Morning Rundown: Jase Bowen with two more hits, drives in a pair

Bowen continues his strong start to the AFL, and another pitcher makes his debut.

Only one player among the Pirates’ organization has played in all three games for the Salt River Rafters - Jase Bowen.

He’s made good use of that time, has he now has multiple hits in two of the three AFL games he has played this fall.

Bowen picked up two on opening nigh while batting in the last spot of the batting order the first game, before jumping up to the lead off spot and picking up another on Tuesday.

Wednesday he was the team’s designated hitter, and picked up a pair of hits, including a two-run double that was hit 103.3 mph off the bat. It was the first runs he has drove in during the fall, and he has five hits in three games already.

He also drew a walk in his final plate appearance, giving him a 1.136 OPS.

Jack Brannigan and Carter Bins got the night off on the hitting side of things, with the former struggling the first two games he’s played.

Left-handed pitcher Nick Dombkowski, a former undrafted free agent signing by the Pirates, made his AFL debut, throwing two-innings of one run ball, allowing four hits while striking out just one batter.

His fastballs were 89-91, picking up a couple of whiffs with the sinker. Throwing the slider 50% of the time, he picked up three whiffs on nine whiffs against his primary breaking pitch.

Tyler Samaniego, another lefty that spent 2023 in Altoona, also pitched an inning of relief, picking up a strikeout.

That just leaves JC Flowers as the only Pirates representatives to not get into a game yet for the Rafters.