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Prospect Watch: Indy Gets In The Win Column, Altoona Routed In Opener

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Indianapolis broke its four-game, season-opening losing streak with a doubleheader sweep over Louisville.  Luis Ortiz, Osvaldo Bido, Travis Swaggerty and Tucupita Marcano led the way.  Altoona opened its season by getting thrashed against New Hampshire.

YESTERDAY’S RESULTS

Indianapolis was rained out yesterday.

TRIPLE-A: INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS

Season Preview

Box Score: Game One, Game Two

Starting Pitcher: Luis Ortiz (0-0, 0.00) and Osvaldo Bido (NR)

  • Final Line: Ortiz 4.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K; Bido 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 K

Notable Performances:

  • Travis Swaggerty 4-7, 3B, HR (1), HBP
  • Tucupita Marcano 3-7, 2B, 3B
  • Endy Rodriguez 0-2, BB, SF
  • Mark Mathias 2-4, BB, 2 HBP, SB
  • Nick Gonzales 2-5, BB, HBP
  • Malcom Nunez 1-4
  • Cal Mitchell 0-2
  • Robert Stephenson, 0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
  • Yerry De Los Santos 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
  • Cody Bolton 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 K

Game Recap

Luis Ortiz had another good start as Indianapolis (2-4) finally picked up a win, beating Louisville in the first game of a doubleheader, 5-3.  The Indians finished the sweep with a 1-0 win in game two.

Ortiz opened with four hitless innings.  Louisville finally got to him for three singles in the fifth, with an infield hit scoring a run.  Ortiz left with two outs, having fanned seven.  He wasn’t throwing a ton of strikes early, so his pitch count was 77 by then, but he started finding the plate as the game went on, so 50 of those went for strikes.  Daniel Zamora got the last out of the fifth.

The offense started off well, as Travis Swaggerty led off with his first home run.  Nothing much happened after that until the sixth, when Tucupita Marcano drove in two with a single.  Indy got four in the inning.  Marcano finished the game 2-for-4.  Mark Mathias went 2-for-2 with a walk and hit batsman.  They were each batting .500 after game one.

Robert Stephenson, still on rehab, still doesn’t look so good.  He started the sixth and managed to get only two outs.  He walked two and allowed two hits, including a two-run bomb.  In three outings, he has yet to make it through a full inning.  Yerry De Los Santos had to get the last out with two on, then escaped a bases-loaded jam in the seventh for the save.

Swaggerty got the second game off to another fast start with a leadoff triple.  He scored on a triple by Marcano, but Marcano was thrown out at the plate on Nick Gonzales’ fly to center.  The offense mostly sat out the rest of the game.  Their best chance was lost when Miguel Andujar struck out with runner on second and third, and one out, in the sixth.  Swaggerty’s run ended up being the only one in the game.

Osvaldo Bido started and threw three shutout innings, needing 43 pitches and allowing just one baserunner.  Cody Bolton followed with two shutout innings, allowing just one runner.  Yohan Ramirez got the next five hitters, four of them on strikes.  Angel Perdomo came in to face a left-handed hitter to end the game on a three-pitch strikeout.

DOUBLE-A: ALTOONA CURVE

Season Preview

Box Score: LINK

Starting Pitcher: Kyle Nicolas (NR)

  • Final Line: 4.2 IP, 1 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 5 K

Notable Performances:

  • Henry Davis 1-3, BB, HBP
  • Liover Peguero 1-4, BB
  • Matt Gorski 2-3, HR (1), BB, HBP

Game Recap:

Altoona (0-1) got pummeled in its opener, 8-2, by New Hampshire.  Kyle Nicolas had a good start except for one bad inning.  That came in the second, when he walked the first three batters, then allowed a bases-clearing double.  He got out of trouble with the help of a line drive double play, then allowed no more hits after that.  Nicolas left with two out in the fifth having thrown 83 pitches, 49 for strikes.

Matt Gorski got one run back in the bottom of the inning, belting his first longball of the season in his first AB.  The Curve had some chances after that, but went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position.  The only other run scored when a popup by Connor Scott dropped in for a double.  It drove in Mason Martin, who’d also doubled.

Aaron Shortridge came on for the sixth and blew up the game, giving up four runs while retiring only two batters, with one run scoring after Braeden Ogle came on.  Oliver Garcia gave up the last run in the ninth when he hit a batter with the bases loaded.

HIGH-A: GREENSBORO GRASSHOPPERS

Season Preview

Greensboro opens its season on Friday.

LOW-A: BRADENTON MARAUDERS

Season Preview

Bradenton opens its season on Friday.

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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