Morning Rundown: Ali Sanchez elects free agency, Pirates complete sweep of Marlins
Pirates complete four game sweep of Marlins to begin the season.
After being designated for assignment before Opening Day, Ali Sanchez was outrighted to Indianapolis but decided to elect free agency.
Signed to a split deal in the off-season, Sanchez didn’t have any options remaining, so he needed to clear waivers before being sent to the minors.
He cleared waivers but opted for free agency and will now be eligible to sign with any team.
It wasn’t pretty, but in the end, the Pirates walked away with another win, completing the sweep of the Miami Marlins with their second victory in extra innings.
Bailey Falter allowed five runs in the first inning, including a grand slam to Jazz Chisholm Jr., but allowed just one in his next three. Luis Ortiz pitched two shutout innings, giving the Pirates time to chip away at the Marlins’ lead slowly.
Rowdy Tellez hit a three-run home run in the seventh, finally putting the Pirates up 7-6. David Bednar came in for the ninth but allowed a game-tying home run to Nick Gordon with one out.
Back-to-back bunts by Alika Williams and Jason Delay scored Oneil Cruz in the top of the 10th. A couple of batters later, Michael A. Taylor walked with the bases loaded to give the Pirates a two-run cushion.
After being non-tendered at the end of last season, Hunter Stratton won back a roster spot, which led him to his first major league save, striking out two in the 10th inning.
The Pirates will head to the Nation's capital to face the Nationals, sprinkling their first off-day between the three games on Tuesday.
Marco Gonzales, Mitch Keller, and Martin Perez are scheduled to start.
Top Exit Velocity
Carter Bins - IND - 112.6 mph - Double
Rowdy Tellez - PIT - 106.6 mph - Home Run
Nick Gonzales - PIT - 106.6 mph - Double
Jason Delay - PIT - 104.5 mph - Lineout
Liover Peguero - PIT - 103.9 mph - Forceout
Top Pitch Velocity
Aroldis Chapman - PIT - 101.2 mph
Aroldis Chapman - PIT - 100.6 mph
Aroldis Chapman - PIT - 100.2 mph
Aroldis Chapman - PIT - 99.4 mph
Aroldis Chapman - PIT - 98.9
Most Whiffs (Whiff%)
Quinn Priester - IND - 20 (49%)
Bailey Falter - PIT - 6 (21%)
David Bednar - PIT - 5 (56%)
Aroldis Chapman - PIT - 4 (67%)
Hunter Stratton - PIT - 4 (50%)
Before the game on Sunday, the Pirates reactivated Roansy Contreras from the paternity list, sending Jose Hernandez back to Triple-A.
Hernandez picked up his first major league save during the series against the Marlin.
Indianapolis Indians - 6 vs Louisville Bats - 4
Top Hitter - Gilberto Celestino: 3-4, R, 2B, 2 RBI, BB
Top Pitcher - Quinn Priester: 5.2 IP, H, ER, BB, 9 K
In his first start of the season, Quinn Priester was fantastic, striking out nine batters in 5.2 innings pitched while walking only one.
He recorded 20 whiffs on 41 swings, relying heavily on his sinker/slider combination to lead the way. He threw the four-seam that gave him issues in the majors last year just 10 times, got up to 96 mph, and got two whiffs on four swings.
The sinker/slider both got over a 40% whiff rate.
4 down. 77 to go.
Pirates win 9-7 in 10 innings
They are in first place with the best record in baseball.
It is the day after Easter and da Wabbit is pretty stiff. I had loads o’ kids following me around yesterday and… well… Santa gets all the props when it comes to this kinda thing. I mean nobody ever gives credit to the Easter Bunny. It’s well past 5:30 right here, so let’s spread some CARROTS ON THE HOUSE!!!!
1 (ONE) sublime root vegetable for the Bullpen, which pitched 6 innings of one run ball. Today’s sativus is accepted by L. Ortiz (4 carrots total now and leading the team) for keeping it close for two innings when it looked like things could get bad.
2 (TWO) daucus carota for A. Williams for his clutch 2 out, 2 run triple that got the Bucs back in the game. And then for a nice extra inning bunt to move the winning run to third.
3 (THREE) Essenses of Hossenfeffer for R. Tellez for his first bomb of the year, for three runs, that put the Bucs ahead, pretty much to stay.
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“I’m the Easter Rabbit. And I’m supposed to be happy and gay… uh-huh… whenever I deliver the eggs. But my feet are killing me.”
“Well, I’m not doin’ anyting. I’ll deliver the technicolor hen-fruit for ya!’
Ugly WINS are very much appreciated. The Nats should represent a tougher opponent - another year of rebuilding, but the Reds at home had a lot of difficulty with them, getting 3 in the bottom of the 9th yesterday to take the rubber game of the 3 game series.