, RBI, BB
Connor Scott 0-for-4
Game Recap:
Altoona lost 5-4 on Sunday, as Enmanuel Mejia gave up a two-run two-out double in the bottom of the ninth for the walk-off defeat. Luis Ortiz started for the Curve and put in six solid innings, allowing two runs on three hits, with no walks and six strikeouts. He was a strike-throwing machine in this game, pump in 54 strikeouts on 69 pitches. He missed four games this week serving a suspension for a brawl that happened last Sunday. He now has a 4.74 ERA in 38 innings, with 46 strikeouts. Omar Cruz came in to finish it out and he gave up a run in the seventh and another in the ninth after he was pulled in favor of Mejia. The Curve scored their first run in the third inning on the eighth double of the season from Nick Gonzales. Liover Peguero followed with an RBI single. In the eighth inning, Lolo Sanchez hit an RBI single and Andres Alvarez had a sacrifice fly. Jared Triolo had three singles and two runs scored.
HIGH-A: GREENSBORO GRASSHOPPERS
P2Daily: It’s Greensboro Grasshoppers and Matt Gorski Week on Pirates Prospects
Game Time: 1:05 PM
Box Score: LINK
Starting Pitcher: Nick Garcia (2-1, 4.11)
- Final Line: 4.1 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO
Notable Performances:
Sammy Siani 0-for-3, 2 BB, SB
Dariel Lopez 1-for-4, 2B
Endy Rodriguez 1-for-4
Abrahan Gutierrez 1-for-3, BB
Fabricio Macias 2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI
Jack Herman 2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI
Maikol Escotto 0-for-4
Game Recap:
Greensboro lost 8-4 to Asheville on Sunday. Nick Garcia got his second start of the week and couldn’t match his five shutout innings from Tuesday. He went 4.1 innings, allowing two runs on six hits, with no walks and four strikeouts. He ERA remained the same as when he started (4.11) and he now has 39 strikeouts in 35 innings. Wandi Montout got the last two outs of the fifth. Santiago Florez followed with two runs over 1.2 innings. Cam Junker faced four batters to get the final two outs of the seventh and all four reached base and scored. Ricky DeVito closed it out on the pitching side with 1.1 scoreless. Jack Herman hit a two-run homer, his third of the season. Fabricio Macias hit a two-run double. Dariel Lopez hit his fifth double. Sammy Siani stole his ninth base. Macias and Siani each picked up outfield assists.
LOW-A: BRADENTON MARAUDERS
BRADENTON MARAUDERS WEEK: 5/31
Game Time: 12:00 PM
Box Score: LINK
Starting Pitcher: Jake Sweeney (0-0, 4.63)
- Final Line: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO
Notable Performances:
Sergio Campana 1-for-2, HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB
Rodolfo Nolasco 1-for-4, 2 RBI
Jase Bowen 1-for-4
Juan Jerez 0-for-4
Alexander Mojica 0-for-2, 2 BB
Deivis Nadal 1-for-2, HBP
Game Recap:
Jake Sweeney got the Sunday start for Bradenton and pitched well, allowing one run on three hits, a walk and four strikeouts in five innings. He threw 61 pitches, with 41 going for strikes. He now has a 4.13 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 28.1 innings this season. Nick Mears followed with his second rehab appearance. He needed just 13 pitches to get through a scoreless inning with two strikeouts. He did walk a batter, but all of his pitches to the other three batters were strikes. Yunior Thibo tossed a scoreless seventh. Denny Roman allowed an unearned run in the eighth, and Johan Montero got the save with 1.1 scoreless, as the Marauders took the 4-2 victory. Bradenton had two big hits in the game. Rodolfo Nolasco started the scoring with a two-run single in the third. In the fifth, Sergio Campana added two runs with his first homer of the year. He also drew two walks in this game. Bradenton had five hits in the game and Campana’s was the lone extra-base hit.
