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Prospect Watch: FCL Pirates Win Two, While Two Starters Fail to Survive the First Inning

Published:

The Grasshoppers were supposed to play two, but one was postponed and they’ll try again to play two tomorrow.  The FCL Pirates played and won two.  And Altoona lost one of their best players to promotion but went wild on offense anyway.

YESTERDAY’S RESULTS

Prospect Watch: Anthony Solometo has a Shortened Outing; Bradenton Puts Up 12 Runs

TRIPLE-A: INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS

P2Daily: Indianapolis Week on Pirates Prospects

Game Time: 7:05pm

Box Score: LINK

Starting Pitcher: Jerad Eickhoff (3-3, 5.27)

  • Final Line: 5.2 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K

Notable Performances:

  • Ji-Hwan Bae 1-3, BB, SB
  • Travis Swaggerty 0-3, 2 BB
  • Bligh Madris 3-5, 2B
  • Jared Oliva 2-5, SB
  • Carter Bins 2-4, 2B
  • Josh Bissonette 1-3, 2B, BB

Game Recap:

Indianapolis (31-31) hung on for a 5-4 win over Gwinnett.  Jerad Eickhoff had a strong start, allowing just a run while fanning six over five and a third innings.  Aaron Fletcher gave up one run in relief and Austin Brice gave up two in the ninth, one unearned, before picking up the save.  The offense came mostly from the bottom of the order.  Bligh Madris, Jared Oliva, Carter Bins and Josh Bissonette combined to go 8-for-17.  Madris, Bissonette and Bins each had a double, and Oliva scored three times.  Ji-Hwan Bae reached base twice and stole his 14th base.  The team continued the latest experiment of batting Mason Martin first to jump start his bat.  He walked twice and struck out three times.  Martin is 5-for-50 in June with 25 strikeouts.  Since the end of April, he’s batting .159 and striking out in just under half of his at-bats.

DOUBLE-A: ALTOONA CURVE

P2Daily: It’s Altoona Curve Week on Pirates Prospects

Game Time: 6:00pm

Box Score: LINK

Starting Pitcher: Carmen Mlodzinski

  • Final Line: 0.2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K

Notable Performances:

  • Matt Fraizer 2-5, 2B
  • Matt Gorski 3-4, 2B, HR (4), BB, 4 RBI, SB
  • Aaron Shackelford 2-5, 2 HR (11), 5 RBI
  • Lolo Sanchez 2-5, HR (4)
  • Connor Scott 2-4
  • Travis MacGregor 3.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K
  • Tyler Samaniego 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
  • Nick Dombkowski 4 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K

Game Recap:

Carmen Mlodzinski recorded only two outs, but Altoona (30-31) destroyed Erie anyway, 14-3.  The bullpen did a bit better.  Travis MacGregor worked three and a third scoreless innings, fanning five.  Tyler Samaniego threw one scoreless inning and Nick Dombkowski went the last four, allowing one run and striking out five.  Aaron Shackelford and Matt Gorski led the onslaught.  Shackelford went deep twice, giving him 11 on the year, and drove in five.  His OPS is now .838, which is 110 points higher than last year in the home run palace in Greensboro.  Gorski had a single, double and home run, and scored three while driving in four.  He now has four longballs in AA and 21 on the year.  Matt Fraizer, Lolo Sanchez and Connor Scott had two hits apiece.  Fraizer had a double and Sanchez hit his fourth home run.

HIGH-A: GREENSBORO GRASSHOPPERS

P2Daily: It’s Greensboro Grasshoppers and Matt Gorski Week on Pirates Prospects

Game Time: 5:30pm

Box Score: LINK

Starting Pitchers: Justin Meis

  • Final Line: 0.2 IP, 4 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

Notable Performances:

  • Sammy Siani 2-4, 2B
  • Yoyner Fajardo 1-4, HR (4)
  • Abrahan Gutierrez 2-4
  • Endy Rodriguez 0-3, BB

Game Recap:

Greensboro (24-35) had a problem or two preventing runs and lost to Hudson Valley, 22-2.  Justin Meis made his second start for the Hoppers and again failed to get out of the first inning.  On the plus side, he got two outs, so his ERA improved from infinite to 180.00, which is, like, an infinite improvement.  Six other pitchers followed — Garrett Leonard, Brayan Roman, Logan Hofmann, Jeffrey Passantino, Eddy Yean and infielder Claudio Finol — and they were all bad, very bad.  Collectively they allowed 23 hits and nine walks, and Finol was easily the least ineffective.  The Hoppers’ offense consisted of a two-run home run by Yoyner Fajardo, his fourth longball of the year.  Sammy Siani and Abrahan Gutierrez each had two hits.

LOW-A: BRADENTON MARAUDERS

P2Daily: It’s Bradenton Marauders Week on Pirates Prospects

Game Time: 7:00pm

Box Score: LINK

Starting Pitcher: Po-Yu Chen (1-4, 4.60)

  • Final Line: 5 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 7 K

Notable Performances:

  • Jase Bowen 2-4
  • Rodolfo Nolasco 1-4, 3 K

Game Recap:

Bradenton (27-34) lost to Fort Myers, 8-3.  Po-Yu Chen had another up and down start, fanning seven in five innings but allowing five runs.  Carlos Lomeli allowed the other three.  The Marauders’ struggling offense managed just five singles and a walk, and whiffed 13 times.  Jase Bowen had two of the hits and drove in two runs.  He’s hitting 345/403/509 in June.

