Pittsburgh Pirates flame throwing reliever Aroldis Chapman was suspended for two games, after being ejected earlier this week for arguing the strike zone with an umpire.
I wrote about the ejection earlier in the week, noting how...
I normally limit the featured section of this article to a single player. On Thursday night, the Pittsburgh Pirates had top pitching prospects Paul Skenes and Bubba Chandler on the mound, so it felt appropriate to...
The Pirates left their Florida home and headed north this evening, after a loss in their last Grapefruit League game. �Once again, the Pirates' batters struggled to get hits, managing only 6. �Two of them were solo home runs: �the first by RF Ryan Church in the top of the 1st inning, and the second by C Ryan Doumit in the 4th inning. �There were two doubles, one by minor leaguer PR/LF Miles Durham, and one by SS Ronny Cedeno; LF Lastings Milledge and 1B Jeff Clement both singled.
Starter Daniel McCutchen pitched 5.1 innings and gave up 3 runs (2 earned) on 6 hits and 2 walks, with 3 strikeouts. �The Phillies' first run, in the bottom of the 1st, may have initially been ruled unearned, but became earned when the ball that got past a diving 1B Jeff Clement was changed from an error to a hit. �A hit batter, a stolen base, and an RBI single brought in the run to tie the score at 1-1. �In the 2nd inning, a hit fell in between RF Church and 2B Aki Iwamura, then a walk and a single that brought the run in. �The throw in from CF Andrew McCutchen in short center field, sailed over and past C Doumit at the plate. �Doumit's homer tied the score again, at 2-2.
Daniel McCutchen started the 6th inning with an out and a walk, and that gave Hayden Penn his chance. �A passed ball moved the runner to second base, and a ground out advanced him to third base. �An RBI single broke the tie and the Phillies were up 3-2. �Penn gave up a double, then got out of that inning with two strikeouts. �He pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 7th. �Octavio Dotel gave up a solo home run on his first pitch for the Phillies' final run.
Several minor leaguers, mainly from the Altoona Curve, got into the game, and several of them will also accompany the major league team to Philadelphia for the next two games to finish out the pre-season. �In this game: �2B Chase d'Arnaud, CF John Raynor, PH Jim Negrych, Miles Durham, and 3B Josh Harrison.
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The Indy Indians were scheduled to play a AAA game against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees this afternoon. �No word on the results.
The Indians and the Yankees took a 1-1 tie into the top of the 8th in this afternoon's game in Bradenton, Florida. �But that was when the Yankees got to reliever Jean Machi, who gave up two singles, including one for an RBI, to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead. �Back-to-back singles and a 2-RBI double added two more runs in the 9th. �The Indians scored in the 1st inning, on a double by 1B Brian Myrow and an RBI single by 3B Pedro Alvarez. Machi suffered the loss, with 3 innings of work, including one walk and one strikeout. �Octavio Dotel started the game for the Indians and pitched "one inning", with 3 strikeouts, though in order to get in a little more work, he actually got to face 5 batters and make 5 outs. �He threw 21 pitches.
Starter Zach Duke pitched 6.2 scoreless innings and allowed only 2 hits and a walk, with 2 strikeouts, to get the Pirates off to a good start in their afternoon Grapefruit League game in Kissimmee, Florida. �Duke had been scheduled to throw either 6 innings or 80 pitches, and after going back out to begin the 7th inning, he finished at right around 80 pitches. �He also contributed 2 of the Pirates' 8 hits, both doubles, one into each outfield corner, though he did not come around to score either time. �The Pirates got onto the scoreboard first, with one run in the 4th inning off the Astros' Roy Oswalt. �LF Lastings Milledge doubled to lead off the inning, then advanced to third base on a ground out, and scored on an RBI single by Jeff Clement. Clement scored in the top of the 7th, when he doubled, went to third base on SS Bobby Crosby's single, and then scrambled home when 3B Ramon Vasquez bounced into a double play.
Duke took it into the 7th inning, but when he gave up a 2-out single (only the second hit he'd allowed), he was relieved by Javier Lopez. Lopez finished that inning, but gave up a bunt single and a sacrifice bunt plus a fielding error by 3B Josh Harrison, who was up from minor league camp. �A triple off Jack Taschner, and the Astros had a 4-2 lead.
Led by the minor leaguers, the Pirates came back to tie it up in the top of the 9th. �LF Brandon Moss walked, and CF Robbie Grossman singled. �A wild pitch brought Moss across the plate, then SS Benji Gonzalez singled to score Grossman. �Tie score, 4-4. �Unfortunately, the Astros rallied in the bottom of the frame. �With reliever Jeremy Powell on the mound, a double and a walk-off 2-run homer gave Houston the win, with Powell charged for the loss.
Also in the game: �2B Shelby Ford, 1B Steve Pearce, PH Erik Kratz, and C Luke Carlin.
Indianapolis Indians 7, �Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs 5
Three home runs gave starter Daniel McCutchen plenty of run support, as the Indians won this afternoon's AAA level minor league game in Clearwater, Florida. �McCutchen pitched 4 scoreless innings and allowed just 3 hits and a walk. �He also struck out two batters. �It took him 61 pitches to get his business done. �Chris Jakubauskas pitched 2 more scoreless innings, with 2 hits and another 2 strikeouts. �The Iron Pigs runs all came in the final two innings of the game.
RF Jose Tabata got the fun started with a solo home run in the top of the 1st inning. �LF Jon Van Every added 2 more runs with his homer in the 4th. �SS Brian Friday homered in the 5th inning, another solo blast. �The Tribe added 3 more runs in the next two innings, piling up 10 hits.
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Because of yesterday's rainouts and the fact that the Pirates did not have a major league level Grapefruit League game scheduled for today, starter Kevin Hart pitched in an A level game in Bradenton. �Hart pitched 3.1 innings, and gave up 2 runs. �Three of the four hits he allowed were infield singles and the other was a line drive into center field. �He struck out two batters in the first inning and walked two in the second inning. �He made a total of 74 pitches, and was working on throwing off speed pitches to left-handed batters.
Octavio Dotel, who has been sidelined with a strained left oblique muscle, pitched one inning (18 pitches) in another game this afternoon. �He struck out three batters and was pleased with his performance.
