Morning Rundown: Pirates bullpen blows another lead, Braxton Ashcraft returns, Matt Fraizer walk-off
Bullpen blows lead, Ashcraft returns to the mound and Fraizer has walk-off home run
The Pittsburgh Pirates saw another lead evaporate on Friday, eventually losing to the Cleveland Guardians 10-8.
They scored six runs in the fifth inning, giving them the lead, but immediately surrendered it after Carmen Mlodzinski allowed four of his own.
Offensively, the Pirates got bit nights from Oneil Cruz, Andrew McCutchen, and Rowdy Tellez.
Cruz went 2-5 with three runs driven in. Tellez hit his 12th home run of the season. In his first game back from the injured list, McCutchn went 2-5 with a double, three RBI, and a pair of runs scored.
The Pirates will have Luis Ortiz on the mound Saturday as they look to stop their four-game losing streak.
Matt Fraizer came up huge for the Altoona Curve, hitting a three-run, walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th inning, giving the home team the victory.
It’s the second straight game they have won with a walk-off, with Brenden Dixon hitting a single in extras in the 10th inning on Thursday.
Po-Yu Chen was solid on the mound, pitching five shutout innings, allowing two runs and a walk while striking out four. Sammy Siani hit his ninth home run of the season, his fifth with Altoona.
After an awkward start last time around, where he struck out 10 but also allowed five runs (four earned), Wilber Dotel tossed 4.2 innings of one-run baseball, striking out six.
It was enough to put the Grasshoppers on the path to victory, but a miscue in the outfield allowed two runners to score in the bottom of the ninth before losing in extra-innings.
The miscue in the outfield would have resulted in the final out and a Grasshopper victory.
Shawn Ross picked up three hits on the night, one a triple, while driving in three runs and stealing a base.
Braxton Ashcraft returned from the injured list on Friday and pitched a single inning for the Indianapolis Indians. He threw 11 pitches, allowing an unearned run on one hit and a strikeout.
Of the 11 pitches, six were fastballs that averaged 93.4 mph.
The Indianapolis game was suspended going into the 10th inning and will be resumed on Saturday.
Indianapolis Indians transferred 3B Jose Rojas to the Development List
Indianapolis Indians activated LHP Justin Bruihl from the 7-day injured list
Pittsburgh Pirates sent RHP Daulton Jefferies on a rehab assignment to Indianapolis Indians
Indianapolis Indians activated RHP Braxton Ashcraft from the 7-day injured list
Pittsburgh Pirates sent LHP Brady Feigl outright to Indianapolis Indians
RHP Jake Woodford elected free agency
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Top Exit Velocity
Oneil Cruz - PIT - 120.3 mph - Single
Braylon Bishop - BRD - 108 mph - Groundout
Yasmani Grandal - PIT - 107.6 mph - single
Ethan Lege - BRD - 106.8 mph - Single
Andrew McCutchen - PIT - 106 mph - Lineout
Top Pitch Velocity
Carmen Mlodzinski - PIT - 96.8 mph
Carmen Mlodzinski - PIT - 96.5 mph
Carmen Mlodzinski - PIT - 96.5 mph
Carmen Mlodzinski - PIT - 96.1 mph
Antwone Kelly - BRD - 96.1 mph
Antwone Kelly - BRD - 96.1 mph
Most Whiffs
Connor Oliver - BRD - 16
Wilber Dotel - GBO - 13
Domingo German - PIT - 11
Po-Yu Chen - ALT - 9
Grant Ford - ALT - 6
Drake Fellows - ALT - 6
Valentin Linarez - GBO - 6
Indianapolis Indians - Game suspended, will resume Saturday
Altoona Curve - 7 vs New Hampshire Fisher Cats - 5
Top Hitter - Matt Fraizer: 1-5, HR, 3 RBI, R
Top Pitcher - Po-Yu Chen: 5 IP, 2 H, BB, 4 K
Greensboro Grasshoppers - 4 vs Rome Emperors - 7
Top Hitter - Shawn Ross: 3-5, R, 3 RBI, 3B, SB
Top Pitcher - Wilber Dotel: 4.2 IP, 3 H, ER, BB, 6 K
Bradenton Marauders - 6 vs Tampa Tarpons - 9
Top Hitter - Justin Miknis: 2-3, 4 RBI, BB, 2B
Top Pitcher - Connor Oliver: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, BB, 2 K
So the Pirates offense puts up 31 runs in last 4 games, never scoring less than 5 runs in any game, and they lose them all.
Gut! Punch!
On our 26 man Active Roster right now, there are some decisions to be made regarding who we think should stay. Listed below are players for consideration -
Williams - send back to AAA
McKinney, Taylor - DFA
Tellez, Grandal/Davis - ?
If we send Williams back to AAA, DFA McKinney and Taylor, and add 2 more players when the Active Roster increases to 28, we will have room for 5 players from AAA. My picks would be Peguero, Yorke, Suwinski, Cook, and probably another pitcher. And, if we want to get max benefit from the time that Yorke and Cook are up, we need time at 1B regardless of whether we have a RH or LH hitter to put out there.