RK: FCL PIRATES

Minor League Season Preview: 2022 FCL Pirates

Game Time: 10:00am

Suspended Game Box Score: LINK

Scheduled Game Box Score: LINK

Starting Pitchers: Bubba Chandler and Joaquin Tejada

  • Final Line: Chandler — 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
  • Final Line: Tejada — 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K

Notable Performances:

  • Enmanuel Terrero 3-4, 2 BB, SB
  • Shalin Polanco 2-4, 2B, 2 BB, SB
  • Jeral Toledo 0-3, 3 BB
  • Omar Alfonzo 1-4, 2 BB
  • Geovanny Planchart 1-5, 2B, 3 BB, SF
  • Ronny Sanchez 1-5, HR (1)
  • Luis Tejeda 4-5, 2B, 3 BB
  • Bladimir Dotel 3 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K
  • Antwone Kelly 0.2 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
  • Miguel Diaz 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
  • Javier Rivas 3-4
  • Rafael Escalante 2-6, 2B, BB
  • Jesus Castillo 2-3

Game Recap:

The FCL Pirates (6-3) won the completion of last Saturday’s suspended game against the Orioles, 11-5.  Bubba Chandler had started the game, throwing a quick inning with one strikeout before the rain came.  Bladimir Dotel came out for the resumed game and gave up one run over three innings, although he allowed three hits and three walks.  Yoelvis Reyes walked another four in his two innings, but gave up only one run.  Antwone Kelly made his stateside debut and couldn’t finish an inning.  He got two outs, but gave up four hits and three runs.  Miguel Diaz retired seven straight to get the save.  The Pirates picked up 13 hits and 12 walks.  Enmanuel Terrero and Luis Tejeda had big games, each going 3-for-4 and reaching base nine times between them.  Shalin Polanco had a single, double and two walks.  Ronny Sanchez hit his first home run of the year, although he struck out his other four times up.  Geovanny Planchart doubled, walked twice and drove in three.  Omar Alfonzo also had a hit and two walks.  The Pirates had so many baserunners that Alfonzo, Planchart and Sanchez each stranded seven.

The Pirates also won the regularly scheduled game, 6-1.  Joaquin Tejada started and threw three shutout innings, fanning five.  Luigi Hernandez worked two scoreless innings.  Roelmy Garcia walked a pair and gave up a run in his inning, and Carlos Campos finished with a scoreless inning.  Javier Rivas had a big game, with three hits and a steal.  Rafael Escalante had a single, double and walk, and Tejeda reached three more times.  Jesus Castillo had two hits.

RK: DSL PIRATES BLACK

Minor League Season Preview: 2022 DSL Pirates

Game Time: 11:00am

Box Score: LINK

Starting Pitcher: Brandison Polanco

  • Final Line: 3 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K

Notable Performances:

  • Wesley Zapata 1-3
  • Kelvin Diaz 1-2, 2B, BB
  • Robert De Paula 0-2, BB, SB
  • Rodolfo De La Cruz 0-2, BB
  • Eduardo Oviedo 1-3, HR (1)

Game Recap:

The Gold team (6-3) beat the Black team (5-4), 5-3.  The Gold team’s Yojeiry Osoria had a start that epitomizes where he’s at right now.  He fanned seven and allowed only one hit over three and a third innings, but he walked four.  The runs were unearned and both scored after he left.  Rafael Mendez vultured the win after letting Osoria’s runs score along with one of his own.  Patricio Ress worked a scoreless inning, as did Eliecer Romero.  Carlos Tirado and John Zorrilla led the offense.  The 17-year-old Tirado launched his second pro home run with a man on, and later drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.  Zorrilla reached all three times up, on a single, double and walk.  Since starting the season 0-for-10, he’s gone 6-for-14 with four extra base hits.  Brandison Polanco started for the Black team and gave up two runs over three innings.  Hader Blanco allowed only one hit but walked three and gave up three runs, two earned.  Eduardo Oviedo, another 17-year-old, accounted for two runs with his first pro longball.  Kelvin Diaz had a double.

RK: DSL PIRATES GOLD

Game Time: 11:00am

Box Score: LINK

Starting Pitcher: Yojeiry Osoria

  • Final Line: 3.1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 7 K

Notable Performances:

  • Yordany De Los Santos 1-3
  • Carlos Tirado 1-2, HR (2), SF
  • John Zorrilla 2-2, 2B, BB
  • Patricio Ress 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K

Game Recap:

See above.

Wilbur Miller
Wilbur Miller
Having followed the Pirates fanatically since 1965, Wilbur Miller is one of the fast-dwindling number of fans who’ve actually seen good Pirate teams. He’s even seen Hall-of-Fame Pirates who didn’t get traded mid-career, if you can imagine such a thing. His first in-person game was a 5-4, 11-inning win at Forbes Field over Milwaukee (no, not that one). He’s been writing about the Pirates at various locations online for over 20 years. It has its frustrations, but it’s certainly more cathartic than writing legal stuff. Wilbur is retired and now lives in Bradenton with his wife and three temperamental cats.

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